Editor’s note: This article was originally published on 6 April 2022 and has been republished in light of recent events. On 4 October it was reported that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile over Japan. The missile travelled approximately 4,500km, a distance far enough to reach the US island of Guam had it been on a different trajectory. This is the first time that North Korea has fired a missile over Japanese territory since 2017.
Even by the bombastic standards of North Korean propaganda, the video that accompanied Pyongyang’s missile launch on 24 March was extraordinary. The opening sequence showed Kim Jong Un, apparently channelling the late 1980s and Tom Cruise in Top Gun, striding out of a hangar in slow motion, wearing a black leather bomber jacket and dark sunglasses. Kim checked his watch. His generals checked their watches. He checked his watch again. The footage cut back and forth between them as the dramatic soundtrack reached its crescendo. Kim removed his sunglasses, also in slow motion, and nodded.
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