The US-North Korea missile waltz takes another spin

On Thursday, North Korea launched a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile. It was the North’s first ICBM test since November 2017, a time when Kim Jong Un and then-President Donald Trump were shooting petty insults at each other.

South Korea estimates that the missile traveled 671 miles, reaching an altitude of more than 3,800 miles before crashing into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Like clockwork, the White House immediately released a statement condemning the launch as a “brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” while outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency security council meeting to discuss the test.