For decades, the United States has been trying to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, using both engagement and sanctions at different times (and sometimes at the same time). President Donald Trump’s approach has been to alternate between threats and insults and embracing and flattering North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. None of it has worked. Analysts now predict that by next year North Korea could have as many as 100 nuclear bombs.

This week on And Now the Hard Part, we trace the roots of the problem and talk about how to fix it.

“North Korea’s … a disruptive entity in East Asia, where we have most of the world’s economic growth. And we have leading that country a 35-year-old who is paranoid, power-obsessed, and has nuclear weapons,” said Jung H. Pak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former CIA analyst.

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