Editor’s note: 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.

Just as strife over Gaza appeared to drown out other foreign policy dilemmas, the long-time North Korea watchers Robert Carlin and Siegfried Hecker raised new alarm over the possibility of conflict on the Korean Peninsula with perhaps the most dramatic headline possible.

There has been no shortage of commentary on their claims in the month since, with analysts both amplifying and