North Korea fired a shot across the stern of the outgoing Biden administration by launching a missile during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to South Korea. Blinken was in Seoul to affirm U.

Washington has provided extended deterrence, or a "nuclear umbrella," to Tokyo and Seoul in the face of Pyongyang's nuclear threat. It is a commitment made by the U.S. to deter and to respond potential nuclear and non-nuclear scenarios in defense of its East Asian allies.