The current crisis is not an isolate event, but the result of 60 years of failed attempts to resolve the conflict. Relations among regional players have a key role, and improving strategic trust between China and the US would be a first step toward establishing enough trust to begin talks between the US and the DPRK.

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.

Participants in the Six Party Talks can take four paths to progress: Make denuclearization of the Peninsula their collective top priority; make a military strike an option as talks resume; initiate peace treaty talks concurrently; and take confidence-building steps to make negotiations more inviting.

If the US should abandon or violate the Iranian nuclear accord, an agreement reached after years of negotiation and with consent of European allies, the results would only be negative for the US in terms of its international image, moral high ground and Trump’s start on diplomatic front. Such a move would signal to the world that the US cannot be trusted.

In early July, South Korea decided to allow the United States to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. At the heart of this issue is the difference in how China and the United States view the role of South Korea and decisions related to the security and stability of the peninsula.

No matter how the wrangling over THAAD evolves, it will ignite strategic gaming as well as new and high military technology competition among major powers. Pentagon planners may be rejoicing over the ROK decision to embrace the American project, but the US will have no control over the reaction to the deployment.

Following months of assessment by a Joint Working Group, the U.S. Defense Department announced in July that the U.S. Forces Korea Command will station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea “as a defensive measure to ensure the security of the nation and its people, and to protect alliance military forces from North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats.”

The U.S. Defense Department recently announced that the U.S. Forces Korea Command will station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the Republic of Korea (ROK) as a defensive measure against North Korea. But Russian and Chinese representatives have expressed concern about how THAAD could affect strategic stability, alliance relations, and global influence.

By ignoring the Chinese, Kim Jong-un has been gambling with his regime’s future. The PRC appears more ready than ever before to abandon its troublesome friend. However, inertia—and a cold-hearted assessment of interests—is likely to hold Beijing back from cooperating with the U.S. if forced to choose America over Pyongyang.

No nuclear-weapon states have given up efforts in modernizing their arsenals, although for different reasons. A commitment of no-first-use is defensive in nature, but it doesn’t exclude nuclear retaliation. Such a pledge doesn’t cripple other countries’ nuclear capabilities: It boosts confidence that a world free of nuclear weapons is eventually possible.