“Note to China: You don’t want THADD in South Korea, then YOU go take out North Korea’s WMD and missile programs, take ‘em out, root and branch; then South Korea would not need THADD. The ball is in your court.”
Yes.
Of course we know that’s only a rhetorical point.
It’s what, in general ways, Trump should be saying to China. There can be no change in the course of having THAAD in South Korea as long as the WMD & missile program continues in the north. When that threat to South Korea is eliminated, THADD could be also, but not until.
No more giving up things to appease the north. Its WMD program’s demise is not a negotiable term.