The only peaceful way out of this is to give China the ultimatum that it replace Kim with an acceptable leader otherwise the US will ban Chinese trade and Chinese bank from using US financial institutions or otherwise trading in the US. International trade is primarily conducted in US dollars. It would be a immediate blow to the Chinese economy. So the Chinese choice is simple, crater NK leadership and replace it or crater the Chinese economy. The latter choice will bring greater social unrest than the former. The goal has to be settle NK without starting a war.

There is a geopolitical wargame going on here. China wants control of the South China Sea and has stated it will support NK if NK is attacked first. At the same time Putin is moving troops closer to the former Soviet Republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and has obvious designs on the Ukraine.  The US cannot fight a war on two fronts.  Checkmate.