In an opinion piece, Shawn Ho and Nah Liang Tuang wrote that North Korea’s recent launches should be viewed as signals rather than as provocations. A North Korean rocket/missile landing in its own littoral waters will not panic the region, whereas a longer range missile that flies over or lands in Japanese waters most certainly would. Thus far, these short range launches have not prompted fierce reactions from the United States and South Korea, which remain keen to resume talks with Pyongyang.

…Shawn Ho is an Associate Research Fellow with the Regional Security Architecture Program, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Nah Liang Tuang is a Research Fellow with the Military Studies Program at RSIS, NTU, Singapore.