Editor’s note: The following article is an opinion piece by Benjamin R. Young, a researcher and analyst of North Korea and U.S.-East Asia relations. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

Jung Pak, the top U.S. official for North Korea policy, resigned last week, leaving the Biden administration without crucial high-level leadership amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and a strengthened military partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang.

This resignation and the deprioritization of the North Korea issue highlight the Biden administration’s ongoing failures in handling this unpredictable regime.