Bloomberg View: Containing the North Korean Threat
To defuse a brewing nuclear dispute, the U.S. should lean on China
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With his bombastic threat of “high-profile” retaliation against the U.S. (translation: more tests of nuclear bombs and missiles), North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seems determined to tantrum his way to the top of President Barack Obama’s second-term foreign policy agenda.
As the mythical Orientalism goes, in crisis there is opportunity. North Korea’s bellicose response to tighter United Nations sanctions has raised tensions with its closest ally, China. That offers a chance to contain and even reduce the dangers posed by one of the world’s most opaque and oppressive regimes.