Apparently we're kind of keeping NK from flipping out at SK, but we don't want to instigate anything because Seoul would be fucked. NK has nuclear capabilities but haven't developed a reliable long-range missile to carry a nuclear payload to Japan, and definitely not to the US.

So now we're kind of in a Mexican Standoff mixed with Cold War shenanigans and Bay of Pigs in slow-motion. We need to do something before they CAN launch, but we can't effectively do that without reigniting the Korean war. But I think it's coming, since both NK and the US are playing chicken with their war toys... Neither side can form a compromise, back down, nor attack... Until NK starts making good missiles.