North Korea just tested another submarine-launched ballistic missile, #SLBM, attracting international condemnation. There is a question about whether the missile test was wholly successful, but what is certain is that the missile entered Japan’s air defence space. South Korea is carrying out increased public safety and air defence drills. I write about it in ‘Sword of Allah’ launching September 19th.
What will China do? North Korea is a useful lever for China, because it gives China something – leverage – which it can trade with the West. The issue of the Spratly Islands – over which China recently lost a case in the Court of Arbitration – is a case in point. So, freedom of the high seas or North Korea toeing the line. Get the picture?
SLBMs and a claimed nuclear fusion bomb test on February is raising the stakes in this sensitive region. Full story at CNN
