North Korea’s ICBM test: the storm before the calm?
Now the mainland United States is within range of a nuclear strike, Kim Jong-un may be ready to come to the table
The United States, as it always does, is calling for UN Security Council action which is likely to result in Washington and Beijing arguing over the next few days (weeks? months?) about the next round of “severe penalties”. But Pyongyang may already be preparing its next move.
The test, according to official North Korean broadcasts, “meets the goal of the completion of the rocket weaponry system development set by the DPRK [Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea]”.
Trump’s nuclear standoff with North Korea: why this is no Cuban missile crisis
In short, Pyongyang seems to be telling us (my words, not theirs): “We have made our point. Now that Washington knows we can indeed strike anywhere we want in the mainland US, we might be ready to talk, provided the US and the international community is prepared to reward us, not for good behaviour [i.e. verifiable steps toward denuclearisation], but for the absence of bad behaviour [a halt in testing since the current testing cycle is complete].”