“With international support, the Trump administration said Thursday it wants to exert a ‘burst’ of economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea that yields results within months to push the communist government to change course from developing nuclear weapons.” Just how tense is the situation between the US and North Korea? “The senior U.S. Navy officer overseeing military operations in the Pacific said Thursday that the crisis with North Korea is at the worst point he’s ever seen.

+ The US vows more sanctions and plans to deploy a missile defense system within days.

+ “We want to bring Kim Jong-un to his senses, not to his knees.” From Mark Landler in the NYT: “Americans could be forgiven for thinking that war is about to break out. But it is not.”