Laura Rosenberger is director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She was director for China and North Korea at the National Security Council and a member of the "six-party talks" delegation on North Korea's nuclear program. The test comes as the United States and South Korea are in the middle of annual joint exercises, and while the United States and Japan were conducting missile defense drills. Alliance coordination should always be part of dealing with the challenge from North Korea, and the North’s latest action will make such coordination both more difficult and more important. The mixed message we’ve seen from the Trump administration has at times left our allies unclear on U.S. intentions.

Source: Washington Post August 30, 2017 10:13 UTC