At a crucial moment, China is throwing a lifeline to Kim Jong Il. North Korea is an increasingly fragile state. But with Beijing’s help, it will probably survive to once again threaten the United States with nuclear destruction. Today, North Korea threatened to unleash “unprecedented nuclear strikes” on the United States and South Korea. The reason for Pyongyang’s extreme unhappiness? Washington and Seoul are making plans about what to do should the North fall apart. Kim Jong Il’s regime called the possibility of internal unrest a “pipe dream.”