And then, of course, you have the wonderful set of missile launches that North Korea made in was appears very strongly to be an attempt to provoke the US and Japan...
First, launching more than one on the same day is not really test-launching, in that with test-launching, you will launch one, then run a myriad of tests to see what worked as it should have and what did not, and then find out why the stuff that didn't, did not work properly. Second, did you note the fact that they were launched at a time when in the United States, they'd be celebrating their Independence Day? Third, they launched them toward the island of Hokkaido, Japan.
That's not all, I'm sure, but those are the points at which I'd like to point for now.
I have a theory on this, not really based on any factual evidence, other than what is generally known, so here me out, then you can tell me what you think...
North Korea is a fairly poor country, there is evidence that starvation exists on a fairly extensive scale (bare with me, all will become clear). The US and UK and other supporters, seem to have turned their attention away from NK's attempts at Nuclear weapons development, more in favour of Iran and the fear of Terror groups obtaining Radioactive material that can be turned into the "dirty bomb". I have a feeling that the NK government have seen an opportunity to end the state of war that exists between it and South Korea/USA after all, the Korean war never really ended, they just instigated a cessation of hostilities... they stopped shooting at each other !
Now we all know that communism doesn't really work, we have seen evidence of this with the USSR, i.e. the birth and death of a whole ideology (for that country and it's satellites) within a century and the communism practiced in China isn't really Communism, it's more of a watered down version.
In North Korea there exists this so called communism, whereby everyone is equal, everyone is worth the same, yada yada yada, the problem is, as I have said the Korean general public are starving, there is limited resources to go around, I can't imagine people being overjoyed with that, so much so that News reports, when they have been leaked have intimated of food riots directed at the government.
Now here's where I think my theory may (or may not) have credence. The Korean Government fearing that a break down of law and order, of further food riots, mass starvation, disease and any other number of catastrophic problems, may push them out of that cushy little number they've got going, need to appease the masses, how better to do this than to end the state of war that exists, and start communicating with the rest of the world, and ultimately to trade with the west, however, at the moment what they need is aid, food supplies, I would imagine drugs and medical supplies and probably a whole host of other things to get them out of the s**t. But how do you ask for aid from a country that you've spent the last 50-60 years describing as the enemy ? How do you save face in front of your own people when you've spent years telling them how bad the Western World is ?
I personally think that NK has no interest in Nuclear proliferation, what I do think is this is a cry for help, they want to bring the richer countries back to the diplomatic table in order to save their country at the same time as saving face.
Just a theory...