4 ms·

North Korea not crazy, but incredibly intelligent and calculating. It's rather foolish and dangerous to think otherwise.

• murphy214 7y ago
  What was intelligent and calculated about the incident in question?
  • monocasa 7y ago
    Their demonstrated willingness to defend against even trivial encroachments.
  • u10 7y ago
    Asserting their power projection over the DMZ, whether it is legitimate is irrelevant. It's the same with the development of nuclear weapons. There is a near-zero probability that North Korea will engage in a first strike with nuclear weapons, but a very rational way of self-preservation. The North Korean regime is reprehensible but their actions are rational, from a self-preservation perspective.
• idiot900 7y ago
  Yes. They have extracted concessions and aid from the western world for decades, and have essentially never kept any of their promises. They are excellent at the game.
• mikeash 7y ago
  They have crazy priorities, which they pursue in a calculated and intelligent fashion.
  • monocasa 7y ago
    What about their priorities are crazy? As the old saying goes, you're not crazy if everyone is actually out to get you.
    • mikeash 7y ago
      Their single-minded pursuit of self-reliance has led to enormous suffering and, ironically, a strong dependence on a few other countries to keep them afloat. The extreme economic hardships mean they have a tough time deterring aggression (a quarter of their GDP goes to the military and, even so, the nukes are the only reason anyone takes them seriously). Consider a world where they followed a similar path to countries like China and Vietnam. Their people would be a lot better off, they’d have a much stronger military, and they’d be able to be much more of an equal partner with their allies.
      • ummonk 7y ago
        China is 50 times North Korea’s size, which was why it was able to prioritize economic development at the expense of the military.