And they've been under all manner of pressure from other countries. If they were going to create mischief I would think they have supplied the Taliban or al-Qaeda with whatever they needed or wanted.

And done it in an untraceable manner. Those are not stupid people. They are very bright and hard-working, at least the upper levels are.

If the leadership were truly mad they'd be overthrown by the military. The armed forces are composed of folks with guns who are not generally suicidal and want the best for themselves and their families.

Unless, of course, there were super-purges regularly on the order of Stalin and Saddam. Hitler had many plots against him and survived as long as he did only with a lot of luck.

All we know is what the Western and Asian press prints. And the Western press generally prints that which folks want to hear. I think any press service which did not demonize North Korea would come under such PR pressure that it would have to back down. And they aren't going to do that.

There aren't many stories about Israeli atrocities for the same reasons.

Arf