Korea'ing into stormy waters?

Kim Jung Il, North Korea's insane leader. He's as mad as a box of frogs at a lunatics convention in Cuckooville.

North Korea is an odd place. One of very few countries, perhaps 6 which are totally militaristic (everyone's technically in the army) and where the State officially comes before family, friends & humanity itself.

Everyone wears a 'uniform' and must be a member of the communist party. There are compulsory meetings every night, and weekends are taken up at massive parades and ceremonies the only function of which is to 'praise our glorious leader, Kim Jung Il'.

People are afraid to have friends - as friends can, and do report what you say, do or think  to a network of spies found everywhere, all the time. Everyone has a job - but it's chosen for you, and you can't refuse.

The State is broke. There's no money around and no food. People are literally starving. They have no contact at all with the outside world. Radio & TV signals from abroad are jammed, and trying to obtain information from outside leads to a harsh jail sentence. There are no 'free' TV or radio stations, and the press is totally controlled, containing stories praising Kim Jung Il, the wonders of communism & the great 'victories' of the Korean army against the evils of capitalism. Propaganda posters praising the wonders of Kim Jung Il are everywhere.

Borders are closed & fiercely guarded - no one gets across. Korea has no friends. It is not in the United Nations & is sanctioned by the rest of the world for human rights abuses, state killings & illegal dealings with nuclear arms and fissile materials. Korea is tolerated by the China, but they don't have a good relationship, and this is getting worse.

The Korean language is unique - unrelated & totally different from any other language on the planet. To an outsider, it sounds a little like Japanese & looks vaguely Chinese, but there are no connections at all with either language.

Worryingly, Korea has spent every dollar of its wealth on building up its army and on amassing a huge nuclear arsenal, on weapons, rockets, nuclear-reprocessing plants & other military stuff.

And a total madman is in charge of all of it. Kim Jung Il has no appreciation of the world, or North Korea's place in it. He rules his country, his people & his massive nuclear forces with a rod of iron & in absolute terror.

And now, because he feels ignored and alone, he's firing off nuclear rockets & threatening to use them against his country's neighbors, and making ridiculous demands on how his part of the world should be run.

Nuclear weapons are seriously bad news. Nuclear weapons in the hands of an autocratic madman in a land full of compliant, robotic zombies is a terrifying thought.

There'll be trouble here!