Look at the lack of lights.
Look at the lack of lights.
Of course, this makes him very dangerous. He may do the old "start a war" thing in order to rally his military. It is always usful to have an external enemy for these scumbags.
....so ronery
Good analysis of situation. The US is actually gaining the upper hand here, a 'nuclear' Japan is China's worst nightmare and they may have to accede to our wishes and squeeze North Korea even more. The situation will reach a tipping poing within a year or two I believe and if we can keep consistent pressure on NK, they will collapse. The downside of this is loose nuclear material (probably not bombs) and 20 million desperate poor North Koreans streaming across the Yalu river to China, or south to Seoul. This is a scenario that China wants desperately to avoid, but Kim has made it likely with his missile and bomb tests. As long as we can credibly use (with Japan's new tough talking PM Abe)the threat of Japan developing their own nukes, China is boxed in with two bad alternatives.
First, they can continue to support an increasingly aggressive Kim and risk a nucelar Japan. Or they can go along with tougher sanctions and risk a collapse of North Korea. I will be interested to see how they choose. Our intelligence missed the collapse of the Soviet Union, and they will be behind the curve on North Korea as well