I’m sure Kim’s neighbors, including China, place a value on regional stability. This value can manifest itself with these Asian countries being more amenable to changes in the status quo regarding US trade agreements without retaliation in some way.
It does no good for China for North Korea to screw up and cause a war or a even more massive US millitary commitment to the area.
I’m sure many people in countries that have been on the receiving end of our “diplomacy” look at our leadership across several administrations in the same way as many look at Kim.
We need to look at the realities of this situation as they exist now, and respond accordingly. The US has had a hand in multiple ways, directly and indirectly, in North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons. We helped create this situation and our practical options are limited.
Our Asian allies are probably requesting our assistance in helping to stabilize the North Korean situation. A successful outcome will likely strengthen our alliance with them, and allow everyone to focus on more productive endeavours.
There is a lot to unpack there. Hopefully Kim will think about all that before launching another missile.
In regard to "our allies asking for assistance in stabilizing the situation," Japan is one such ally. And they are saying that North Korea is now launching missiles that are landing in Japanese waters so "you take care of him or we will and we will cancel our treaty with the US wherein we agreed to not fully militarize as long as you protected us." And the last thing China wants is an arms race with Japan in the region.
Nope, its do or die time now. Obama gave them eight good years to finish off their nuke plans and they did just that.