'Time is of the essence', UN leader says after NK visit

Trump gets a lot of crap for his infantile tweets, but NK is really the escalator here. They are literally defying the entire international community and continue to fire off test ICBM's like it is their own personal firework display.

I don't know what is going to happen, but any armed conflict will have to occur before NK develops reliable nuclear weapons. China will allow conventional intervention despite having a mutual defense treaty, especially since NK is ignoring China's calls to back off, but there is no way China would allow any sort of nuclear conflict to arise without retaliation. Once NK has reliable nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver those warheads the option for a conventional armed conflict basically disappears.

I would not assume China is going to roll over, in the event of some kind of actual hot war between the US and NK. Conventional arms vs. nuclear arms shouldn't much matter, because either way, the fall of NK would be a disaster for them. They've been investing in preventing exactly that outcome ever since the Korean War. 

I forgot to add these options to the poll:

[ ] We actually do talk about it plenty.
[ ] This isn't even news. It's been going on for years, and nothing's changed.

I'm not exactly here, but pretty close.

I don't understand why it is so terrifying for NK to have nuclear weapons (which is, I think, inevitable).

I don't think they're going to start using them, they just want to be a player on the world stage, to have respect. (Is that what's terrifying?) As opposed to threatening or carrying out destruction and world domination, I mean.

I heard or read something about NK selling the weapons to terrorists--is that a valid concern?

I do want as much money as necessary to be spent on our own defense programs (as opposed to funding "the war machine"). I think a strong defense is paramount. Being the world's police, not so much. Though I wouldn't want the U.S. to become walled off and ambivalent, either.

*wanders off to find the "it's really complicated" poll option*

I agree, it's going to be a reality we'll have to deal with. 

That said, while I dunno if I'd use the word terrifying, I think there are some pretty clear issues with North Korea having nuclear weapons. Even if you assume they're not willing to use them pre-emptively, why wouldn't they be willing to use them in the event of a war? 

And even then, even if one assumes they wouldn't use them in a war, what would happen to these weapons in the event that the regime collapses at some point farther down the road? 

It seems to pose issues for the whole region (China, Japan, South Korea, etc.), not just the US. 

Could you? 

I dunno.

But there's more here than just an opinion. North Korea's possession of a mobile transporter for nuclear warheads is hardly an opinion. It's a significant step in their nuclear ambitions, because it makes it much more difficult to take out their arsenal as opposed to stationary silos. 

I agree, North Korea presents challenges for China, but the evidence is there, that China is supporting North Korea. No reason to ignore that, as far as I can see. 

Crisis fatigue, it's terrifying, and I feel truly helpless with regard to it.

I feel the way I did on a bus in Greece hurtling down steep hills on narrow roads while the driver drove one-handed with a lit cigarette in his wheel hand, his other hand holding a cell phone pressed into his ear, screaming in Greek at whoever was on the other end. I did not think I'd make it to my destination alive, but there wasn't any getting off the bus and I couldn't do a damn thing to make the driver slow down and put both hands on the wheel.

I would feel a lot better if Trump would not pointlessly insult and threaten Kim Jong Un. But as with the bus driver, I don't speak his language and he wouldn't listen to me even if I did.

On the plus side, I did eventually make it alive to Olympia, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt all evening.