[The Red Zone]

They may be dumb but they're also in thrall to Kim, who is a certifiable mad man.

[AmericanInTokyo]

He sits on a house of cards, quite afraid that the DPRK military will assassinate him and then themselves cut a deal with the West to liberalize the country and open it up. Western information about the victory in Iraq as well as other external news is seeping into the country, heard by the people, who themselves are fed up with lives of poverty and hunger. The statues coming down in Baghdad, many of them similiar to the statues of elder and younger Kim, is what has really freaked them out and sent a message.

Hence, Kim Jong il literally went deep underground for 50 days (with only the most trusted advisors) in the northern part of the country near China, near Mt. Baektu, before, during and after all the bombing and attack on Iraq. They also observed clear and dramatic real-time US pinpoint and bunker busting capabilities, (via CNN, Chinese press and other satellite sources 24/7) and came away very afraid for their lives. 21 days and Baghdad falls with minimum US casulties and essentially the citizen's infrastructure in place has devasted their minds in North Korea. They can only yap more like pissed off dogs, but they will refrain from snapping at heels for the time being.