NK made it past the finish line: they have a real program and a modest delivery system. I expect they will continue to follow the same diplomatic strategy as Pakistan.
I believe that NK was untrustworthy long before the events you cite. They didn't reach a rational conclusion. They always were belligerant, untrustworthy, lying bullies.
Yes, and that's worked out great for the Kims for almost 70 years now. We haven't exactly given them an incentive to change or reform.
It's impossible to exaggerate how badly we botched our handling of Libya in particular. After watching what happened to Gaddafi, there was literally no other option for Kim besides an all-out push to develop nuclear arms.
Iran, not being a country populated exclusively by idiots, will be doing the same.
The US simply cannot be trusted regardless of what party is at the helm, and that's a huge problem for us as well as anyone we're doing international business with.
> This means a credible nuclear deterrent is the only way to ensure the regime's survival.
If you're a criminal bully, then the only way to not get taken down by the bigger kids is to get nuclear weapons.
And US policy towards Korea has been something else?
The reason our diplomatic options are so poor now is because we have constantly failed to deliver our end of the bargain when it comes to nonproliferation in North Korea, see the Agreed Framework. Saying that they're "just crazy bullies" has always been a stupid over simplification that gets us nowhere closer to not blowing each other up.
> and the US seems to be honest about the contempt with which it views the North Korean regime
And DPRK is not? What are you even talking about? The DPRK literally uses inflammatory rhetoric about the USA all the time.
Secondly treating your people like dirt is also a very bad idea. Singapore remains a monarchy while not being anything like NK. The man drives his country into the dirt for bombs when they are completely unnecessary. He could either a) treat his people better then wouldn’t need bombs, or b) keep China happy and still wouldn’t need bombs.
The way they're behaving is quite rational. They looked at what happened to Gaddafi and Saddam, as well as how the new administration is seeking to tear down the Iran deal, and came to the conclusion that the US/West could not be trusted to honor a nuclear disarment deal long term.
This means a credible nuclear deterrent is the only way to ensure the regime's survival.
Lest people think I'm engaging in apologetics, what they're doing to keep in power is reprehensible. But they're not mad men looking for a symbolic "win" at the cost of suicide.