[RockinRight]

I think, reluctantly, the Chinese will be an ally in this. They don't want to see another Communist nation fall, but I think they also realize that Kim Jong-Il is a nutcase and if he gets a bit roney one day he just might turn the missle launcher around towards them. I don't think they're comfortable with a nuclear NK.

[Law is not justice but process]

It seems a bit outdated to call the Chinese system Communist. It is totalitarian with a Capitalist economy that is dominated by cronies of the ruling party. I would say it is more like Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy than, say, the Soviet Union or Mao's vision of China. I suspect the Chinese would be more comfortable dealing with South Korea these days than with Kim.

Mind you, I realize they still call themselves Communist, but they don't walk the walk.I also take little comfort from the fact that they have drifted rather far from their Socialist roots. After all, Fascism was hardly an acceptable alternative to Stalinism.