Mick Hartley

They're stirring things up again:

North Korea has tested a banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time since 2017, according to South Korea.

Japanese officials estimated it flew 1,100 km (684 miles). It fell in Japanese waters after flying for more than an hour.

An ICBM can travel thousands of kilometres on a standard trajectory, and could theoretically reach the US.

It's no coincidence that South Korea has just elected a new president. A new US president or a new South Korean president usually provides a good excuse to crank up the missile launches, in an increasingly desperate attempt to gain attention and to test out the new incumbent. It's all very one-dimensional, but then it's the only dimension that Pyongyang has.

New president Yoon is meant to be a hardliner on North Korea, so we'll see if and how he responds.

In the meantime the outgoing president Moon and the incoming president Yoon are "squabbling over office space and personnel appointments. It is clear that the Moon Jae-in administration has no interest in aiding a smooth transfer of power"….a continuation of the election campaign, which was, according to the Chosun Ilbo, an ""election of the unfavorables" as the two leading candidates remained neck and neck while they slung mud at each other over various scandals while the big questions remained unanswered."

So that's encouraging…