North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles as Blinken Visits Seoul
Voice of AmericaMar 17
NKorea Tests Ballistic Missiles as Blinken Visits Seoul
The Facts
North Korea reportedly fired three short-range ballistic missiles Monday, the first of which traveled 185 miles (297 km) before landing in the Sea of Japan. South Korea claimed the weapons appeared to be KN-24 missiles, which weigh 1.1K pounds and have a 250-mile (402 km) range.
Tokyo reported that all three missiles landed off North Korea's east coast but outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Pyongyang's latest launch follows its solid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missile test in January.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Democratic allies of Eastern Asia have conducted non-provocative military drills in the region due to the North's decision to physically threaten its southern neighbor and Japan. Instead of engaging in diplomacy — an example of which is the current Democracy Summit in Seoul — Kim Jong Un has chosen to launch missiles into Japan's backyard. Not only is Kim's rhetoric inflammatory, but his actions are outright life-threatening.
Establishment-critical narrative
Those who believe Kim Jong Un wants war have excluded key details from their analyses. First, the language change in Pyongyang's Constitution matters little, given that the Kim regime continued its military programs before the change. Kim has also explicitly stated that he won't start a war but only respond to outside aggression. North Korea's recent escalation isn't erratic, as some would claim, but rather comes in response to the US and Soeul speaking of regime change.
Nerd narrative
There's a 15% chance that there will be a full-scale war between North Korea and South Korea by 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.