The world is at a critical juncture after North Korea’s sixth nuclear test. How the international community reacts to the latest provocation from Kim Jong-un will profoundly affect prospects for peace and stability. Even if China, the main supplier of oil to North Korea, supported this package, the international community may not have been able to force Kim to give up his nuclear programme. Beijing needs to insist on the US committing to dialogue with North Korea. Diplomacy, not sanctions, is the pathway towards greater security for North Korea. The best way to assure North Korea about its security is to end the cold war situation between the two countries.
North Korea has repeatedly signalled that appropriate US measures, like a peace treaty to formally end the Korean war and normalisation of relations between the two countries, could create the conditions for a freeze of its nuclear and missile programmes.
