Here begins the real-world consequences of Joe Biden’s failures in Afghanistan – aside from leaving American citizens, greencard holders, and SIV holders behind to whatever fate befalls them.

North Korea, still under the control of dictator-for-life Kim Jong Un, decided to test some new missiles over the weekend. After all, why not? It’s not like Joe Biden is going to do anything about it. And these were not just fun little rockets. Nope, North Korea tested out some cruise missiles.

North Korea says it successfully test fired newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, its first known testing activity in months, underscoring how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States.”

The Korean Central News Agency said Monday the cruise missiles, which had been under development for two years, demonstrated an ability to hit targets 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away during flight tests on Saturday and Sunday.”

The North hailed its new missiles as a “strategic weapon of great significance” that meets leader Kim Jong Un’s call to strengthen the country’s military might, implying that they were being developed with an intent to arm them with nuclear warheads.”

Just so everyone can get some perspective, Japan is only 649 miles by air from North Korea. Taiwan is 1,209 miles by air. So yes, this is a problem.

Jeffrey Lewis, a missile researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said intermediate-range land-attack cruise missiles were no less a threat than ballistic missiles and were a pretty serious capability for North Korea.”

“This is another system that is designed to fly under missile defence radars or around them,” Lewis said on Twitter.”

Cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles that can be armed with either conventional or nuclear bombs are particularly destabilising in the event of conflict as it can be unclear which kind of warhead they are carrying, analysts said.”

Meanwhile, in North Korea itself, Kim Jong Un has become the only person in the country to voluntarily go on a diet. The communist dictator was seen last week at the parade to “celebrate” 73 years of communist tyranny, smiling for the cameras.

Kim Jong Un looked thinner and more energetic in a North Korean parade that showcased military animals and workers in hazmat suits. Experts say Kim’s weight loss is likely the result of an effort to improve his shape rather than health problems. https://t.co/kuWb7SuZpe

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 9, 2021

Does anyone want to talk to Joe Biden about “forever wars” and the troops that we still have stationed in South Korea – because there is no actual peace treaty that ended the Korean War, only a cease-fire that never led to an actual formal end to the war in 1953? It just doesn’t happen to be an “active” combat zone at the moment – and not that it couldn’t change into one at a moment’s notice if Kim Jong Un took a fancy to it. We have had troops in South Korea for close to 70 years. That sounds an awful lot longer than the not-quite 20 years that we were in Afghanistan. I get that Joe Biden was only eight years old when the Korean War began, and math and memory are kind of not his thing, but… you would think someone in the administration would do the math.

The only thing that the Biden-Harris administration seems to notice right now is that North Korea isn’t taking their calls at the moment.

Talks between the United States and North Korea have stalled since the collapse of a summit between Trump and Kim in 2019, when the Americans rejected the North’s demand for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities. Kim’s government has so far rejected the Biden administration’s overtures for dialogue, demanding that Washington abandon its “hostile” policies first.”

Now, I do believe that everything North Korea says should be taken with a grain of salt, because let’s remember that these are all claims that they are making. For all we know, they could have just shot off the only two cruise missiles it had. Is this merely a show to get a little attention back? Or is this something that needs to be taken seriously?

The other part of the problem is that technically, cruise missiles don’t violate any of the UN sanctions on North Korea. Does that make anyone feel better? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Even if these were the only cruise missiles that North Korea had, why fire them off now? Well, because Joe Biden looks weak, old, defensive, and feckless on the international stage. He not only screwed over allies, he abandoned American citizens. There’s blood in the water, and all the bad guys all over the world can smell it. Biden wants to pull back American power and retreat, which leaves open holes for bad actors to step forward. So, with nothing to lose and perhaps something to be gained, why wouldn’t North Korea shoot off a few missiles just to remind the world that they’re here, and they aren’t going to be going away.

After all, what is Joe Biden going to do? Sic OSHA on them?

Featured image: Pyongyang, North Korea, Kim Il Sun Square, via gfs_mizuta on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license