AMAC Exclusive – By Ben Solis
On Monday, following a barrage of missile tests over the past several weeks, North Korean state media announced that the launches were to simulate an attack on U.S. and South Korean targets. In addition to placing countries throughout Asia on high alert, the news highlights the glaring failures of the Biden administration when it comes to dealing with the threat from North Korea, a sharp reversal from the historic progress seen during the Trump administration.
Over the course of the past few weeks, North Korea has launched seven ballistic missiles, including an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) which sent residents in some northern Japanese cities fleeing for bomb shelters. As the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement: “Through seven times of launching drills of the tactical nuclear operation units, the actual war capabilities… of the nuclear combat forces ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at any location and any time were displayed to the full.”
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada commented that North Korea’s unprecedented pace of missile launches represents a threat to the peace and security of his country, the region, and the international community. Notably, North Korea’s IRBM program is now believed capable of striking U.S. targets on Guam.
The hermit kingdom’s aggressive attitude toward the West is hardly a new development, but this most recent intensification of hostilities should prompt President Joe Biden to change his priority when it comes to North Korea from mutual disarmament to missile defense. Indeed, it seems that Biden has undone much of the progress of his predecessor – primarily by failing to keep the same sort of pressure on the country that provided Trump with excellent leverage to force North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the negotiating table.
Throughout his four years in office, Trump oversaw three summits with the North Koreans, in Singapore, Hanoi, and Seoul. In Singapore, Kim ultimately agreed to a framework for denuclearization. In 2019, Trump took the historic step of becoming the first sitting U.S. President to set foot in North Korea, seemingly a positive sign. The immediate tangible effect of these talks resulted in the release of American prisoners and abstention from testing medium or long-range missiles, as well as a new type of missile.
However, soon after taking office, Biden abandoned Trump’s progress and resorted to Obama’s failed approach of “strategic patience,” which allowed North Korea to build up its nuclear arsenal in the first place. While abandoning Trump’s strategy of personal outreach and dialogue with Kim, Biden has also failed to enforce congressionally approved sanctions on North Korea, in effect allowing the regime to continue its malign activities unimpeded.
As a result, Kim has ramped up North Korea’s nuclear weapons program to an unprecedented level, posing a grave threat to both the United States and its allies in the region. The North Korean military has tested 25 ballistic missiles this year alone, and experts now say that the country has between 20 and 30 nuclear warheads ready to use in a potential conflict.
Under Biden’s watch, North Korea has also developed and successfully tested a new hypersonic glide vehicle missile called the Hwasong-8 that moves three times the speed of sound, and has recommenced testing of the Hwasong-12 missile – dubbed the “Guam Killer.”
North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament also passed a law last month saying that the country has a right to launch a preemptive nuclear strike “automatically,” with Kim saying that the new law makes the country’s nuclear status “irreversible.” This frightening new development effectively precludes further talks of denuclearization, reversing the progress made under the Trump administration.
While Biden cannot undo his failures, he can take decisive action to upgrade U.S. missile defense and response systems. All 50 states are currently defended by 44 ground-based missile interceptors (GBI) in Alaska and California. But many of these GBIs in the ground are almost two decades old and long overdue for an upgrade. Similarly, missile defense systems on Guam and other U.S. military bases in Asia are also in need of updating.
In response to these concerns, Congress in 2020 added significant funding for the military’s Service Life Extension Program for some of these missile defense systems. But in 2022 Biden reduced funding for this program from $600 million to $41 million, again leaving the country’s most valuable military assets vulnerable to North Korea’s rapidly advancing missile technology.
As Biden continues to send billions of dollars to Ukraine and other far-flung regions of the world, he should not forget the defense priorities of the United States. While Biden’s failures have emboldened perhaps more dangerous adversaries like Russia and China, the threat from North Korea is not one any U.S. administration can afford to ignore.
Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.
I’m shocked, SHOCKED to hear that team Biden has failed at yet another foreign policy effort. Who could have guessed the Biden administration would be so utterly incompetent and corrupt? Of yeah, anyone who paid attention to anything going on in Washington for the last 50 years. LOL!!!
Seriously people, what do you honestly expect from team Biden? If you haven’t learned yet that team Biden is completely incompetent and unfit to lead the United States in any fashion, then I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe team Biden will offer to give North Korea some military aid, if they promise to say nice things about senile Joe before they launch an attack on South Korea or Japan. Maybe we should send V.P. Harris over again to say we have a great alliance with North Korea. That demonstrated real leadership on the world stage. Maybe we should offer to give North Korea some oil from our rapidly depleting SPR, so the slaves under Little Kim’s thumb can have a little heat this winter. Better still, maybe team Biden will offer some American farmland to North Korea. Any of these are possible under an administration of team Biden.
Biden surrenders day 1
So what’s new? Loopy Joe has failed at everything for over 40 years in politics. So why shouldn’t he fail now since he’s had so many years of practice.
Biden has failed at every turn; he is the most incompetent Person to ever occupy the Oval Office (I refuse to call him President). But do you good folks Know who the most incompetent people are, the most incompetent people are in the News Media, those who aid and abide Joe Biden, the Communist, that think its ok to destroy America, the other group that’s, equally incompetent are the people who will still vote for the American hating Democrats, if the american hating people return any of the lying, scum-sucking, Weasel, Slime-ball Democrats or elect any new ones to Congress it will be the end of America as we know it, I am afraid that we have lost the greatest Nation that was ever created by man, and we should all shed a tear!
God Bless America!
Once again, Biden has thrown the United States under the nuclear bus. IF North Korea and Kim were to do anything stupid such as launch a nuclear attack, we are woefully unprepared to respond in kind. No one wants a war, but a good defense is a strong, capable offense which we do not have right now. Stop spending money on stupid programs like gender studies and equity. We need and must have a strong and prepared military
All suggestions from this writer, no demands. How many missle tests fired across Japanese territories were conducted during he previous administration? While thier government builds and tests war machines, the North Korean people live in poverty and fear for their own safety. And, writers “suggest” our “leader” take more postive action.
Of course he failed. What else does he do?
How else would they (the current regime) act, considering anyone with a brain cell working realizes they’re ultimate goal is to take down the U.S.?
Can anyone name even one instance where he was a success
Illegitimate Biden and his clueless college lounge moron advisers are reaping what they’ve sown.
Since 1973, I have NEVER seen DICTATOR Beijing biden accomplish anything except being a Con-artist and Criminal.
He is a prime example of why there should be term limits.
The problem is that the entire West has allowed N Korea to get this far. They should have been stopped once they were getting close to nuclear capability or before that. The armistice ended years ago and once N Korea started putting nuclear capability together they should have been stopped. Their people are starving to death and it would be a humanitarian move, not just a military move. Now, everything is complicated. When America was much, much stronger than China and the West was far ahead of China, Russia and any other socialist/communist nation, we should have just went in and ended this dangerous criminal nation. China could have cried all it wanted but they would not have been able to do anything about it back then. Now, the world has a real problem on their hands. The only option now is to take a precautionary stand and move in the way Israel does and cause damage and sabotage their locations in small teams that can do their work and get out. China doesn’t want us at their border but N Korea is now a danger to surrounding nations and further out. Everyday that we wait, they get more and more capable of causing nuclear damage further and further away and into the US and other nations. This has to be a joint operation with our closes allies. Putin has his hands full right now and N Korea has no real ground threat, they barely have ammunition to fight any sort of drawn out fight. Strategic hits on their nuclear locations need to happen as soon as possible and the Hermit Kingdom needs to be made to realize that we can take Pyongyang out anytime we want but sending a few bombs around/near their capitol city.
Can anyone show one instance of when Biden succeeded where Trump failed?
Bi-Dung only cares about illegal immigrants, the alphabet soup idiots & criminals!!!!! If you work for a living and pay your taxes you are a worthless POS in the eyes of demoncraps & bi-dung!!
The United States will be fired on by another country and it will be Biden and the democrats falt.The United States is lost all it’s power your country is no stronger than it’s leader our leader is a wimp.
I hope & pray the mentally deprived person will have making all the decisions for our nation does not get us into another war but its not looking good.
No one even wants to join the military anymore and the ones that are already there are not prepared!
Poor leadership is exactly what it is, failure at home and abroad. We’re seeing it first hand daily. And people will continue voting for these failed dem policies and politicians.
I do fails everything but that’s what you get when you get a brunch on it Thursday Trump needs everything work and everything come together the economy was strong
This might be a warning and grief from this administration to the public. A missile hits New York or. DC would. be a good reason for marshal law and no election. We talk on this site but what really can we do?? Blame doesn’t solve problems but actions do. Actions within the law .IMO
All these illegal people coming in is not a group of new voters but scapegoats to lay blame on for the election of democrats. The game is obvious and counts already in. We only can vote and fight corruption where we find it
This is dangerous!
Please let no one accuse the good people of Delaware putting Biden in office term after term..The voters were told that just like we are told he won the election. Please note Biden draws 300Trump 30,000 and they honestly thought everyone would ski and jump for joy. We are not democrats. We are American patriots dedicated to God,family ,country. Lock and load. Buy ak47, ar 15and16,mini14and plenty ammo. May need to hunt to eat. Don’t Tread On Us!!!
You are 1/2 correct – you should have left off “on North Korea”!!
Biden is crazy. The congress and senate are incompentent. Otherwise WHY would put the USA and our clise alies at such great risk?
The real story would be Joe Biden NOT FAILING at something! That would be amazing…
Biden was a gift, wrapped for North Korea and for that matter the rest of the world’s despots. A strong president would tell North Korea if it ever launches any nuclear or non nuclear war head toward us or one of our allies, they will cease to exist. Plain and simple. Most tyrants only understand strength and force.
i loved the picture of kammy over in South Korea looking through binoculars over at North Korea from a safe space , if i had been the soldier with her i would have pointed and said over there is where Our Great President Trump crossed over into North Korea shaking hands with little rocket man but you and slow joe blew that ! Peace through Strength is conservative values slow joe and the left see $$$$ signs and think how much can i make selling America to the commies .
Biden is a failure.
Ukraine is not a “far flung” place. If Ukraine stops Putin, we don’t have to fight him directly. If Putin wins in Ukraine, he has already said he will go after other former Soviet Union states, including Estonia, Lithuania, and even Poland. In fact, at one point he said he would eventually retake old Russian Imperial states like FINNLAND! We must help Ukraine stop Putin. It is in our best interest.