North Korea drives a wedge between US, China

If the current strategy pursued by North Korea works, the world’s great powers will find themselves at loggerheads with one another. On one side would be China and Russia. On the other side would be a coalition led by the United States including Japan, South Korea and the European Union. These two massive blocs would be dangerously confronting one another head to head over the nuclear ambitions of a single rogue nation. 
There is no clear solution to the North Korea dilemma and none 
evident in the foreseeable future. The North’s paranoid leader, Kim Jong-un, has perfected the art of international blackmail, having learned from his father and grandfather that the major powers will always follow their own individual interests and refuse to collaborate unless doing so meets those interests.
There had been some hope earlier that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations might be of assistance in reducing global tensions over North Korea’s defiant pursuit of globe-circling rockets and a nuclear arsenal. Pyongyang had even requested its help. But somewhere along the way, Kim has decided to stop paying attention to any regional efforts to foment peace. His focus is now entirely on the major powers.
Despite chronic malnutrition among its populace due to poor agricultural output, North Korea’s keenest hope is that the world, especially the US, will recognise it as a member of the nuclear-armed guild of nations. This wish simply cannot be granted. Pyongyang has spent years improving its nuclear capacity and lengthening the reach of its ballistic missiles, drawing a bead on the US in the hope of 
forcing Washington to yield to its objective. Seventy years after the war on the peninsula ended without a formal peace treaty being signed, the North is still technically at war with the South and the US.
Since coming to power, Kim 
has created a string of fresh 
international crises to direct his countrymen’s attention beyond the borders so that they worry less about what’s happening domestically. Keeping their gaze riveted on perceived threats from South Korea, Japan and the US has served to consolidate Kim’s power.
It has now become incumbent on the US and China to stop North Korea. It will take time, but what is most important is that they act in unison. Pyongyang must not be allowed to continue testing ballistic missiles as it has for the past nine years. Yet China, sharing a border with the North and maintaining robust trade relations, is not going to heed the prodding and warnings of the administration of President Donald Trump. It cannot be counted on to apply more economic or diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.
There is nevertheless still a way to stifle Pyongyang’s economic 
viability – by applying further 
sanctions on countries that do business with the North. China is not the only country trading with North Korea. Other countries have “underground” economic ties. The international community must act in unity to stop this, by implementing United Nations resolutions against the North’s illegal activities.
History cannot be repeated on the volatile Korean Peninsula. All powers must be on the same page regarding the North. It would take only a small crack in international determination to deliver to this pariah state exactly what it seeks.