North Korea: It's About America's Allies (or Should Be)
North Korea has been an “existential threat” to our allies, Japan and the Republic of Korea, for quite some time.
Urgently needed are energetic and meaningful U.S. efforts—political, economic, diplomatic, intelligence, legal and most importantly law enforcement—to find and destroy the North Korean support networks. They are hiding in plain sight and existing through our inattention.
U.S. leadership on-the-spot in cooperation with allies and friends—by, with and through—is essential. Eye contact and handshakes in the arena with our allies and friends is far more productive than hectoring in Washington and New York.
Wallace C. Gregson, a retired Marine and former assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (2009–11), is currently senior advisor at Avascent International and senior director for China and the Pacific at the Center for the National Interest.
Image: Reuters