Missile Diplomacy: North Korea Ramps Up Threats in Trump 2.0
Amid President Donald Trump’s calls for summitry with his “friend” Kim Jong-un, as well as his observation that Kim has been “unthreatening and respectful,” North Korea has not slowed its missile-testing spree.
- Launches are outpacing Trump's first term: Twenty-one months into Trump’s second term, North Korea has carried out 34 missile launch events, double the 17 at the same point in his first term, and fired at least 93 missiles, already more than in all four years of his first term combined. The pace is also ramping up: In 2026 alone, North Korea has carried out 21 missile launch events, more than the 17 in 2017, the year of “fire and fury.” It is only three launches away from matching the 37 missile launch events recorded during Trump’s entire first term. Since North Korea’s first missile test in 1984, only Joe Biden had seen more launches at this point in his presidency, with 35. By comparison, there were 20 launches during Barack Obama’s second term, and no other U.S. presidential term saw more than 7 launches.
-
Pyongyang is fielding a new arsenal: In 2026 so far, North Korea has flown new hypersonic missiles; ground-tested a high-thrust solid-fuel missile engine; fired cruise and anti-ship missiles from its new Choe Hyon destroyer, as well as strategic cruise missiles, possibly from a submarine; armed its short-range missiles with cluster-bomb and mine warheads; unveiled a new battle tank; presented new 600 mm rocket launchers it says use AI; inspected new suicide drones; and tested an electromagnetic weapon, carbon-fiber bombs, a mobile anti-aircraft missile system, and what it claims is an AI-guided high-precision torpedo.
- Kim’s motives are unclear: He may be flight-testing the new weapons from the five-year plan he set out at the Ninth Party Congress in February 2026. Kim could be pre-positioning strength for a possible summit with Trump as early as next month in China on the sidelines of the APEC summit. Or he may be testing Trump himself and the limits of Trump’s red lines: no ICBM test, no nuclear test, and no lethal attack. Whatever the reason, Trump’s return to the White House and his unrequited summitry have not necessarily brought the restraint and respect trumpeted by the president.
