North Korea’s latest nuclear test has caused alarm and condemnation not just in Washington and Seoul — but also in Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow. The new device tested by Pyongyang is its most powerful yet. The North Koreans’ claim that it is a hydrogen bomb could be accurate. This test also comes just a week after the Kim Jong Un regime fired a ballistic missile over Japan. The escalations and provocations from Pyongyang are now coming thick and fast.
But shared global anxiety is still unlikely to lead to a truly unified international approach. On the contrary, it may even widen divisions between the Americans, who want to increase the coercive pressure on Pyongyang, and the Chinese and South Koreans who favour talks with North Korea.
Although the US and South Korea are military allies, it is increasingly evident that the Trump administration and the government led by Moon Jae-in have very different instincts about how to deal with the North Korean threat. This division was revealed by