The challenge for Mr. Trump is to find a way to persuade the Chinese that a regime change in North Korea — or, at the very least, serious containment of its nuclear ambitions — is actually in China’s best interest. The former option would destabilize the region and cause millions of North Koreans to seek refuge in South Korea and China. The worst possible outcome would be for him to sit back, as some of his predecessors have done, proclaiming ever more red lines as North Korea methodically tests missile after missile. We should hope that the time doesn’t come when the United States has no alternative other than to challenge North Korea militarily. If the United States finally wants to start making progress in its effort to combat more than a decade of nuclear expansion by North Korea, it has to start by dropping a cornerstone of its Korea policy.

Source: New York Times July 29, 2017 14:37 UTC