Kim Jong Un, the buffoon leader from North Korea, will never deviate from his chosen path of flexing his country’s muscles in a strong nuclear program. 

Recently, the country launched a satellite into space, which is conveniently being called a missile launch in Washington. This is because a long-range rocket used to launch a satellite can also be used for launching a nuclear war head. Beyond sensationalist headlines and the right-wing drama on the satellite launches, there needs to be a dramatic foreign policy change when it comes to dealing with the East Asian rogue. 

Did the U.S. under the Obama administration in 2013 do enough when Kim Jong Un had an underground nuclear blast test? With what is currently happening in that part of the world, it doesn’t seem like it. 

In general terms, Obama has been a successful president when it comes to foreign policy, but North Korea has been a disaster. There does not seem to be a convincing resolve in the White House to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. The U.N. Security Council condemned the tests in 2013 and 2016, following a global condemnation by world leaders, but the White House foreign policy looked unabashed. 

There is a bill that could be passed in the Senate that offers some strict regulations. Sen. Bob Corker writes in an article to CNN, “The bill requires the Obama administration to investigate sanctionable conduct. This means working to expose those involved in supporting North Korea’s human rights abuses, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and activities undermining cybersecurity — marking the first statutory framework for sanctions in response to the growing North Korean cyberthreat.”

The U.S.’s problem has been China’s proximity with Pyongyang, and the Chinese have been adventurous in their relationship with the East Asian rogue. If reports are to be believed, a senior Chinese diplomat named Wu Dawei was present in Pyongyang when North Korea carried out the satellite launch on Chinese Lunar New Year. Dawei was on a visit to Pyongyang to de-escalate Kim Jong Un’s nuclear initiatives. Dawei’s snubbing by North Korea has had strong repulsions in Beijing with many calling it a virtual slap to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy dealings. 

Pyongyang is brilliantly maneuvering in the direction of its ambitions- unmatchable hegemony in nuclear capability in the region.

Christopher Green, a Seoul-based journalist for The Guardian said, “The road to putting meaningful pressure on Pyongyang always runs through Beijing but China’s stance reflects more than mere pushback against interfering outsiders. Beijing has one eye on the larger strategic picture. The “Korea problem” is also connected to China’s own interests in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s expansionism faces off against the US, whose strategic goal is to buttress the power of smaller states in the region.”

In the U.S., the time has come where Kim Jong Un must move from comedy central jokes to a problem on the Oval Office’s table. We have had many gags about him but if things sail on as they are, he could have the last laugh. 

It is sad that nothing has come out of the UN Security Council emergency meeting, the UN Chief has called the rocket-launch ‘deplorable’ but the call for an emergency meet by U.S., South Korea and Japan had high expectations to deliver results but did not turn out productive. 

U.S. and South Korea are discussing a possibility of deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to Seoul. This will act as a deterrent to Pyongyang and will help protect Seoul under any adversities. This has ruffled some Chinese feathers who have called the move a threat to the Korean peninsula. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “Moving ahead with the deployment of anti-missile systems in the region will further raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula. It will not help maintain regional peace and stability, nor will it lead to a proper settlement of the current situation. We urge relevant parties to deal with this issue with care and caution.”

To put the icing on the cake , North Korea, through its embassy in Moscow, has released a defying statement stating it will continue with more man-made launches in the coming weeks.