When it comes to North Korea, Western interest tends to wax and wane: from the Barack Obama-era tactical patience approach to the Donald Trump bombardment of summits, fire and fury.
Nowadays the spotlight is elsewhere. With the devastation in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas consuming most of the political oxygen in the US, Pyongyang seems so little of a concern to the average American that it is no longer even on the list of the country’s greatest enemies.
In an annual Gallup poll asking respondents who America’s greatest enemy is, only 4% said North Korea this year, down from 51% in 2018, and even behind the US itself. Despite the jitters following Pyongyang’s outright rejection of reunification earlier this year, President Joe Biden’s administration remains far more focused on Beijing than Pyongyang, and the missile launches that once sparked terror in global markets are now drawing a nap.
