The working-level meeting between the US and North Korea in Stockholm, held right after the SLBM launch, also collapsed, further diminishing hopes. Top North Korean negotiator Kim Myong-gil issued a warning soon after the meeting that "terrible events" could occur.
With Pyongyang returning to its traditional approach, Washington and Seoul are also tilting towards their orthodox stance on North Korea. The allies are now preparing to resume their joint air defence exercises, as narratives in Washington also showing some signs of changing.
The Pentagon announced this week that the US and South Korea would go ahead with combined air exercises on the peninsula next month. "We are proceeding with the combined flying training event as planned," Army Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn, a US Defence Department spokesman, said on Tuesday.
The American military newspaper
Stars and Stripes, citing US officials, said the exercises would replace the former annual drills known as Vigilant Ace. The allies cancelled the major large-scale exercise last year along with other joint drills - including Key Resolve and Ulchi Freedom Guardian - to better facilitate the North Korea negotiations.
A South Korean defence ministry official said the allies would conduct a scaled-down air defence drill, which was confirmed by the Pentagon on Thursday.
But the allies' aerial exercises are among Pyongyang's biggest fears as North Korea does not have the conventional capability to balance up the power. In 2017, at the Vigilant Ace exercise, the Pentagon sent its most advanced stealth fighters: the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. A total of 230 aircraft took part in the drill, showcasing the allies' conventional superiority to North Korea as well as its biggest security guarantor, China.
Pyongyang protested immediately after the Pentagon's announcement. Kwon Jong-gun, a roving ambassador from its foreign ministry, said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision was a "reckless military frenzy" that would put the upcoming nuclear talks on the "verge of extinction".
An image provided by the North Korean government shows what it says is a test firing of a ballistic missile by the Academy of Defence Science in North Korea on October 31. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
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"Our patience is reaching an uppermost limit," Kwon said. "We won't just sit still and watch the reckless military move."
Meanwhile, the narratives from Washington are also showing some signs of changing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted last month that Washington might be shifting its approach to North Korea.
"The truth is that we can't rely on failed strategies to convince Chairman Kim to give up his nuclear weapons," Pompeo said at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "There is still much work to be done."
Experts said it was obvious that Trump's highly touted relationship with Kim has not led to any progress toward North Korean denuclearisation.
"The US has repeatedly sought to engage with North Korea, but Pyongyang deigned to have only eight days of diplomatic meetings during the past year and a half," said Bruce Klingner, a former chief analyst for the CIA and US Defence Intelligence Agency who is now the senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center.
"After the Stockholm meeting, US officials indicated they had presented new ideas, but they were quickly rejected by North Korea," Klingner said. "Pyongyang has affirmed Kim Jong-un's warning that regime patience runs out at the end of the year and warned it may resume nuclear and ICBM testing."
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a guided weapon with a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres (3,418 miles) - putting the United States within range - and is primarily designed for nuclear delivery.
"Since the 2018 Singapore summit, Washington has slacked off enforcing US laws, cancelled numerous allied military exercises and embraced a leader responsible for crimes against humanity," Klingner said. "Trump has now adopted a weaker version of the Obama administration's 'strategic patience' policy and timid incrementalism of sanctions enforcement."
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone on June 30. Photo: AP
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Kristine Lee, an associate fellow for the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), noted that Washington may be considering a "recalibration" of its policy to also put China in the picture.
In fact, Beijing and Moscow conducted their first joint long-range air patrol in the Asia-Pacific region in July, revealing ambitions to expand their scope of political influence as Washington's regional military commitment is being questioned.
Two Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers performed a formation flight in the Sea of Japan - also known as the East Sea - then to the East China Sea, across the Air Defence Identification Zone of both South Korea and Japan in a demonstration of the countries' strengthening military cooperation.
Last year, the two flexed their muscles during the Vostok 2018 war games in Russia's far east. In 2016, Chinese and Russian warships showed a similar coordinated move, sailing close to the disputed Senkaku islands - also known as Diaoyudao - raising alarms for US allies in the region.
"As US negotiators have locked horns with North Korean interlocutors since President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un's foray into diplomacy in June 2018, China has touted its role as a champion of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, while using its relative proximity to Pyongyang to systematically undercut the United States' approach," Lee said.
Washington's decision may signal "greater alignment of the United States' dual goals in Northeast Asia of managing the North Korea nuclear threat and competing strategically with China," Lee said.
Chinese observers noted that Beijing would strongly protest against the allies' joint drill.
Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor with Renmin University in Beijing, said the Chinese government would monitor the drill at its doorstep closely.
But he also said it would be difficult for Trump to shift the current North Korea policy because of domestic political turbulence.
"There could be some uncertainties in its North Korea policy for a period of time [because of the impeachment inquiry], but still, the good news is that Trump himself wants to have talks with North Korea, even though others [in his administration] may not," said Cheng.
Harry Kazianis, director of defence studies at the Center for the National Interest, said that trying to predict what Trump will do in foreign affairs would be a "complete guessing gaming" as shown by Trump's "illogical decision in Syria".
"The administration clearly faces a looming crisis as North Korea's self-imposed deadline of moving towards a 'new way' at the end of the year is fast approaching. ... In the coming weeks, I suspect Kim will test ever more advanced missiles to put pressure on Washington," Kazianis said. "While at the moment America can pretend that all is well with North Korea - with no long-range missile or nuclear testing - I suspect Kim will break that pledge in the coming months."
"It will be at that point, Trump will have to decide to offer concessions or go back to a hardline maximum pressure policy like in 2017," he said. "But for now, Trump seems content to stand pat - but it won't last for long. Kim will see to that."
