Mike Chinoy has visited North Korea 14 times and is author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis. He is a senior fellow at the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California and vice president of NewsCertified Exchange, a media training company.

For all the tough talk by South Korea and the Obama administration, they’re ignoring the only way to break the dangerous cycle of escalation on the Korean peninsula: Sit down with Kim Jong-Il.

Despite missiles, hostages, bomb tests, and cyberattacks, North Korea’s Dear Leader is quite consistent, says the region’s top expert, Mike Chinoy. It’s U.S. policy that’s been erratic.