Opinion

Going ballistic: Why does Kim Jong-un continue to play bad boy?

Kim Jong-un’s weapons obsession has been posing a threat to the world

Pyongyang is at it, yet again. Even as a UN ban on testing nuclear and ballistics weapons remains, North Korea has gone a step further in violation of the restriction, and done just that.

Opening the New Year with the test of a suspected ballistic missile, North Korea has sent the global community looking for reasons as to why it shouldn’t condemn such mischief.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s 2022 shocker came in the form of the suspected ballistic missile that crashed into the sea off the nation’s east coast. Landing in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, the action evoked strong condemnations from Seoul and Tokyo. Ballistic missiles are believed to be a greater threat that cruise missiles as they have the capability to carry more powerful payloads. They also have a longer range and can fly faster.

Kim Jong-un throws UN ban to the wind

Though the UN has slapped a ban on testing of ballistic and nuclear ammunition, Kim Jong-un has thrown the restrictions out of the window by doing just that. The North Korean leader wants to add to the arms pile it already has and that has become a matter of concern to the neighbours and the whole world at large.

Neighbouring South Korea has been under constant fear with Pyongyang going ahead unabashedly stocking up weapons that are capable of mass destruction.  Last year too, the North Korean leader had tested a slew of missiles, at a time the country’s talks with the US and South Korea saw a lull.

Kim Jong-un, it may be recalled, had spoken about priorities for the nation he leads, just ahead of the dawn of the year 2022. And the latest ballistic missile test comes as a follow up and a commitment to establish those priorities.

Fear stalks Tokyo, Seoul

The tests were first reported by the Japanese coast guard and later by the defence authorities in South Korea’s Seoul.

With the test launched, the United States and South Korea are digging deeper into what actually happened and why it happened. Though the striking range of the tested missile has not been ascertained, Japan and South Korea are a concerned lot.

Kim Jong-un’s weapons obsession has been posing a threat to the world, to say the least. Even as the global community and the United Nations had come forward to put a halt on such devious behaviour from Pyongyang, the nation continues to stay deviant.

“Strengthening defence capabilities due to an increasingly unstable military environment on the Korean peninsula” is what North Korea holds aloft as a reason. However, the world wonders why Pyongyang doesn’t try and understand that the threat emanates from its own land.

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »
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