By Rick Noack November 29
President Trump responded on Nov. 28 to North Korea's latest missile launch, saying his basic approach to dealing with Pyongyang will not change. (Reuters)
BERLIN — When North Korea tested a new kind of intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, Pyongyang boasted that the regime could now strike “anywhere in the mainland United States.”
Experts have calculated that the missile could theoretically reach Washington D.C. which is about 6,700 miles away from North Korea. Less noticed, however, is the fact that North Korea’s recent tests have also put a range of European capitals on the map of Pyongyang’s possible targets, according to missile experts. Cities like Paris, London or Berlin are all located much closer to North Korea than Washington D.C., although air distance is not necessarily all equal when it comes to the path of missiles.
A previous missile tested by North Korea may already have been able to reach those cities under certain circumstances, but Wednesday’s launch has now almost certainly put all major European targets within Pyongyang's reach.
NATO acknowledged earlier this year that European countries may soon become potential targets and France’s Foreign Ministry warned that such a situation would “be explosive.”
Yet, Europe still does not appear to view North Korea’s missile program as its own problem, even as the scenario officials once feared appears to have become reality.
European leaders may have doubled down on their condemnations after the latest missile test, but these largely echoed previous, more cautious remarks, compared to President Trump vowing, somewhat ominously, to “take care of it.” The comparative calmness with which Europe is responding may of course be due to the lack of direct threats. So far, North Korea has focused on its archenemy, the United States, even though European politicians have acknowledged that an escalation of the conflict could easily draw Europe into the dispute.
But their more cautious responses also reflect the role European leaders believe they have in this conflict. Occupied with other foreign policy and security dilemmas, Europe has so far mainly attempted to prevent a further escalation of the tensions between the United States and North Korea. “Nuclear armed North Korea is clearly a potential threat to Europe, but it’s far from a top priority. Europe is dealing with a resurgent Russia, irregular migration and a host of other issues before North Korea comes up,” said Marcel Dirsus, a German military expert and political scientist at the University of Kiel.
“Even if Europe wanted to influence events on the ground, it couldn’t. Europe has no real political, economic or military leverage over Pyongyang. The real players are China, Russia and the United States. When it comes to North Korea, Europe has neither the will nor the capability to effect meaningful change. The North Korean crisis illustrates the limits of European power,” Dirsus said.
In their responses on Tuesday and Wednesday, leading European politicians showed they saw North Korea as a global, rather than as a European problem.
In a tweet, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the test “reinforces our determination to increase pressure on Pyongyang and our solidarity with our partners.”
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel similarly criticized North Korea over its missile program, saying in a statement that it “again breached international law. North Korea’s ruthless behavior poses a huge threat to international security.”
“This proves again the seriousness of the threat to world peace posed by North Korea,” he added. Germany also summoned the North Korean ambassador on Wednesday.
A man watches a TV showing a local news program reporting Wednesday about North Korea's missile launch, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on the North Korean regime to “change course,” on Wednesday, saying: “This is not the path to security and prosperity for the North Korean people.”
Britain has so far offered the strongest acknowledgment that Europe is increasingly under threat of North Korea’s refusal to stop its nuclear and missile tests, as well. In September, then-defense secretary Michael Fallon said: “The U.S. is fully entitled to defend its own territory, to defend its bases and to look after its people, but this involves us, London is closer to North Korea and its missiles than Los Angeles,” he said.
“The range is getting longer and longer and we have to get this program halted because the dangers now of miscalculation, of some accident triggering a response are extremely great,” Fallon added at the time.
Yet, as North Korea continued to make technological advances this past year, Europe’s role in pressuring it into halting its program remained mostly unchanged — and largely rhetorical. As well as condemning the missile tests, European top officials have also lashed out at Trump for threatening Pyongyang. Gabriel of Germany criticized Trump in September, saying that “martial rhetoric won’t take us one step further,” after Trump threatened North Korea with “total destruction.”
Europe's reluctance to fully support the U.S. stance toward handling the North Korea dilemma is likely being welcomed by Russia, which similarly condemned the test on Wednesday and indirectly appeared to warn the United States of overreacting.
“Another missile launch is a provocative action that provokes further growth of tension and puts us even further away from the start of settling this crisis situation,” the presidential press secretary, Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
“We condemn this launch and hope that all parties concerned will be able to remain calm, which is so essential in order to avoid the worst-case scenario in the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.
The measured response by the Kremlin, which is ironically known in Europe for its often aggressive military operations, and its striking similarity to Western Europe’s approach likely has a lot to do with the fact that none of their capitals are currently in the sights of North Korea’s missiles. Yet, at the same time, the diplomatic solution they all favor has made little head way so far.
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Trump is a massive disgrace to the US - arrogant, ignorant, malignant narcissistic, vindictive, manipulative, greedy etc. He commands no respect whatsoever across the globe. One just has to despice the regimes that had rolled out red carpets for him when he came on state-visit.Fortunately all European leaders are reasonable and civilised. Although some are twice Kim Jong-un's age, they are not "lunatic" so that the young, unruly despot in Pyongyang has no reason to call any one of them a "mentally deranged dotard."
As per its domestic approach , US international policing always involves dramatically escalating a situation.US domestic policing is internationaly regarded as a total failure and not fit for purpose, US international policing should be regarded in the same light.This is the reason Obama choose to tread lightly in this arena, he understood the US was woefully poor at this form of power projection.Trump has little knowledge of the world beyond the end of his belly. One can only pray his incompetence and stupidity doesn't lead to genocide.
Well so far Trump has yet to destabilze middle eastern countries and go to wae in the wrong one.
How about trolling Qatar? You got a very short memory.And as far as the "wrong one" have you forgotten the "beautiful chocolate cake" balls up? Telling the Chinese Head of state that you've just sent 50 cruise missiles to the wrong country.
Why isn't Europe worried?
We're grown up. You're led by Trump. Surprisingly that leads to very different perceptions and behaviours.
For example we deal in facts, we do diplomacy instead of tweets, we're competent, .... and we're not trying to start a war with NK to distract from Mueller's investigation.
We're grown up. You're led by Trump. Surprisingly that leads to very different perceptions and behaviours.
For example we deal in facts, we do diplomacy instead of tweets, we're competent, .... and we're not trying to start a war with NK to distract from Mueller's investigation.
To hit Europe, an ICBM launched from North Korea would need to fly over both China and Russia. No way those countries would tolerate that.
our chicken-hawk draft-dodger-in-chief is too timid to "take care of it" with rocketboy! when the issue is fighting rocketboy , then our chicken-manure, stoneless mr. trump "is ALL TALK AND NO ACTION"! HE CHICKENED OUT OF VIET NAM AND NOW HE IS CHICKENING OUT OF KOREA!
OUR MARINE CORPS needs a "do-over" at changjin lake at chosin reservoir with a more favorable outcome than our frozen retreat under fire in december, 1950! general puller wants beaucoup payback for the frozen chosin!
The UK and Germany don't have an unhinged man-child at the helm who will gleefully start WWIII as a distraction once Mueller starts slinging out indictments.
Europe isn't worried because Europe isn't threatening North Korea. The North Korean nuclear program is a deterrent against attack ... and the only country threatening to attack it is us. If we want North Korea to tame its nuclear program, a rational first step is to offer a deal which includes removing our 30,000 troops from its border.
These pacifists and appeasers sat idly by as Germany and Japan started World War II. Now North Korea actually is building weapons and missile delivery systems that can take out American cities. Unless we can pressure China to remove Kim and his wmds quickly the only option left is an invasion of North Korea. Anything is preferable to risking the lives of millions of innocent American civilians and the destruction of the greatest nation on earth.
European foreign policy is not united enough to agree to, or even need an axis of evil scapegoat, absolutely. North Korea also knows Europe has not indicated they would ever strike first against that nation.
They aren't worried because they aren't the ones taunting Kim and North Korea, like a couple of schoolyard bullies daring each other to take a swing. trump* thinks this makes him look like a big man and brings him attention, which is much more important than the risk of nuclear war.
Roy, pay more attention. This war was in place long before Trump became president. This has been North Korea's goal for over 50 years. It's just plain immature to think taunting Kim is what caused him to develop ICBMs or maybe you think his uncle taunted him and that's why Kim had him killed by a mortar firing squad. Or maybe you think his brother taunted him so Kim had him killed with a banned nerve agent. Or maybe you think Japan taunted him and that's why he fired a missile over that country. Or he was taunted by his subjects so he starved them and some ate their kids to survive. Grow up. There are bigger things happening here then your SNL take on Trump.There will be no happy ending to this story. NK will be gone and many other will go with it. China and Russia are more to blame than Trump.
If China really believes the U.S. will attack North Korea chances are they will act to remove the madman Kim from power and install their own puppets who will secure and destroy the wmds and icbms under U.N. inspection. This option would mean the least number of deaths and destruction in Korea and fall out on Red China and Russia.
They aren't worried because, as was written in another article at the Post here, N. Korea doesn't yet have that capability.The US brought all of this on itself. The following written in another article from the Post: "China and Russia have, meanwhile, been calling on both sides to agree to a "freeze for freeze" whereby North Korea would stop testing while the United States and South Korea stopped military exercises — an idea rejected by both sides."The US war machine continues to PROVOKE Pyongyang will its bi annual military exercises. These exercises are NOT about the safety of the US, it's about a continued presence in Asia, regime change in N. Korea in order to place US military on China's borders. It's about CHINA. AND RUSSIA for the unelected power establishment.Many of us know that the Russian narrative is a fraud. We have been at war for sixteen years and picking on and tearing up defenseless countries that have lots of resources the US would like to have. N. Koorea is no exception to this, only this time thr US and it's goal of global HEGEMONY won't work for China or Russia and regime change in the North would surely drag China and Russia into this.If the US was at all concerned and cared about diplomacy instead of it's rabid narcissism (Trump IS the swamp), in regards to regime change it could bring about diplomacy within five minutes of announcing it will HALT its Military exercises. The North sees these exercises as preparation for an attack.But that's exactly what the US WANTS...
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