ENOUGH ABOUT SYRIA. LET'S TALK ABOUT NO. KOREA. UGH!

• Last week, North Korea launched a medium-range missile — the latest in a series of “saber-rattling” demonstrations of the country’s military capability, which some nuclear observers feel could be leading up to a sixth nuclear test. [Wired / Eric Niiler]
• The Trump administration responded by sending a US aircraft carrier into North Korean waters on Sunday, in what wasn’t explicitly called, but was agreed by all to be, a show of force to deter the country from going any further in its tests. [NPR / Philip Ewing]
• But while Trump’s move was, if anything, less aggressive than his strike against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, North Korea is better equipped to strike back than Syria. And on Tuesday, North Korean state media threatened the carrier — and warned of nuclear retaliation if the US didn’t stand down. [Reuters]
• Both sides are posturing right now, but they’re also raising the stakes.... 
• [The most important variable could be whether China threatens the North Koreans with economic penalties — something President Trump is attempting to encourage, promising (on Twitter, of course) a more favorable trade deal in exchange for China’s “help” with the rogue nation-Esco.]  [NYT / Mark Landler]
• Belligerence aside, experts assume that the US response to North Korea’s latest provocations [will be] another round of economic sanctions — perhaps even a “dragnet” that would prohibit any companies in the US financial system from doing any business with the North Korean government (or companies that do business with that government). [USA Today / Oren Dorell]
• But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Trump administration’s foreign policy, it’s that it’s unpredictable. To some extent, that’s by design. But to some extent, it’s accidental — the function of a president who, for example, comes into meetings and waits for the other person to tell him what the agenda is. [Washington Post / Kevin Sullivan and Karen Tumulty​]