Ahead of planned annual joint military exercises planned by the United States and South Korea, North Korea decided to shoot off a few missiles into the Sea of Japan.  Four short-range missiles (as best as South Korean defense officials can tell) were launched toward the east and fell harmlessly into the sea.  While the State Department and South Korean officials don’t consider this to be a big deal (a “low-level matter,” according to the Pentagon), it comes right on the heels of a rare North-South family reunion session (the first since 2010, and Pyongyang had  threatened to cancel this one due to the planned joint exercises), and North Korea displaying a South Korean missionary being held on purported espionage charges.

All this to say, with Ukraine in the news and our attention focused there, North Korea has decided to indulge themselves in a little saber rattling to make themselves look big and bad and dangerous.  Even while events in the Ukraine demand our notice, we cannot forget that North Korea would love to expand their own power and get nuclear capability, no matter what Dennis Rodman says.

And let’s not forget that last year, North Korea declared that they consider the 1953 armistice that brought about a cease-fire in the Korean War null and void, even though the United Nations said that they could not unilaterally declare the armistice over.  We all know that the North Korean government has such a great track record of following everything the UN says, so, we have nothing to worry about… right?

Will the North Koreans do more than shoot off some missiles to have their temper tantrum?  Probably not.  Will the day come when they can do more than ruthlessly oppress their own people, hold missionaries on accusations of crimes against the state, and cruelly keep families in the North from their loved ones in the South?

If we continue to sit by and watch, then yes.  The day will come when Kim Jong-Un will feel emboldened enough to do something big and powerful, and unless our State Department can pressure China into helping us sanction and control Kim Jong-Un, then we are all going to wish for the days when a North Korean tantrum meant a few missiles shot into the sea.