I think the best thing to do is what the Chinese suggest... for South Korea to talk to North Korea. Same with Syria...talk. Negotiate. Talk more. Talk is good. Will the US ever talk with the Syrian Govt? No. Will the Syrian Govt be willing to talk with the US? Absolutely. Will the US ever talk with the sovereign government of North Korea? No. Will the North Korean Govt choose to talk with the USA? Absolutely. Pride can be a form of an all encompassing Mania...and we do know that, from biblical times, it goeth before a fall. Why choose to fall? Talk, negotiate, be frustrated, fail, be angry, talk again, succeed, negotiate again...much cheaper than war and millions less die. Neither Syria or North Korea present a real threat to life on earth even with weapons of mass destruction. Neither present any threat to the USA...Everyone knows that. The USA is not Asia, Asia is Asia. Asia has to solve the problems of Asia. America is thousands and thousands of miles away, a very foreign country with very strange ideas about self-importance. The Korean War, the War on Vietnam...all for what? The massive bombings of whole societies in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia...for what outcome? Go on home, US soldiers, go on home, have you got no fucking home of your own? Cut loose on one another in a school, or a church or a shopping centre...that's the kind of war you understand and respect and nurture within yourself. Do it to yourself, not others. Do a good job of it. Win your wars at home.

You can also imagine the madness that the South Koreans would display if Japanese troops, as part of the US contingent went anywhere in or near South Korea. That's a deep and abiding racial hatred based upon sound reason, solid historical and horrific inhuman actions by Japan.

All up, I think we can generally understand why the Kim Dynasty government of North Korea (very similar to the Saudi Royal family government of saudi arabia in terms of human rights abuses and basic non-popularity) is a very paranoid entity. It borders Russia where Russian army forces are now increasing...and Russia certainly has invaded before...it borders China where the Chinese PLA is increasing its significant weaponry and soldier numbers along the Yalu River border, South Korea is unstable now and without a President, and the US is approaching it all with its nuclear arsenal in aggressive mode. That would make anyone paranoid. The history of what happened to Iraq and Libya and Afghanistan just recently is far too clear a lesson for what happens to a defined American strategic geo-poltical target that doesn't have Weapons of Mass Destruction. They are destroyed. They are not rebuilt. If the Kim Dynasty was removed by the USA's military forces from the air, with a ground push from the South, within an hour Russian land and sea and air forces would arrive in Pyongyang from the North, boots and all, as would China land, sea and air forces...would arrive from the East, with the USA pushing up from the South...and then you'd have the great face-off between America, China and Russia, eye to eye, all eyeing off the most valuable strategic piece of real estate on earth. The Great Tectonic Plate. I don't think anyone in their right mind wants that kind of massive world conflagration...except maybe the USA. Mr Kim Jong Un presents as a madman, but he knows the history of Korea very well..and he knows exactly where he lives. His main goal is to preserve himself and his dynasty, and the best way to do that is to quickly acquire as many weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, gas etc as fast as possible. I believe he is very secure in his governance, unlike the US President, and will continue to rule quite badly for many decades to come, simply because, for the World, what does exist now is far better than that what would exist if he was destroyed. He is obviously very adept at mahjong.

Understanding North Korea means understanding all Korea, a country given full independence by the Chinese Dynasty long ago..a Country then invaded and obliterated into serfdom by Japan, the Soviet union, and then half liberated by China. A country of Animism, shamanism, pure Machismo, neo-confucianism, missionary Christianity, Shinto, communism and Juche. This is not an easy country to understand nor to defeat. It will not 'roll over' to suit China, nor the USA, and is not like a vassal state like Australia that is always happy to roll over and take it up the arse from the USA.

The problem with America, England and even Australia telling China to get tough on North Korea DPRK is that although China is the land neighbour of North Korea (and all Korea) , China does not bully North Korea as would be expected say if one was a client state of the USA. China is at pains, philosophically, and traditionally, to not interfere...anywhere. This is why they are so strong now, and more advanced as a civilisation than any empire ever has been. China gave the Korean Peninsula Independence many centuries ago in the Dynasty times and China does not go back on its word. Independence is sacrosanct. At the same time, when the US invaded Korea and took the South, the Soviet Union basically went home from the North and China came in to support North Korea and much communal Chinese and Korean blood was spilled together in that Korean War against America and its allies in the 1950s. Chairman Mao's son was killed by the US in that war and his grave remains in North Korea. There is a strong kin attachment between China and all of Korea. Upon the establishment of the military border between North and South, the Chinese troops and administration just went home. Whereas in the South, The US military remains as an aggressive occupation force today. The great Manchurian human family kinship spreads across both China, Korea and into Russia's Siberia still...and as an ex PLA Colonel mentioned to me in Dalian, in China..."Yes, the DPRK is the worst human government on Earth, but they remain our blood brothers." That the US, apart from the annual buzzing of the North with weapons of mass destruction, would now send an aggressive navy into waters controlled by Korea, China, Russia and Japan, whose navies are all there, this is a very dodgy thing to do. America is not a neighbour, has no historical or kinship ties or responsibilities with any country there, has a history of provocations and attacks, and has a history of devastating anyone they don't like who doesn't have nuclear weapons...and this is why North Korea is very keen on getting some. The bravado of the DPRK is Korean Animist Machismo, equal in both South and North...and respected in both parts of that one Korea. The problem of Korea can only be worked out by the two Korean brothers, not by China, not by neighbour Russia, and certainly not by the very foreign and randomly vicious juvenile USA.

The problem with America, England and even Australia telling China to get tough on North Korea DPRK is that although China is the land neighbour of North Korea (and all Korea) , China does not bully North Korea as would be expected say if one was a client state of the USA.

China is at pains, philosophically, and traditionally, to not interfere...anywhere. This is why they are so strong now, and more advanced as a civilisation than any empire ever has been. China gave the Korean Peninsula Independence many centuries ago in the Dynasty times and China does not go back on its word. Independence is sacrosanct.

At the same time, when the US invaded Korea and took the South, the Soviet Union basically went home from the North and China came in to support North Korea and much communal Chinese and Korean blood was spilled together in that Korean War against America and its allies in the 1950s. Chairman Mao's son was killed by the US in that war and his grave remains in North Korea. There is a strong kin attachment between China and all of Korea. Upon the establishment of the military border between North and South, the Chinese troops and administration just went home. Whereas in the South, The US military remains as an aggressive occupation force today.

The great Manchurian human family kinship spreads across both China, Korea and into Russia's Siberia still...and as an ex PLA Colonel mentioned to me in Dalian, in China..."Yes, the DPRK is the worst human government on Earth, but they remain our blood brothers."

That the US, apart from the annual buzzing of the North with weapons of mass destruction, would now send an aggressive navy into waters controlled by Korea, China, Russia and Japan, whose navies are all there, this is a very dodgy thing to do.

America is not a neighbour, has no historical or kinship ties or responsibilities with any country there, has a history of provocations and attacks, and has a history of devastating anyone they don't like who doesn't have nuclear weapons...and this is why North Korea is very keen on getting some.

The bravado of the DPRK is Korean Animist Machismo, equal in both South and North...and respected in both parts of that one Korea. The problem of Korea can only be worked out by the two Korean brothers, not by China, not by neighbour Russia, and certainly not by the very foreign and randomly vicious juvenile USA.

There was a time about 20 years ago that the Yellow Hat dalai lama Tenzin Gyatso, gave a long interview where he stated his views that the spirit of Buddhism would survive even if there was no Tibet, or no humans. In all ways, the human component of belief wasn't important at all. That buddhism was an eternal universal principle. Then he received a huge amount of funds from the US Government and started talking about how unique and irreplaceable and special Tibetan culture and Tibetan buddhism was, and how endangered it all was, and how the Chinese, building roads, highways, train lines, schools, hospitals etc were so cruel. Then there was a spike in monks immolating themselves in public places in China and the Dalai Lama never really condemned that at all. Martyrs. The only people who actually did anything about that problem, was the Chinese Government who set up mental health clinics for the buddhist youth...and gave them appropriate therapies, medications, jobs and scholarships to Beijing University. The Dalai lama is a character of duplicity. One day he will say 'oh no, we do not want to be a separate state from China, as the Chinese have in many ways been very good'..then more funds arrive from the US and he's setting up 'a government in exile in Dharamsala'...not a democratic government of course...not a government in exile that actually wants to be a government in reality, at all, no, just an autonomous theocratic grouping of non elected friends and family of the Dalai Lama to generally rule and own property, and buy and sell the resources, apply taxes, etc etc. It is not going to happen. There is far more chance of the200 million highly educated separatist Manchurian Neo-coms in the militarily rich and well resourced North East of China ceding from the Peoples Republic and absorbing North Korea, chunks of Siberia, and launching effective nuclear attacks on Japan. That is far more likely in this real world.

Buddhist wars. When time came for a refurbishment of the temple in India noted to be on the site where the Buddha became enlightened, the Dalai Lama asked for world donations towards its renovation, and that all donations go through the charity conduit of his and would be passed on to the temple. The last King of Thailand, Rama IX, who died recently, the head of that Thai school of Buddhism (The King of All Kings), sent 400 kilograms of gold directly to the temple as a personal gift last year. Put 400kg of his own gold on a plane and flew it in to the temple guarded by Royal Thai army security forces. The Dalai Lama's crew complained bitterly about this as they were not included as the middlemen/cash converters. The King had bypassed their cut, and there was no spin to be had either. King Rama IX was well known for booting the Dalai Lama out of Thailand for poaching believers and donations many years before and they had been at each others throats for decades after that. Meanwhile, the other two Tibetan Dalai Lamas (yes, there are 2 others, red hat and black hat) remain in Tibet doing what they do best...praying in and supporting their communities...and securing themselves from murder attempts by the Yellow Hat Dalai Lama's people. The history of Buddhism is replete with many internecine battles for power, battles of real savagery...in the past and continuing in the present. "By their works, not what they say, you will know them."