Reports of North Korea firing two short-range missiles over the weekend was predictable, the Biden Administration said, noting that the North Korean government traditionally makes a provocative action when new leaders of rivals take office, the Washington Post reports.
“We are also aware of military activity last weekend by the DPRK that is not sanctioned under U.N. Security Council resolutions restricting the ballistic missile program,” one official said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Downplaying the activities of North Korea and its dictator Kim Jong-un reverses the wooing of Kim by President Joe Biden’s predecessor, who sought to elevate and flatter Kim on the world stage.
“North Korea has a familiar menu of provocations when it wants to send a message to a U.S. administration,” the official said, adding that the tests were “on the low end of that spectrum.”