Don't stick the tiger in the eye with a stick too many times.
He'll be docile and quiet, all the while planning a way to smack the crud out of you in revenge and self defense once you glance away briefly. He will feign weakness and patience, but inside, his blood is boiling and his plans are racing in his mind.
It's no 'sneak attack'. It is simply an explosion that the person with the stick should have figured all along.
I think Kim Jong il is terribly mis-reading Japan as a bunch of pussies and he is liable to be taught a bitter lesson.