Donald Trump’s foreign policy is going so fantastically in Syria, and so great for Ukraine, that it seems only appropriate that on Thursday morning there was news from Trump’s other big overseas triumph. As The Washington Post reports, Trump’s very good friend Kim Jong Un fired off another pair of missiles—making an even dozen launches in just the last six months.
The missile test followed on the heels of North Korea issuing an ultimatum to the United States in which it warned that the “close personal relationship” between Trump and Kim doesn’t mean that North Korea is not “getting aggravated,” and that unless there is progress, the U.S. is “seriously mistaken” in believing peace will last to the end of the year.
The pair of missiles splashed down some 230 miles out to sea, though their 55-mile maximum altitude suggests they could have traveled considerably farther downrange. Trump has repeatedly waved away previous North Korean launches, declaring that they are not violations of the vague agreement he made with Kim. While this class of missile could not reach the United States, it could likely deliver a nuclear weapon to either Seoul or Tokyo.
Both the president of South Korea and the prime minister of Japan described the launch as “ballistic missiles” and warned that it was a serious threat to peace in the region. But they shouldn’t worry so much. Just ask the Kurds.