America’s apparent willingness, as part of a deal aimed at forestalling the rise of a new long-range missile threat, to accept a North Korea armed with short- to medium-range missiles is giving Japan the jitters.

Although denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains a priority for China, the US, Russia, and both Koreas, there remain significant gaps to address before the diplomatic process can be successful.

The United States looks set to break a promise not to hold military exercises with South Korea, putting talks aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons at risk, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea on Sunday when he met its leader, Kim Jong Un, in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas and agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks.

Senate voted to bar Chinese banks that do business with North Korea from the U.S. banking system—a new source of friction as President Trump and Xi Jinping prepare to meet.

With Xi’s visit to Pyongyang, some observers speculated that he sought to lessen US pressure in exchange for progress on North Korean denuclearization. But China handles North Korea for its own sake and particular reasons, not to “play the North Korea card” in dealing with the US.

Xi’s recent visit to Kim Jong-un affirmed China-North Korea ties—Beijing will not break with Pyongyang to appease the US. However, China can still play a constructive role in encouraging a new round of Xi-Trump talks to lay the foundations for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The United States is in behind-the-scenes talks with North Korea over a possible third summit and has proposed working-level negotiations that have been stalled since the second such meeting in February, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday.

North Korea’s entire weapons of mass destruction program violates U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday, when asked about recent missile launches by Pyongyang.

President says he doesn’t think they violate U.N. resolutions, acknowledges disagreement with advisers.