The nuclear weapons enthusiast and pornography aficionado who inherited the Stalinist state known as North Korea from his daddy is dead. And no sooner did Kim Jong-il pass from the earth than his military practiced the belligerence Kim preached: It test-fired a missile. Subtle.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reports that the “short-range” missile was fired into “into the sea off [North Korea's] east coast” just hours after the announcement of Kim’s death. No one appears to be hurt, and it seems that the test was planned in advance. But the message is clear enough: North Korea wants the 28,00...