North Korea is a nuclear power (they tested their first nuke some number of years ago now...) and the last few CIA Directors under the Obama administration have

North Korea is a nuclear power (they tested their first nuke some number of years ago now...) and the last few CIA Directors under the Obama administration have included North Korea on a list enumerating 'rising powers'. Instability in North Korea potentially benefits the United States as its instability agitates its neighbor China and because China would be responsible for millions of very sick and extremely brainwashed immigrants were it to collapse. Finally, Korea was split as a post war agreement (and punishment to Japan) after World War II and the goal was to quickly thereafter have the cooperation of the US, UK, the Soviet Union and China reunite. (Interestingly, part of Japan was also promised to the Soviet Union, but that never came to pass as the West reneged). Rising tensions during the Cold War prevented the cooperation necessary to achieve this reunification and the provisional governments became entrenched as legitimate statehoods. IE to the major powers Korea (especially North Korea) has no legitimate claim to existence - it is a provisional government that got away from its imperialist keepers.