Whether Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or another individual is the U.S. president, he or she will face challenging decisions regarding North Korea early next year. We need serious discussions with Putin and Xi or we might as well discard the current UN and bilateral sanctions and start anew. Following such talks, whether successful or not, we must engage in rigorous talks with Pyongyang and  constructive dialogue with Seoul. Diplomacy, which has been absent for the past four years, must be revived. The critical question we need to address before we begin is our specific objectives with North Korea and the associated costs. If denuclearization is our primary goal, we must focus our sanctions solely on this objective, urging China and Russia to collaborate while addressing other issues through bilateral rule-based negotiations. 
The UNSC and bilateral anti-nuclear proliferation sanctions have been largely ineffective in North Korea, despite involving almost the entire world. Some argue they have increased the costs of Pyongyang's nuclear program and possibly slowed its development, but not enough to make a significant difference. So, why continue them? As my late friend, Washington Post reporter Don Oberdorfer, remarked, "Are we not just kicking the can down the road?"

First is Focus

Second, Use Rules Instead of Sanctions to Differentiate Between Good and Bad Behavior