True, yet the little bastards have managed to develop a nuclear device and something resembling an ICBM without superpower help. There has never been a bigger example of misplaced priorities.

That is why this UN resolution to allow North Korean ships to be boarded and searched for contraband is very significant. They won't be selling any more missiles to Yemen and Iran and getting nuclear technology in or out will be extremely difficult for them.

We all are concerned with this, which is why China is being played veeeery carefully. The more that China gets rich and sees the fruits of free trade, the more that their foreign policy priorities change from ideological to pragmatic. We are steadily and insistently trying to convince China that their best interests lie in a united democratic Korea that is a trading partner instead than having an embarrassingly distasteful half of Korea as a dependency.

I think I'm willing to bet that North Korea won't survive without dramatic changes, the kind that happen after coups, revolutions, and civil wars.

Interesting. We always knew that they probably would, but stating so publicly has three very important ramifications.

1. This confirms that the Russians have perfected a boost-phase interceptor system and have it deployed on Kamchatka. They would not publicly make that claim and risk embarrassment otherwise.

2. Get out your globe. North Korea can't hit Alaska or any part of North America with an ICBM without overflying Russian territory.

3. This means that Russia can have no objections to Japan shooting down North Korean missiles overflying Japan. You can't hit Hawaii from North Korea without overflying Japan.

This is interesting to say the least:

Apparently the U.S. is tracking a "suspicious ship" from North Korea

LINK

Now they are threatening to wipe us off the map. :rolleye33:

That's about as threatening as a cloudy day.