Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Wednesday, 18 September 2024.
- NORTH KOREA FIRES SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES: North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles for the second time in a week on Wednesday, as confirmed by Japan and South Korea; INDOPACOM confirmed it was aware of the launches.
- North Korea unveiled a uranium enrichment facility a week ago, as Kim Jong Un called upon the military to “exponentially” increase its nuclear arsenal and to be prepared for a conflict with the United States and its allies.
- North Korea already fired short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday, which, according to the North, was to test a new 600-mm multiple launch rocket system, though South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff suspect it could be to test weapons for export to Russia.
Why It Matters: North Korea has made substantial progress in its nuclear program since inviting foreign scientists to view it in 2010. With the US General Election approaching, Pyongyang is likely posturing to remain on the radar of the United States and its allies, though such actions do indicate that North Korea will continue following its longstanding “Cold War 2.0” policy. – M.N.
- Global Rollup
- Three thousand people in Lebanon were injured after thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon is among the injured according to Iranian media. Hezbollah announced that they are blaming Israel for the attack but was still investigating how the attack was carried out as of yesterday afternoon.
- NATO’s Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, dismissed Russian President Putin’s comments about Ukrainian strikes into Russia using Storm Shadow and ATACMS systems. Stoltenberg said that Russia had many red lines NATO crossed without escalation and Russia has not escalated “because [Putin] realizes that NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world.”
- China sailed an aircraft carrier strike group through Japanese waters for the first time, according to the Japanese government. The Japanese government declared this the latest of China’s escalatory acts in its diplomatic protest to China. (China’s carrier strike group merely transited the waterway. China is likely using this to counter the frequent Taiwan Strait transits and Japan’s involvement in the Taiwan affair. Japan’s protest over a minor and legally sanctioned action speaks to the tension in the region. – J.V.)
- The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) asked Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel to refile the acquisition paperwork yesterday, resetting the CFIUS review window by 90 days. CFIUS’ lawyer notes that this “ takes some pressure off the parties and, importantly, pushes the decision past the election in November.”
THAT’S A WRAP: This does it for today’s edition. Thank you for reading. If you know folks who would also like to receive this email, would you please forward it to them? We appreciate you spreading the word. – M.S.