North Korea Fires Missiles, Continues to Antagonize the World

North Korea, again defying U.N. resolutions and drawing the ire of the global community, fired seven ballistic missiles into the waters off its east coast on Saturday. Coming on July 4, America’s Independence Day, seemed an intentional ploy by North Korea, whose military exercise was confirmed by South Korea. The missiles fired Saturday reportedly flew just over 250 miles and landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, according to reports from the South. Officials in Tokyo called the launches a "serious act of provocation" and other countries roundly condemned the launch as well.

There was no comment from President Obama on the matter, though some staffers noted that there likely would be a muted reaction to the launch in order to avoid giving any undue attention to Pyongyang. The missile launch is merely the latest in a continuing affront to the rest of the world by North Korea. Ignoring the fact that their country is not actually capable of such an attack, North Korean officials promised a "thousand-fold" military strike against the U.S. if provoked.

Experts speaking on the matter largely felt that North Korea is "flexing its muscles" by continually defying the U.N. Said Daniel Pinkston, an analyst for the International Crisis Group, "I think it's a demonstration of their defiance and rejection of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, for one thing, and to demonstrate their military power capabilities to any potential adversaries." Thus far, the U.S., its allies and other major players in the global community have merely threatened North Korea for defying them, with no specific action taken and, apparently, with none planned to quell the regional temper tantrums that are coming in the form of ineffectual missile launches.