The following article is an opinion piece by Rob York, director for regional affairs at the Pacific Forum. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News. 

North Korea has launched more missiles than ever before this year. Denuclearization talks with the U.S. and South Korea remain frozen. And in the face of all this, it’s not uncommon to encounter assessments that Washington’s policy toward Pyongyang has failed.

Among those who say this, the reasons generally expressed include that the division of the peninsula persists, that North Korea’s nuclear program