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The DPRK has much different operating parameters and war aims than 1941 Japan. Kim & Co. can accomplish all they want without setting a toe into water.

Japan's navy in 1941 was integral to what their warplan required and they believed that they had a shot at making it work. Many of the top Japanese Commanders (Yamamoto and others) knew that if their plan were not executed perfectly, that Japan was screwed. They counseled against war, but then fought it as hard as they could when the military consensus dictated that they execute the contingency they had planned for.

The DPRK does not now seek East Asia, only the southern half of a peninsula with a huge guard dog keepeing watching over that half.

If they can delude themselves into thinking that the US can be isolated long enough for them to establish themselves in the South, this might seem to be a worthwhile gamble for them. I know what I would do if I were in charge of their military and had two or three nukes at my disposal, and a belief that my special forces groups could hit anywhere in East Asia with enough effectiveness to accomplish their missions.

Particularly if I was able to establish the idea that helping out the South Koreans would cost the US plenty.

This was what the Japanese were hoping for in WWII; that they could make the price of rolling back Japan in the pacific so expensive that the US public would demand an end to the war so that fine white young men would stop dying for a bunch of "gooks". It did'nt work out that way for Japan, but it sure worked OK for North Vietnam.

I'm not too sure why every one seems to think the DPRK leadership is a puppet of Russia or the PRC, either. What evidence do we have of this?

Plus, what does not fighting for 50 years have to do with anything? Germany in 1914 had not fought a major war for 43 years, went forth, fought, killed, and died like champions in WWI. Japan had not fought an external enemy for hundreds of years, and kicked the crap out of Russia in 1905, so I'm not sure what that argument is meant to prove.