N. Korea is a Jonestown writ large. It has been nearly completely sealed from outsiders until recently. It had to be because N. Korean regime was founded upon a monumental lie. The myths surrounding the ruling family and the whole history of modern Korea are lies through and through. They have been also lied about atrocious conditions outside their border, especially S. Korea, where, according to their propaganda, homeless folks are overrunning the whole country.
All these lies are perpetuated in order to maintain the regime. The regime was founded on the big lie since its beginning. Kim Il-sung's credentials were vastly exaggerated to justify his position as a N. Korean leader. He purged just about everybody who knew about his real background, a two-bit guerilla leader of no real achievement except hitting a Japanese police substation during his exploits as a partisan leader. As a result, all Korean communists dispatched from Soviet Union and China to shore up the regime eventually were purged and killed. A lucky few escaped.
He was more and more obsessed with total control of his people at the expense of everything else after he saw the mighty Stalin trashed after his death, followed by Mao Ze-Dong suffering the same fate, about 23 years later. The two towering giants with absolute power cannot ensure their legacy. Kim Il-sung realized that he had to work harder to make sure this won't happen to him. That is why he installed his son as a successor. That also doomed the long-term prospect for N. Korea. The regime filled the country with mind-numbing propaganda and suffocating oppression. Only the total obedience is required to survive in this country. It turned into the country of complete yes-man and sycopants who are completely useless in efficiently running the country.
Kim Il-sung firmly secured his godly stature at the beginning of 80's, by eliminating the last small pocket of political challege to him. This was when his regime started to go downward. Things had been slowly deteriorating during the 80's. It accelerated in early 90's when both Soviet Union and China cut off their foreign aids. The country's economy nosedived. Panicked, N. Korean regime had to look for the new source of economic aids. That is why N. Korea precipitated the nuclear crisis around '93. It was not because America and her allies were about to invade. That is total BS. They need to secure a new source of economic aids.
The last N. Korean regime wants to do is to open up the country to outsiders. It would do as little as possible to secure its survival. Once fully exposed to the outside, it will not last. However, these days, information is tricking inside the country. The disastrous famine loosed the control over the movement of population, and information flows better than it used to. Ordinary folks lost faith in the regime. The vaunted propaganda has lost much of its power, even if people are still chanting it furiously. They do it to survive, not because they are really into it.
N. Korea can inflict a real damage. However, it is also to be noted that they always exaggerate their power by at least 10 times. N. Korean regime is the best blackmailer of the world. To defeat them, one should not buy into their brinkmanship.
The regime is now brittle if dangerous. Some freak accident from inside can lead to its demise. This can only happend when the outside pressure is sustained without wavering. Unless you go for a total appeasement, there is no path to orderly resolution. Even in the best case of near bloodless conclusion, it will give us a good scare.