Pyongyang’s demented rhetoric

North Korea’s bellicose targeting of Australia will not, as Veteran Affairs Minister Dan Tehan says, intimidate us in any way. But the outburst by the rogue state, through a Foreign Ministry spokesman, is a reminder of the dangers to our security inherent in the North Korean nuclear arms crisis.

The immediate spark for Pyongyang’s pique was the trip last week by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Marise Payne to the 38th Parallel Demilitarised Zone separating North and South Korea. The journey followed their high-profile visit to Seoul to discuss bilateral military co-operation. “The reckless remarks and conduct by the Australian government officials in support of the military option of the US against the DPRK are foolish acts of allowing themselves to be exploited by Trump’s selfish ‘America First Policy’ at the cost of their own national interests,” the North Korean statement said. It accused Australia of sending a submarine and a “flotilla of frigates” to the area and warned that by “turning Australian territory into a frontline base for the US invasion of the DPRK”, Australia was committing a “suicidal act” and would “not be able to avoid disaster”.

It is easy to dismiss such warnings as demented propaganda. But with Australia potentially in range of Pyongyang’s nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles, we have a major stake in working closely with the US and other allies to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.