Dr. William J. Parker says that the U.S. recent interaction with China has been “very positive” in curbing threats from North Korea as the reclusive nation attempted, and failed, to launch an unidentified missile in their latest weapons test.

"We are heading in the direction to say all options are on the table, and standby if you do not respond the way we expect you to," said the institute’s Chief Operating Officer in an interview with John Catsimatidis that aired on Sunday.

“Kicking the can down the road for the next generation or the next leader to deal with is rarely a good idea. Whether we are talking about the U.S. national debt, Russia's expanding influence in the Crimea, Assad's increased tyranny-to include use of chemical weapons, or North Korea's multi-decade efforts to develop long range nuclear weapon strike capability. These are issues that are usually better dealt with earlier than later. Making the hard decisions is what the president is elected to do. And while it may not always be popular, President Trump is stepping up and making those hard decisions.”

Parker added, “you could hear that just last Wednesday the Chinese went to the North Koreans formally and said, you need to take possible military action from the United States seriously.”

Beijing, Pyongyang’s biggest ally, has been pushed to exert a more serious pressure on its neighbor.

While recognizing North Korea as “a capable force,” the former chief of staff for U.S. Naval Forces believed the regime did not have the critical capability yet to inflict a large scale damage.

"(The U.S. and North Korea) have nuclear weapons, but the U.S. has thousands and the ability to miniaturize while North Korea has 10 to 20 and no ability to miniaturize right now. Nor does North Korea have strategic launch missile ballistic capability and they do not currently have intercontinental missile capability, but they’re getting there.”

Parker’s comments were picked up by various outlets, including The Hill click (here) and Vivere Milano (here).