Pence to Pyongyang: Don’t push it

Vice President Mike Pence stood on the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea today and issued a terse warning to Pyongyang’s totalitarian leaders: The United States is losing patience. Pence visited the Demilitarized Zone at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia that began over Easter weekend. He insisted “the era of strategic patience is over,” and urged North Korea to abandon attempts to develop ballistic and nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has ramped up missile test launches in recent months, claiming it is close to developing a weapon that can reach the continental United States. But a Sunday test failed, suggesting the program might not be as far along as North Korea would like the world to believe. Standing alongside South Korean Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn later in the day, Pence said U.S. President Donald Trump had made it clear “all options” for dealing with Pyongyang’s provocations are on the table: “North Korea would do well not to test his resolve.”