The Munich Security Conference, which opens on Friday, could not be more timely. For the first time in its history, the international gathering of top diplomats and policy makers will tackle the escalating crisis on the Korean peninsula, currently one of the greatest foreign policy challenges for the new United States administration, and a threat to global peace and security.

The United States has historically taken a firm lead on managing threats from Pyongyang, and the presence of US vice president Mike Pence and defence secretary James Mattis in Munich positions them as the barometer to gauge how Kim Jong-un’s nuclear programme can be halted before it is too late.

Just last week, we were reminded again of how vulnerable the world is to nuclear catastrophe. North Korea showed its disregard of UN security resolutions once again by firing an intermediate-range ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan, its sixth nuclear test.