North does not threaten America geographically as two nations do not share a land border, but President Trump apparently is certain that Pyongyang’s weapons programs are Washington’s problem. This prospect has pushed the Trump administration into frenetic if not necessarily productive activity.

China must reconsider its approach to the DPRK nuclear issue, reverse its passive strategic position, and not equate the security of North Korea with the security of the Kim regime. Beijing should openly state that it will neither allow a war in North Korea, nor merely look on while North Korea becomes Northeast Asia’s “Middle East”.

The Moon government, with its sensible domestic and foreign policy approaches, is set to foster momentum and real opportunities to take the heat out of the tension in the region. The rest of the world should support and embrace such positive dynamics.

As economic globalization moves forward and the newly emerged economies become more integrated with the developed ones, the whole world is concentrating on economic development. The main trend of the times is for peace, and against war. The U.S. should give up the idea that a certain degree of controlled tension on the Korean peninsula consolidates its permanent deployment of troops there.

Physically, THAAD serves as an Iron Curtain to intercept incoming missiles from North Korea. Separate national security interests have supplanted Cold War ideology, but THAAD could influence competing alliances and block cooperation among the countries involved in the “Six Party Talks.”

Given the domestic pressures faced by the major players, especially the US, in the near future, we can only expect an extension of the current dilemma.

A new crisis is brewing on the Korean Peninsula. In mid-February, North Korea conducted an intermediate-range ballistic missile test. On March 1, the United States and South Korea began a joint military exercise that is unprecedented in scale and intensity.

The swarm approach – by hitting Beijing on multiple issues in at once in a flurry – seems to be calculated upon Trump’s own business approach. This projects that Trump’s “leverage” over Beijing would compel painful concessions from China on core issues because of its fear over Washington’s scorn and threats.

Ironically, in launching its economic campaign to protest South Korean deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, Beijing is effectively doing Washington’s bidding. U.S. policymakers long have worried about the PRC’s economic draw on the South. As China voluntarily curbs those ties, American officials couldn’t be happier.

The decision to deploy a Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the Republic of Korea (ROK) by the ROK and the United States caused strong diplomatic reactions from China. Further negative interactions between the ROK and China may develop if the two countries cannot find a solution.