Could The U.S. Lose Its Allies In The Event It Decides To Go To War Against North Korea?

 
National Interest: The True Danger of the North Korea Crisis: It Could Cost America Its Allies

If Washington takes action without consulting its allies, the alliances themselves could fray.

Tough North Korea rhetoric from the U.S. administration continues. Major South Korean media increasingly talk as if U.S. air strikes are likely, and the expert community seems increasingly resigned to them as well. Despite constant criticism of his incendiary language, President Donald Trump continues to suggest that major action against North Korea is imminent—most recently by suggesting that we are now in a period of ‘calm before the storm.’

I have argued in these pages that such strikes would be an enormous risk. We do not know what the North’s redlines for retaliation against such a strike are. We do not know if the strikes would so unnerve the North’s elites that war was next, that they would respond with enormous force, possibly including nuclear weapons. An expert study of this scenario suggests appalling casualty numbers. We also do not know what China’s thresholds are for intervention. China is treaty-bound to help North Korea if it is attacked. It may not, but if a U.S. air strike against North Korea spirals into a major conflict, then the likelihood of Chinese intervention rises.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The problem with the above commentary is that for the past few years both Japan and South Korea have been pushing the U.S. to be more aggressive in opposing North Korea .... something that President Trump has obliged them (and with their support). See below ....

Japan Will Back All U.S. Options On North Korea (June 3, 2017). 
A Shift In The U.S. - South Korean Military Alliance (May 31, 2017).