North Korea's Threats To U.S. Worsen

For years, outsiders have dismissed North Korea’s regular missile tests as tantrums designed to get attention. But in the wake of its latest launch of an intermediate ballistic missile, it may be time to retire the spoiled child school of diplomatic analysis, Stephen Collinson and Shelby Rose wrote for CNN.

Photo Insert: The problem, as always with North Korea, is figuring out exactly what is going on in Kim Jong-un's mind.

While the template could fit the current situation — the United States is preoccupied with global crisis and Pyongyang can’t get a look — it’s too simplistic. It’s just as likely that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is using a moment when the US is stretched to push ahead even faster with his weapons programs.

This fits Pyongyang’s strategic goals and could pile negotiating chips on the board for any future talks with Washington.

The White House reacted to the North’s seventh test in the first month of 2022 by saying it was open to negotiations at any time. But North Korea isn’t biting at the official-level contacts that Washington is proposing.

And President Joe Biden won’t emulate former President Donald Trump’s cozy photo-ops with one of the world’s most brutal dictators. While those chats did slow the pace of testing, they handed Kim huge legitimacy that didn’t make the US safer in the long term.

The problem, as always with North Korea, is figuring out exactly what is going on in Kim’s mind. “The reality is that the North Koreans almost always have reasons for what they do. And our track record of understanding those ahead of time is not always so great," a US official told CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Kylie Atwood.

But Kim seems to be methodically working off a checklist as he tests his broadening arsenal. A next, escalatory step might be for North Korea to conduct more tests on intercontinental ballistic missiles that theoretically could carry a nuclear warhead to US soil.

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