Fatal Blow to the Overbearing Superpower

At 02:48 a.m. (Pyongyang time) on November 29, 2017, Hwasong 15 blasted off in the capital city of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

With regard to the development of this new type of ICBM the government of the DPRK stated that it has a longer range than Hwasong 14, which was launched in July the same year, boasting its superior technical specifications and characteristics. It called this a momentous event signifying that the country has accomplished the historic cause of perfecting its nuclear forces, the cause of building a powerful rocket nation.

The news attracted massive media coverage around the world.

What is the meaning of this test-firing of the ICBM?

First, it can be construed as the DPRK’s explicit answer to the preposterous actions taken by the US.

Most recently, the bilateral relations went to extremes but the tension subsided for a certain period, obviously thanks to the DPRK’s patience.

US politicians must have judged that their rival lost its nerve or was retreating from its tough stand. During his recent trip to south Korea Trump hurled abuses at the DPRK and threatened to use force against it. Several grandees of the US pressurized other countries into severing all relations with the DPRK. Worse still, the US re-listed it as a state that sponsors terrorism; in 2008 it had removed the country from the “list of state sponsors of terrorism.” In doing so, the US might be calculating that the DPRK would back off out of fear. Rather, the latter built up its own strength while watching the situation with composure.

By launching the new type of ICBM, the DPRK demonstrated that it will continue to follow the path of its own choice, it is growing stronger in its anti-US feelings and it will counter the US by force of arms. To the US, this must be an unexpected deadly blow.

Second, the launch of Hwasong 15 is a warning message to the US.

The incumbent US president, though pitiably ignorant of both political and military affairs, takes every opportunity to trumpet about America’s “mightiness” and threaten to “totally destroy north Korea.” To the DPRK, this invective is no more than a mad dog’s barking.

The DPRK has strived with perseverance to be on an equal footing with the US in the balance of power, and it is now fully resolved, and seems ready, to confront the military superpower with what it already has. The country’s self-defensive military capability has grown strong enough to strike American citizens with unease, but the US government has persisted in wielding the stick.

The recent ICBM launch proves once again that all the parts of the US mainland are within the range of the DPRK’s missiles.

Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes.

For the Trump administration, it will be worth making a correct judgement of how strong its rival is and having a clear understanding of the latter’s warning message. It is absurd to assume that UN resolutions and escalating sanctions can be a “master key.” Such acts of hostility will lead to the destruction of the US itself.