The United States and its allies have always maintained they would never accept a nuclear North Korea, but have been forced to watch from the sidelines as Pyongyang pursued an accelerated weapons drive. But sitting down with a “nuclear” North Korea that only achieved its status by defying multiple UN resolutions would represent an enormous climbdown -- not just for the US, but the international community at large. A man looks at a street monitor showing a news report about North Korea's missile launch, in Tokyo. The UN Security Council was due to meet in emergency session later Wednesday and, as always with North Korea, much of the focus will be on China and how it reacts. But China has a strategic interest in avoiding any regime collapse in the North which could bring about a reunified Korea allied to the United States.

Source: Hindustan Times November 29, 2017 06:45 UTC