North Korea has started 2024 with a bang and triggered feelings of déjà vu.

Specifically, the DPRK’s artillery fire near the inter-Korean maritime border earlier this month has revived memories of the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23, 2010 and the ensuing escalation of tensions.

Fortunately, North Korea carried out provocative drills rather than an actual attack this time, but the two incidents still share several uncomfortable similarities. Beyond the DPRK’s artillery fire and belligerent rhetoric, both situations took place as a conservative government in Seoul pursued a tougher stance toward Pyongyang and as