[tomjen]

Take out the nukes and then demand the hostages handed over unharmed. If they as much as flinch you nuke the country.

The only way you can deal with that guy is to play hardball and be very predictable.

[jrockway]

I don't think this will work. What do the leaders of North Korea care if you kill off its people? They have been doing it themselves for years.

That's why this is a delicate situation. North Korea can incinerate Seoul (and perhaps Tokyo) instantly. The leader is a psychopath, and has nothing to lose. So we can't really negotiate -- they don't want anything, and they can kill a lot more people than we can.

(It's depressing to consider how easily one person can kill millions, and how we can't do anything about it, or punish him if he does.)