By now, everyone who has followed the utterings of North Korea’s leaders and authorized spokespersons for any length of time knows that Pyongyang’s rhetoric is bombastic bluster intended mostly for domestic consumption. It has always been a superb way of implying an external threat to the regime, one that requires the (continued) sacrifice of the citizenry in order to fend off the Yankee barbarians and their South Korean lackeys. To date, it has been remarkably effective in diverting attention away from domestic issues to non-existent dangers, for the U.S. has not directly threatened the North with extermination – at least not until most recently.

Even if North Korea’s fear is not justified, it is never wise to make an adversary feel trapped in a corner with no way out