The Biden administration’s responses to a recent flurry of North Korean ballistic missile tests have been alarmingly feeble and vague. The bitter lessons from President Barack Obama’s misguided “strategic patience” policy, which failed to stop North Korea from developing nuclear arms and missiles, seem to have been lost on the Biden White House.
President Joe Biden appears to be too preoccupied with dealing with security threats posed by Russia and China to adopt any strong stance toward Pyongyang that would risk inviting even more provocations from the secluded regime, which is known for its brinkmanship and has proved loath to pass up any opportunity to boost its bargaining position by cranking up the stakes.
By failing to stand firm against North Korea’s reckless provocations, however, Biden may be repeating the costly strategic blunder committed by Obama.