War On The Rocks:
In launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, North Korea has done what many experts said must not occur, and what President Donald Trump said would not happen. Pyongyang now possesses the theoretical capacity to hit Alaska. It also claims to have successfully miniaturized nuclear warheads for use on an ICBM, though the U.S. government has not verified this, at least publicly. Whatever the precise status of North Korea’s programs, it’s very likely that Kim Jong Un will soon be able to hit the continental United States with a nuclear-tipped missile. The ball is in Washington’s court to devise a response.
The unveiling of this new ICBM should inject a dose of realism into its North Korea policy. Too often, U.S. policy has aimed at attractive but unattainable objectives, and sought them through unrealistic means. The United States should respond to North Korea’s ICBM launch with a series of tough measures based on the actual, prevailing dynamics of power on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia. This requires dropping a few illusions…
