They billow through the sky, pulling the world's attention upwards and towards the sometimes all-too-ominous tempest of international politics. Yet again, North Korea has sent one of its so-called 'messengers' skyward, this time a long-range ballistic missile vaulting forth from the vivacious heart of Pyongyang. The South Korean military has placed the bold voyage at about 1,000 kilometers.
As the tides ebb and flow, they swallow the remnants of mankind's fiery overtures. And indeed, the Japanese Coast Guard believes the waters west of Okushiri Island in the picturesque Hokkaido region became the final hush point for this missiles fiery fissure. Tracing the trajectory, the scholars of the sea estimate that the missile has indeed kissed goodbye to its motherland and plunged into the cold embrace of the ocean.
A raven rarely caws once, and true to form, just the day before this brazen performance of power, North Korea aired another show with a short-range ballistic missile playing the starring role. This one too took a somber dip ultimately, traveling a very respectable 570 kilometers before it kissed the sea.
Between the lines of every story are the whispers of context. The reason for this latest North Korean waltz in the sky? The arrival of a U.S nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea. Pyongyang's response was, in part, a plume of smoke and the roar of rocket engines, a fiery signature scrawled across the sky.
In this grand theater of nations, the stage is set once again, tension like trellised vines, creeping and winding its way around world diplomacy. The actors, both seen and unseen, move through their lines, their motivations shrouded in hushed whispers and echoing reverberations of power plays — a chess game of impressive proportions. And even as the ethereal dance of power continues, the world watches on, united and divided in its silent awe of the unfolding drama.
