GZ Have you ever read the Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn? I recall the first word in the book "Arrest". From there on the Soviet forced labour camp system reads like a clean boarding house (I could never say 5 star hotel) in comparison to what currently exists in North Korea.
Forget about the West and the US for a moment. The NK system has clearly outlived its usefulness to both China and Russia . Should NK now model itself on China EVERYONE will be happy. By everyone I would start with Moon, Xi, Putin, Trump and Abe.
NK and Iran are close technology partners. Iran has solid scientific depth and infrastructure that has to be recognised. What Iran could not do openly was build or test actual bombs. Only the extremely naïve would assume that the partners don't share absolutely everything on the nuclear front.
On NK ..... where everyone is making money on the potential for economic growth in that country they start to forget about missiles and bombs and the like.
On Iran. Soleimani can run a disciplined army BUT he doesn't run the show. Perhaps he should.
