North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch has raised alarm across Asia and in Washington.
1 Economic pressure
The US and United Nations have introduced sanctions that make it hard for North Korea to use the international financial system or for its businesses to function abroad. But they haven’t changed Pyongyang’s trajectory.
Now, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has put countries on notice that if they or their companies help North Korea — also known as the DPRK — they’ll face penalties. That mostly means China, which accounts for 90% of North Korea’s trade.
That doesn’t seem to be working yet.
North Korea has been accused of funding its missile program through illicit dealings across the globe — with crimes such as hacking banks, selling weapons, dealing drugs, counterfeiting cash and even trafficking endangered species.
These operations are believed to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars and allow Pyongyang to pursue its nuclear ambitions as sanctions cripple the country’s economy, according to analysts who spoke to CNN.
Experts say shutting off that revenue may prove difficult, like playing a game of international whack-a-mole, due to North Korea’s adaptive overseas network used to nest and disguise their illicit business amongst legal trade activities.
2 Cyber and information wars
This could involve penetrating North Korea with news about the outside world, to undermine the regime’s control. Another approach would be cyber attacks to disrupt Pyongyang’s weapons programs — though experts say that would only delay, rather than stop them.
3 Diplomatic dialogue
Previous US administrations have tried dialogue — past talks have included South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
