Pyongyang Milking a Fortuitous Window of Opportunity

There could not be a riper time than the present for North Korean provocations. Over the past six months, leadership changes took place in both the U.S. and South Korea, the DPRK’s two greatest adversaries. In Washington, the advent of the Trump Administration in January signaled to the Kim Jong-un regime the arrival of an “inexperienced” wildcard team, easily provoked and perhaps naive about playing by Pyongyang’s terms.

In Seoul, the ouster of conservative president Park Geun-hye and the recent election of liberal Moon Jae-in to the Blue House indicated an end of nearly 10 years of Seoul’s hardline approach toward its northern neighbor – and judging by Moon’s previous positions, the possibility of a more conciliatory North Korea policy.