North Korea Tests Missile, West Discovers 'Provocation' Has Two Sides
ABC News breathlessly informs us that North Korea test-fired a cruise missile ahead of a planned Trump visit to South Korea. This, we're told, is a 'provocation.' Yet, buried beneath the headline, one might recall the decades of massive US-South Korea joint military exercises – including Operation Ulchi Freedom Guardian, Key Resolve, and Vigilant Ace – often involving tens of thousands of troops,
B-52 bombers, and nuclear-capable aircraft. These drills, repeatedly deemed 'rehearsals for invasion' by Pyongyang, somehow never register as 'provocative' to mainstream outlets. So, a cruise missile test by a nation surrounded by hostile military alliances is an outrageous act, but continuous, large-scale war games on its border are simply business as usual? (Perhaps if Pyongyang called its
missile tests 'Operation Defensive Eagle,' ABC would be less alarmed.) The framing is clear: actions by 'adversaries' are always aggressive, while identical (or far larger) actions by 'allies' are always justified. One might wonder if the US engaging in perpetual military operations in the region contributes to, rather than deters, North Korean missile development.