I wonder just how bad the domestic situation has to be in NK for them to be doing this. They're literally crying out for attention (and cash)... I wonder if Kim Jong-Il could go the way of Ceausescu...
The suggestion is they are in dire straits, this is their last gamble, there have been coup attempts on Kim, and it is only a matter of time. They know "Iraq" is "target practice" for the DPRK. Convinced, in fact, of that inevitability. What's there to lose?
They have shifted nearly all of their national resources, and spartanly starved the poor people accordingly, into the military complex for offensive purposes.