OPINION:
Vice President Mike Pence sent a strong message North Korea’s way Monday, telling the regime the “era of strategic patience is over,” a reference to the former Barack Obama’s foreign policy preference of dealing with Pyongyang’s aggressions by turning a blind eye and pretending all was A-OK.
This is a good time to be an American.
North Korea, for going on eight years now, has been given wide latitude to test fire all kinds of missile and send out all kinds of provocations against America and U.S. allies. And Obama’s response? To giftwrap some strongly worded statements and send them delicately across the border.
Well wakey-wakey, North Korea. You’re having a Japanese moment — you know, like that time during World War II when Japan learned, a little too late, it woke the sleeping giant called America?
“President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change,” Pence said, during delivery of remarks near the Demilitarized Zone separating North Korea and South Korea. “We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons — and also, its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable.”
North Korea’s most recent missile launch attempt, on Sunday, ended in failure. But Pence, rightly so, labeled it as “provocation” just the same.
And his stern warning to the regime?
America will achieve is military and diplomatic objectives to protect South Korea and stabilize the region by “peaceable means or ultimately, by whatever means are necessary.”
And for those who aren’t clear on that language, he added this: “All options were on the table.”
This is so much better than the Obama years, when engagement with North Korea went like this: “Please, please, puh-leeeze stop test firing missiles, Mr. Kim.”
With Pence, and President Donald Trump, one gets the feeling the begging has come to an end.
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