Is this the crisis to which Biden cryptically referred during election season?

My guess is that Biden was speaking in general, after being briefed on the multiple threats facing the country. It was reasonable for him to conjecture that something was going to pose a challenge. In that context, the challenge facing the Obama administration is not to become a prisoner to their preferred repertoire. They can’t become too predictable, responding according to a default model of diplomacy because thugs like Kim are going to keep pushing the door open until they hit a check.

What’s really needed is response outside of the bimodal distribution of war and peace. There’s got to be something in between a “diplomatic offensive” and war on the Korean peninsula; hard enough to give Kim pause but not drastic enough to plunge the world into a bloodbath. By pre-surrendering — announcing a diplomatic response and declaring they wouldn’t shoot down the missile — the administration deprived itself of even the ability to bluff. The real danger is that Kim may be led to believe that the US is now unimodal — capable only of squeaking to the UNSC. In that case, the Dear Leader may miscalculate. Maybe not, but if he does, it wouldn’t be the first time in history that someone left the safe door open and some bandido took the chance of putting his hand in.