By agents, I was also including economic agents, that raise hard currency for the government outside of the country. A discriminating approach would aid NK refu

By agents, I was also including economic agents, that raise hard currency for the government outside of the country. A discriminating approach would aid NK refugees, while blocking the actions of agents of the NKean state. That could blunt some of the humanitarian damage from blocking inflows of hard currency from the latter into the country, since the former still maintain ties to family in the country, and could be a source of aid to them. Other ways to counter the threat posed by the North Korean state include aiding and encouraging South Korea and Japan in building up their armed forces, as a deterrent to any North Korean attack, and expanding deployments of missile defense systems while increasing funding for the development of more advanced missile defense systems. Yet another approach could be to apply pressure on North Korea's allies, like Iran and China, to reduce military cooperation with the state, as long as it remains outside of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.