Following the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC’s) latest resolution, it seems the international community may have reached a crossroads as far as the North Korea sanctions regime is concerned.

Resolution 2375, which arrived last Monday following substantial Chinese and Russian dilution, could be the last serious escalation in UN pressure on North Korea in the short-to-medium term if recent remarks by UN envoys from Moscow, Beijing and even Washington are anything to go by.

As a result, U.S. hopes that sanctions and diplomatic pressure can still bring North Korea to the table for