What to do about North Korea?

[CapnAwesome]

Interesting. I mean I think you are right, except maybe we could give up something. Probably nothing that we'd want to give up though. Let's hypothetically say we traded our support for Taiwan for China's support for North Korea. If China decided to stop supporting North Korea, what would happen then? It's not like that would be an automatic solution to the problem or anything.

I think the US would also have to offer to withdraw from South Korea.   For china to stop support North Korea, china would want assurance the collapse of North Korea won't bring a country allied with the US and hosting us forces on its soil right up to Chinese border.  

Also, the solution of having china invade and crush North Korea is also impossible.  North Korea has nuclear weapons and Beijing with its 15 million people is just a couple of hundred miles from china North Korean border.

That's why I don't think that people who say we should pressure China into taking care of North Korea really makes any sense. Why are the Chinese any more capable then America of safely dealing with North Korea? Of course they are not. Like you said, I don't think we have anything to give the Chinese that would convince them to invade a nuclear armed country right next to their border. Nor do the Chinese have any particular reason to make North Korea a liberal democracy. They don't want more liberal democracies. So saying that China could take care of North Korea makes no sense when you get more then two steps deep into the idea.

Irregardless, I don't share your total pessimism. I mean, South Korea was a totalitarian dictatorship not even that long ago and today people there have a lot of freedom.

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I suspect the Chinese have a far greater grasp of the situation in NK than we do.  Would not surprise me to learn that they have co-opted one of Kim's body guards to put a bullet in the back of his head when China feels the need.  Right now though Kim is providing a useful distraction for China.  The moment he becomes too great a risk for them he's a dead man.

Killing Kim isn't going to do anything. I mean the other one died and the system didn't change.