Is there hope for peaceful settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue?

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's sixth nuclear test and multiple intercontinental ballistic missile tests this year have led to rising concern in the United States that it's approaching the capability threshold of launching a nuclear attack on the US mainland. The US wants to use greater military intimidation and economic sanctions against the DPRK. And in the absence of any peace talks, which every United Nations Security Council resolution has called for, the Korean Peninsula nuclear crisis has turned into a major security challenge.

Is there still hope of peaceful settlement?

Since 2006 when the DPRK conducted its first nuclear test, the UN Security Council has adopted 10 resolutions on sanctions, with the second last, Resolution 2375, banning 90 percent of its trade which is estimated to fall to about $2 billion in 2018, about the level of the late 1990s. Resolution 2397, which was adopted by the UN Security Council on Dec 22, has lowered the annual ceiling of refined petroleum product exports to the DPRK from 2 million to 500,000 barrels, and capped crude oil exports to the DPRK at the level of 4 million barrels a year. These figures are only about half of China's daily import. In addition, the US and its allies have imposed unilateral sanctions on the DPRK to prevent any financial, investment and service exchanges from the outside world.