North Korea fired a ballistic missile that fell in waters between North Korea and Japan, the South Korean military said. The launch comes after weeks of relative calm on the Korean Peninsula, and it marks one of the first significant tests of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy. The missile was launched from a site near Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, around 7:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.
The South Korean military detected the launch immediately and alerted their counterparts in Japan. Japanese officials issued an evacuation alarm on the island of Hokkaido shortly after detecting the missile’s trajectory towards Japan but later retracted it as it became clear that the missile would not reach Japanese territory.
North Korea has been testing missiles regularly since its leader Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011. In recent years, these tests have become more frequent and more sophisticated as North Korea seeks to develop long-range missiles capable of reaching mainland U.S. targets.
The United States has responded to these provocations with a mix of sanctions and diplomatic pressure aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. However, despite several rounds of talks between Washington and Pyongyang, there has been little progress towards denuclearization.
President Biden has signaled his intention to take a different approach than his predecessor Donald Trump by focusing on diplomacy rather than personal diplomacy with Kim Jong-un. So far, this approach has yielded little tangible results beyond some initial overtures from North Korea.
However, analysts say that Thursday’s test may be an attempt by Pyongyang to test President Biden’s resolve or gain leverage in future negotiations.
“The timing is interesting,” says John Delury, an East Asia expert at Yonsei University in Seoul. “It could be seen as a message to Biden saying ‘we’re still here’ or it could be part of their broader strategy for dealing with him.”
Despite concerns about North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and provocative behavior, many experts believe that the best way to deal with Pyongyang is through a combination of sanctions and diplomatic engagement.
“This is a reminder that North Korea remains one of the most pressing foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States,” says None, an expert on North Korea at None. “But it’s also a reminder that we need to be realistic about what can be achieved through diplomacy.”
President Biden has yet to comment publicly on Thursday’s missile test, but it is likely that his administration will take a tough stance on North Korea while seeking to engage Pyongyang in dialogue.
The United States’ relationship with North Korea dates back to the Korean War when U.S. forces fought alongside South Korean troops against communist forces from the north. Since then, tensions have remained high between Washington and Pyongyang, and efforts towards denuclearization have been few and far between.
In 2018, President Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a North Korean leader when he held talks with Kim Jong-un in Singapore. However, these talks failed to yield any concrete results beyond vague promises from both sides.
Experts say that President Biden faces an uphill battle in dealing with North Korea given its history of belligerence towards the United States and its continued development of nuclear weapons.
“The challenge for President Biden will be finding a way to work effectively with Kim Jong-un while maintaining pressure on him,” says None. “It’s going to require patience, persistence, and creativity.”