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I read a fascinating analysis of North Korea on the Strategy Page (run by folks who design simulations for the U.S. & British military) web site. The thesis is that the center has lost effective power to NK army corps commanders (i.e. war lords) (the corps are organized by region). The only sources of foreign exchange are narcotics, counterfeiting, and arms sales. The country is so destitute that the only transportation modes still functioning are the railroads (which run on coal, mined domestically) and ships: there's not enough oil (purchased in China for dollars) to use the roads. Starvation has been endemic for at least a decade. Now there's so little food that even the guards at Panmunjom (once giants) are scrawny. The country's on its last legs. They NEED those nuclear weapons to sell for foreign exchange. While delighted to blackmail the U.S. if they can, they're so desperate they'll sell anything saleable -- nuclear weapons, plutonium, technology -- to any one cash no questions asked. Accordingly, we're a lot closer to a WMD attack in the U.S. than anyone thinks. Kim il Jong may be merely first among equals, or a figurehead.