After the whirlwind of 2017, retrenchment, calm and stability are much needed. Unfortunately, trends established in the year that passed will continue and as a result, the year ahead is more likely to be marked by growing tension and the likelihood of conflict is mounting. Nothing is inevitable — political decisions will determine what does and does not occur — but we must prepare now to head off the worst outcomes.

Of immediate concern is the increasingly worrying confrontation between North Korea and the world, a crisis whose flames are being fanned by U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence that Pyongyang cannot acquire the capability to threaten the U.S. homeland. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is as determined as Trump in his quest to do just that and there is a rising probability that this simmering standoff will boil over in the next 12 months. The prevailing communication between the two countries — Twitter threats and insults along with the exchange of press statements — cannot be allowed to substitute for diplomacy. Negotiations must be given a chance.

Resolving that crisis will be impacted by the state of relations between Japan and South Korea. The Seoul government's assessment of the December 2015 "comfort women" agreement has resolved nothing and has merely kicked that divisive issue down the road. South Korea must decide where its long-term interests lie. We believe that the answer is clear: a strong and mutually supportive relationship with its neighbor and partner, Japan. Both sides must make good-faith efforts to make that possible, but the Moon Jae-in government must endeavor to "finally and irreversibly" resolve this issue — as the December 2015 agreement promised.