Tough one. They've been threatening to launch on us for years, they killed Warmbier, they've demonstrated an ability to send a missile to Alaska, and are making good progress towards making it nuclear capable. Some options are:
1. Continue economic sanctions - they have done nothing. Pleading with China to bring more economic sanctions isn't going to work either. We count on the missile defense system to work in the meantime.
2. Airstrikes - Straftor estimates that we could take out their nuclear production infrastructure but do not have enough intel on their weapons and delivery systems to be confident in destroying all of that.
https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/what-us-would-use-strike-north-korea
3. Land forces - yeah, no. Let's not even talk about that.
Consequences of number 1 - They eventually build and fire a nuclear warhead into the US. Our missile defense system may or may not work. In any case, it's go time. We have a war and number two happens anyway.
Consequences of number 2 - North Korea likely will pound S. Korea with massive conventional artillery and missiles, unless we are able to get those too. I haven't ready anything that says that is likely. If they have them, they may also fire nukes into S. Korea. War in Korea. We support S. Korea and find out if China or Russia supports N. Korea. A very clarifying conflict.
I have to be missing an option here.
Oh, wait - we pull out all of our missile defenses in S. Korea and Japan, apologize to numnuts, and he disarms himself.
