A U.S. expert on Asia is claiming that South Korea and the U.S. should focus on North Korea’s points of vulnerability in dealing with the communist country.

Lee Sung-yoon, an adjunct assistant professor of international politics at Tufts University, said in a contribution to the Los Angeles Times that North Korea has built up tension by periodically making provocations and that South Korea and the U.S. have responded with damage-control diplomacy.

Lee said that for Seoul and Washington, the only way to end the cycle of provocation-negotiation-compensation is to apply concerted force on North Korea’s points of vulnerability.

Lee listed as the North Korea’s four pressure points: dynastic succession, the long-term dependency on foreign aid, the dependence on illicit international transactions, and the increasing information flow into the country.