Killing off Ghadaffi was perhaps the worst blow to any broader denuclearization efforts. As long as Libya pursued weapons of mass destruction, but the leadersh

Killing off Ghadaffi was perhaps the worst blow to any broader denuclearization efforts. As long as Libya pursued weapons of mass destruction, but the leadership was more or less unmolested. Sanctions and sabre rattling don't actually pose a personal risk. But when they started playing nice with the global community, a coup and assassination followed conspicuously soon after. Nuclear weapons were always a guarantee of security and regime continuity for Kim, but that reminds us it works on two layers. The US or RoK can't directly call for war without Seoul ending up glowing by tea-time, but they also need to keep the cloak-and-dagger guys on a leash too. Trying any of the zany plans they had saved for Castro could result in a bunch of nuclear weapons and know-how ending up in less stable hands. (I could imagine an apocalyptic cult, for example, being willing to fire an acquired weapon, in a way that even the most violent nation state would think twice about)