Agreed, working with China rather than against it is key here, but the question is, is the US willing to do that? They've had the knowledge for a while, after all, that the Chinese are irritated with Kim and yet they've seemingly failed to exploit it as fully as they should, instead choosing to send US carrier groups into the South China Sea and a frigate to Vietnam, both aimed at pushing at Chinas sphere of influence in South East Asia. I mean, I know there's the whole economic situation going on here, but if a prolonged war on the Korean peninsula breaks out, then China is going to lose as much as America in terms of the economy...more so in fact, so it's in Beijings best interests to work with the US on removing Kim, and they've admitted that a unified Korea under an ROK style leadership is the better and more stable option, and China likes stability, it can't handle instability at this point, so that's a key card to play in any talks with China, a long(er) war vs a short one and a greater Chinese say in the future of the Korean peninsula as opposed to having US and UN troops sitting on its border.
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