A Slow Day in Seoul

The correspondent for Associated Press is becoming a little bored, it seems. North Korea has "reportedly fired two surface-to-air missiles near its border with China". The Kyodo news agency in Japan cited a Chinese "security source" as saying the missiles were fired towards China by mistake, and a "western military source" as saying they were fired towards the Sea of Japan. At least one of the missiles landed in the sea. Although a few fish are probably somewhat disgruntled, neither China nor Japan appears to have taken offence at the error. Nevertheless, the mistake, assuming it took place at all, is "a reminder of the communist regime's ability to foment instability in the region, amid the ongoing standoff over its nuclear weapons programme." What a pity North Korea can't make mistakes like ours, which, while they may cause sufficient instability to kill tens of thousands of fish, cannot possibly be accused of fomenting it - at least, not by the Associated Press.