Is North Korea is a serious threat to the US?

no, but they need to be dealt with sooner or later.

Not directly, but they have the potential to drag us into yet another nasty cat fight on behalf of our allies.

Let them fire a missile… I’ve been waiting in South Korea too long.. I need someone to shoot at.

Like Wenn and Darwin have said. They are a threat with the missile, but haven’t been much a problem to the US yet, but I believe that soon, we will have a conflict with North Korea

A rogue nation with a mad dictator that builds enormous statues of himself and threatens nuclear war seems like more than a little nuisance to me. It’s like the mad man at the Psych ward. You know that he could be contained if anything happened but if you turn your back for a moment, people could get seriously hurt.

very much so…

If NK attacks the south, guess who WILL get dragged into it…. there’s no doubt in my mind that Korea could start WW3 within the next 10 years.

we’re headed towards a collision source with China, they’re got south korea on their minds, they’ve got Taiwan on their minds… I don’t think many people realize how many powder kegs this world has right now…

In the sense where I think NK can drag others (our enemies) into a conflict, yes. They are a real threat.

North Korea is a threat to the United States more indirectly than directly in my opinion. South Korea is in the greatest danger from the north right now due to Kim Jong Il no longer recognizing the armistice that was established in 1953.

As South Korea is a strong ally of the United States and 32,000 of our troops are stationed there, any attack on the south is a threat to that country, interests we might have there, and to the thousands of American servicemen stationed there.

North Korea has missles capable of reaching and purportedly being able to destroy United States territories in the Pacific Ocean along with Hawaii. These are certainly significant threats to the United States but I don’t think North Korea has the fortitude to launch against us because they know that our retaliation can and probably would be very much worse right back at them. Additionally, North Korea isn’t going to get any real support from China and Russia like they did in days gone by and I think they know this too.

I believe they are, but if they actually launched a nuclear attack (which is about the only serious threat they have), we could easily carpet bomb NK with nukes.

I hope to G-d that never happens, but when it comes to an nuclear race with NK… we win.

I’m reminding myself of Dr Strangelove (OHILTSWALTB)

Well is asking that everyone who enters your capital bow at this anything less than the act of a megalomaniac madman?

Imagining that there is a meaningful dialogue with someone like this is like reasoning with Pol Pot.

NK is a bogeyman that we use to prop up our defense industry and to get Japan to buy our defense systems and political agenda. That’s not saying that Il isn’t a nutjob, but IMHO we’re pulling more strings from the inside than is apparent.

If we decided they weren’t a threat, and just ignored the situation, I wonder what actions China and Russia would take. Both of them are threatened by NK’s nuclear capability. Both are much closer than the US is.

Right now they are way down on the threat list. The current threat is they are going to shoot a missile at us on the 4th. They can’t keep a missile on track for a couple of hundred miles let alone halfway around the world. If they actually keep up this nonsense, China is going to squash them like a bug.

They’re not a serious threat, but they’re crazy enough to try to hurt us, so we need to keep jollying them along until they come to their senses—maybe give the designated heir, third son Kim Jong Un, the rights to any pizza franchises in NK.

“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggy’ while looking for a big enough stick.”

“Talk softly and carry a big stick.”

Are missiles in some way phallic symbols?