“Talking is not the answer” was Donald Trump’s latest tweeted response to a provocative North Korean missile test. The US president’s comment — along with his earlier threat of “fire and fury” — will again raise fears that America is considering a pre-emptive military strike against the North Korean regime.

The exchange of threats between Washington and Pyongyang can create the impression that this is a personal duel between Mr Trump and Kim Jong Un. But if the crisis on the Korean peninsula is to be de-escalated then the major regional powers — above all, South Korea, Japan and China — have a crucial role to play. That makes it vital that they rise above their mutual antagonisms and fashion a co-ordinated approach to a common problem.

Despite the increasing urgency of the crisis, North Korea’s neighbours have tended to see the threat from the Kim regime through the prism of other priorities. In recent times, South Korea has been consumed by a domestic political crisis. Demands for apologies for Japan’s wartime conduct have also been a subject of bitter domestic controversy, making it harder for Seoul and Tokyo to work together on North Korea.