Defusing crisis

NORTH Korea’s dangerous dictator Kim Jong-un needs to be defused carefully.

One deranged leader is bad enough but with the erratic, gung-ho and volatile Donald Trump in the White House that is even worse news for Asia.

The Japanese are entitled to be angry and worried after a missile was fired provocatively over their country.

Yet resisting a temptation to escalate the conflict by not trying to shoot it down was a smart move.

Isolating Jong-un while working for change in North Korea, encouraged by China as the only state with real influence over the pariah state, is not flashy but is the safer option.