U.S. experts on Korea Peninsula affairs have proposed various ways to handle North Korea’s artillery attack on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island.

In the New York Times on Tuesday, Georgetown University Professor Victor Cha said that the recent incident serves as a good opportunity to focus on China’s response. Cha, who once served as the National Security Council's Director for Asian Affairs, said the Chinese must clearly state that they condemn the North Korean attack and view it as a violation of the 1953 armistice of which they are a signatory.

He also stressed that Beijing cannot make excuses for the North Korean military strike as it did for the sinking of South Korea's “Cheonan” naval ship.

L. Gordon Flake, who is the executive director of The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, also said the focus of diplomatic efforts should be on China. He said the U.S. and South Korea will need to make a strong case to China that its support for Pyongyang has enabled North Korea’s behavior.

Bradley Babson, who is the chair of the North Korea Economic Forum at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, also posted a suggestion on the debate page.

He stressed the need to exert efforts to agree on a future vision for the North Korean economy --- one that includes moving toward a market economy and meaningful integration in the international economic system, not just integration in Northeast China, or exploiting North Korean labor for South Korean companies and the pockets of Kim Jong-il.