Sounds like something I heard briefly on NPR this afternoon. It's a perfectly reasonable point of view, but it's worth noting that it fits Kissinger's prediction perfectly. This isn't just about whether North Korea is going to have nukes. Insert your favorite despot or religious oligarchy here. There doesn't appear to be a shortage.

Interesting note on the North Korean economy in Newsweek this week:

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/200069

Very Interesting CDarwin. More than 95% of the media coverage (at least in the USA) seems to give the impression of a desperate set of conditions in N. Korea. If true, the article puts the whole humanitarian aid thing into a different light. While very few people would oppose the sending of help for starving and freezing people; sending "aid" to people who don't really need it seems more like caving in to blackmail...

 

So which story is correct? Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between?