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Stephen Noerper, Senior Fellow, Asia, at the EastWest Institute and Senior Associate of the Nautilus Institute, writes, “What needs to occur among the U.S., its allies Japan and South Korea, and dialogue partners China and Russia is a seriously enhanced commitment toward solving rather than simply managing the North Korea problem.”

Drew Thompson, Director of China Studies and Starr Senior Fellow at The Nixon Center, and Carla Freeman, Associate Director of China Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, write, “Chinese authorities are likely to conclude that based on the challenges that they will undoubtedly face in addressing a North Korean refugee crisis unfolding in Yanbian and elsewhere in the border region, the best solution available to them is to prevent a refugee crisis from unfolding on Chinese territory at all. It is therefore possible that PRC authorities are considering mounting operations within DPRK territory to prevent the largest waves of refugees from reaching the border and overwhelming civilian agencies operating within China.