Yeah, avansc is right, the US keeps a very close eye on North Korea. They've been doing a lot of naval maneuvers and training lately with South Korea with the recent events. I know Canada has too - there was a South Korean frigate docked in Vancouver (where I live) just last month.
The problem with North Korea is that they have fairly substantial firepower. They may not have much in the way of long-range precision missiles (though firing at and destroying a South Korean ship shows that their mid-range capabilities are certainly threatening) but that doesn't mean they're incapable of causing large amounts of damage if provoked. I don't think most leaders trust that North Korea's "great leader" is entirely stable. Cults of personality and ultra-nationalism are infectious. There's a couple interesting examples of this during WWII:
- France's Maginot line which would have done wonders against a WWI style invasion. Sadly, trench warfare was not the primary method of waging battles and a combination of dive bombers, tanks, and half-track infantry carriers caused the line to be fairly quickly overrun and the Germans came rolling in to Paris in about a month. Beforehand, the French were convinced of the impenetrability of the line.
- Similarly, before the US, Britain, and Canada reclaimed the shores in France the Germans had built up fortifications at key strategic locations along the coast and placed obstacles for tanks. There was apparently sentiments that they were now unstoppable and the coast was impenetrable. Despite the fact that it came at heavy losses, the three countries took back the shore with a similar tactic to the Germans (fast, coordinated multi-point strike on multiple fronts before they could coordinate a counterstrike).
I wouldn't doubt that Kim Jong Il, convinced of his own superiority as a "god" (there's some crazy propaganda there), would be totally willing to wage war. He's already fired a rocket near Japan and sunk a South Korean vessel. Add to that the fact that China partially supports North Korea and there are also political issues regarding China's claims on the oceans in that region (it claims large amounts of ocean that are considered open waters and has threatened to fire upon foreign vessels in it's claimed waters). Add to that the fact that North Korea has nuclear capabilities (or is believed to) and China does. An invasion really isn't going to happen unless North Korea does something first. It'd be a political mess that they just couldn't justify with China and Kim Jong Il routinely threatens war in the name of "self-defense".
The problem is that, despite the fact that North Korea's economy is pretty much sealed shut and appears to be in the hole, China supplies massive amounts of energy and food to it. That means that North Korea is unlikely to collapse on its own (although that'd be scary too). Yeah, I agree that it's a problem, but it's a tricky situation. The thing about countries like Afghanistan and Iraq is that they really don't have the same capabilities and the political situation is different. Also, North Korea seems to be prodding at the US and South Korea - trying to get them to act/respond. I doubt that they'll invade, but I don't doubt that we'll see more rocket strikes.
Wow I'm a history/political nerd
