North Korea yesterday fired a ballistic missile 500km into the sea off its east coast as the nation’s leader Kim Jong Un vowed to boost the country’s military program. It’s the latest in a series of provocations. In October, North Korea said it was testing a newly developed long-range missiles which could perform mid-air maneuvers making it harder to intercept. South Korea, Japan and the US don’t much like the idea of Kim having that sort of weapon but they have had trouble engaging with North Korea since talks spearheaded by former US president Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. The sticking point: how much sanctions relief should be given in return for Kim starting to ditch his nuclear warheads. Analysts say North Korea’s economy is in dreadful shape due to the pandemic and Kim’s mismanagement, and more of this sort of attention-seeking is to be expected.