Creative diplomacy is the least worst option for dealing with Pyongyang

ON Tuesday, which was - probably not coincidentally - America's independence day, North Korea successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), said to be capable of reaching peripheral parts of the United States.

This set off alarm bells in Washington, which had once threatened military action if Pyongyang ever did this. But the regime of North Korean President Kim Jong-un has called America's bluff and the US is now faced with the tricky question of how to respond.

Pyongyang's audacious act of escalation will no doubt push the issue of North Korea to the top of the agenda of the Group of 20, which will meet in Hamburg over the next two days. The issue is of vital concern to many of the group's members, including South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, besides the US.