You can't destroy NK; it is already. They are tooo poor even to have rubble to bounce if a few MOABs are lobbed.

NK is a workers paradise, all of China's and Western Lefties making. Can we charge any Uni profs for aiding and abetting war crimes?

McCackie

Up until the 1970s, North Korea's industrial economy far out-stripped South Korea's. But the 1970s oil crisis and later collapse of the Soviet Union sent it into rapid decline. From the early 2000s, Western economic sanctions drove it into abject poverty.

Continued Western belligerence (i.e. no socialist government must ever succeed) and the invasion of Iraq put the regime onto an expensive military deterrence path.

Can't we idiots in the West see that the two Koreas want to be left alone, with the long-term goal of reunification? Even the South Korean government is getting fed up with our destructive meddling. Hopefully, the united history of the two 'artificial' Koreas will finally decide

Hey Alan,
I have to side with Killarney, because I think the situation there is more complicated than people realise.

"Preferably, before he's able to realize any part of a nightmare scenario that could literally signal/usher in armageddon?"

Simply put, it can't be done.
The only US military option is a massive barrage of nuclear weapons across the DMZ, plus the nuke sites, and mobile nukes and they probably wont get them all. Anything other than that initial barrage and Seoul gets destroyed. Miss any of the nukes and you risk Tokyo and other Japanese cities being wiped of the map, - and Kims submarines too.

From memory a nuke re-entry speed is 15,000mph or just over 4miles per second, 7 or 8 times faster than a speeding bullet.
Wikipedia says Trident II max speed is 18,000mph.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-133_Trident_II
There is no military option.

The US doesn't like sharing power with anyone, they will talk up anything to continue the idea of 'American Exceptionalism / Imperialism' and may even be potentially willing to risk South Korea and Japans destruction to not have to share that military power.

North Korea is a crazy place, no argument, but the situation is misunderstood.
What they have wanted (from what I understand) is a formal peace treaty since the Korean War.
But the US won't discuss this.
And the media won't tell you that Kim's been willing to enter into a freeze / freeze agreement, where if the US stops the drills (as Killarney alluded to) and they would stop developing the nukes, but the US wouldn't have that either.
For over 3 generations North Koreans have been told from age 3 that America is coming back.
So taking out Kim won't make much difference, the people will still think the US is coming to invade them and step up to defend their nation.
Kim's nuclear build up is a reflection of his genuine belief that the US won't attack and invade them if they are a nuclear power.
The US doesn't make war with nuclear nations.

The fat leader's rate of calories is up . Pop-up McDonalds with extra sugar in cans and Big Jong-un burgers will help him increase.