A U.S. expert on North Korea’s nuclear issue says Washington will eventually have to choose between accepting North Korea as it is and taking military measures against Pyongyang.

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at RAND Corporation based in California, said in a commentary Wednesday that the North has much to gain through its provocations and that, as a result, the nuclear issue is expected to take some time to resolve.

Bennett added that the series of rhetoric and provocations coming out of Pyongyang recently, including a nuclear test and a series of missile launches, clearly show that the United States and the international community are failing in efforts to repress the communist state.