If they intend to attack Japan, let Japan deal with it.

Kim Jong-un is unpredictable and nobody wants him to have nuclear armed ICBM’s under his control. He is still some way from developing these and there is still a chance that once sanctions start to bite he will reconsider. I’m not holding my breath however and the point may come in the next few years when military action will be required to take out his missile capability and, probably with Chinese help, overthrow his regime.

North Korea seems to be in no condition to seriously attack anyplace but South Korea, except possibly by firing missiles or some other nuclear delivery method, but there is no way for them to have much real strategic reason or attainable goal except attacking South Korea. Except possibly as a threat of doing damage to extort some concession, or maybe a The Mouse That Roared strategy, or other deranged scenario.

I haven’t studied the actual current US policy but I think yes, if North Korea attacked Japan, the US military would respond. However the Chinese consider North Korea in their sphere of interest and would not want the US to invade. I expect China might invade North Korea itself if North Korea went berserk.

They use this as a barganing chip but it has potential for deadly consequences. I don’t think they want war but the risk is there.

My take on it is NK badly needs trading partners and Kim Jung-un is trying to prove he has the power and potential to attack his adversaries which would open the need to bring him to the negotiating table to work out deals or else. Kim IMO is also very desperate to retain control of the country so desperate he offed his half brother and anyone who looks at him the wrong way.

No. It’s their annual bid for free American wheat and rice for next year’s winter. Jesus. You’d think the American public would have caught on by now. Our DOD and State Department certainly have

Technically, a state of war still exists between the UN and North Korea. It’s been like that since the cease fire was signed back in 1953. Nothing was ever settled. If North Korea attacked Japan the war would resume.

i think it would be more accurate to regard North Korea as preparing for the inevitable day when some entity somewhere declares “THAT’S IT” It would be difficult to invent a place so dedicated to driving the world toward the committed extermination of its leadership. The country’s paranoia is justified, and no effort is spared on its part in driving the justification. It’s tragic, and I truly wish and hope for a way around this. Who can say?

North Korea has a massive army. But their technology is inferior to most of the countries they taunt. Most of their machinery is old,and in a poor state of maintenance.

That’s not to say they are toothless.

Their biggest problem is that they don’t have the resources to carry on an extended conflict. They would run out of things like fuel for their tanks in pretty short order. Most analyses by military experts has indicated that they could invade some small islands, or make potentially some small advances, but any conventional war would be unsustainable. Japan is military hamstrung by the treaties signed after WW2. These agreements prohibited offensive weapons build ups,but did not include defensive capabilities. Japan is quite capable of defending themselves from NK. (China is a different story.)

Their nuclear weapons program has to be taken seriously,as they will eventually figure out the technology to deliver a warhead.

China doesn’t want regime change in NK. It would create a huge leadership vacuum in a country that already has widespread famine, infrastructure issues, and a generally unhealthy, and brainwashed population. The subsequent humanitarian crisis, and refugees pouring into China and South Korea would be a disaster. It would further destabilize that region, and all ramifications would likely be negative.

Unfortunately , there is no current “good” options on the table for dealing with NK.

They have a highly volatile leadership, which struggles with cooperation, and paranoia. The real sad thing is the treatment of their population. I feel sorry for them. I hope for some positive outcome for them.

Ultimately, the North Korean people themselves may have to be the answer. They need to collectively rise against, and overthrow Kim. But it would be a monumental task, and Kim could easily use kill hundreds of thousands of his own people as he goes down.

Let’s nuke North Korea and make it look like the Russians did it.

Let’s not.