January 28, 2022 10:03 am
There are many ways to send a message. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has chosen to do this through ballistic missiles.
On the morning of January 27, North Korea launched two of them, which crashed into the sea not far from Japan’s maritime economic zone. Since the beginning of January, there have already been six launches, as in the whole of 2021. The missiles have been launched from a submarine, a train and from the ground. Not even a supersonic missile capable of changing trajectory in flight was missing.
This is clearly a provocation, because the UN Security Council has banned Pyongyang from launching ballistic missiles. But Kim Jong-un doesn’t care about the United Nations in the slightest. The message and its recipient remain to be deciphered.
Loosen the grip of sanctions
Kim Jong-un first turns to Joe Biden, to get his attention using the only means at his disposal: weapons.
But why the president of the United States in particular? Three years ago, the honeymoon between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump was abruptly interrupted at the summit in Hanoi, after an incredible seduction maneuver that was about to succeed. Since then, nothing more, and the change in the White House has not changed the situation.
North Korea is a paradox: it has developed the atomic weapon but the population is exhausted
Kim Jong-un needs to loosen the grip of US sanctions against his country. The North Korean leader had started his reign with a principle of economic openness much appreciated by the population, but recently he had to admit the existence of serious problems exacerbated by the closure of the country due to the covid-19.
North Korea is a paradox. The country has developed nuclear weapons and ballistic vectors despite having an atrophied economy, because the political choice was to devote all resources to defense to ensure the survival of the regime. But today the country badly needs the lifting of sanctions.
Offer rejected
How could the launch of the missiles lead to this goal? It may seem counterintuitive, but the logic of the regime is this: the display of new weapons should push the United States back to the negotiating table. The problem is that the Biden administration is ready to meet with the North Koreans only to discuss denuclearization, a prerequisite for lifting the sanctions.
However, this is a step that Pyongyang has no intention of taking. The atomic weapon, combined with missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, constitutes in fact a life insurance for a political regime unique in the world. Giving up would be suicide.
The Kim dynasty takes advantage of the climate of tension that has not had a solution of continuity after the Korean War. For this reason, Pyongyang is not interested in the South Korean president’s offer to conclude the peace treaty that was never signed after the war ended in 1953. President Moon hoped to reach a conclusion before the presidential elections in March.
The answer came with the launch of missiles. Kim Jong-un’s message is evidently also addressed to South Korea.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)
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