Missile strike on N Korea an unlikely response to aggression

Interesting times. Reminds me - just a bit - of the early '60s. A possibility of a nuclear exchange. The word "crisis" in the news often.

There are important differences which make this situation unique and so require a creative solution. (None seem to be forthcoming.)

Differences? First the Soviets:

Nikita Khrushchev said "Your grandchildren will live under Communism". I recall no newspaper headlines saying the Soviet Union would turn the USA into a "sea of fire". They could have done it and that could remain unsaid.

Krushchev wasn't a dictator and the Soviet Union wasn't a family concern. He was deposed and replaced by other members of the Politburo and spent his remaining years in quiet and obscure retirement. This was probably possible because the Soviet Union - however poor- still seemed like a secure going concern after nearly 50 years. Though American-Soviet relations were very strained at times, they were maintained. Memory of the anti-Hitler alliance was there to be recalled if either side wished. 

The North Koreans:

Kim Jong-Un has yet to say "Your children will live under Juche".

No need - at least off the Korean peninsula- to say "better red than dead". Kim's grand design is only the unification of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Jong-Un is, unlike Krushchev and his successors, a dictator and NK is a family business. I'm sure Kim knows that if he is deposed he'll have no time to compose his memoirs. North Korea's economic situation is precarious and collapse is a possibility. Diplomatic conversation between the USA and NK is non-existent. The nations are still technically at war. (The USA provided most of the manpower and money to fight the Korean War.) The USA and NK have not at any time in their existence had a common enemy which caused them to set aside their difference for any length of time.

US news companies never reported sensational statements with accompanying videos that the Soviets would turn an American city into a "sea of fire". Kim has.

So, I consider the current situation new. Solving it or mitigating it the old way has not worked and will not work.

What to do?

Have the courage to sit down with the North Koreans in the presence of the major players in Asia. Invite Kim to put his cards on the table. 

Let's have no talk about "giving in to blackmail". We aren't dealing with the Soviets any more. Diplomacy on a large scale is preferable to an accidental war.

we will all learn to live with it.

Just so.

Start getting all those people out from Seoul if only to preclude a first-strike by the mad regime of Kim. Moon is a softie inviting trouble.