Views expressed in Opinion articles are exclusively the authors’ own and do not represent those of NK News.

On the afternoon of June 16, the sound of a massive explosion announced to the world that North Korea had triumphantly demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong.

The destruction of what was until recently one of the few symbols of “North-South cooperation” marks the latest escalation in Pyongyang’s now-week-long strategy of building tension.

North Korea is doing pretty much what the vast majority of observers have expected them to do: escalating.

And frankly, given their circumstances and track record,