I suppose I should be glad that we went to South Korea earlier this year, given the current international climate. Better timing than our earlier plans to visit Libya and Syria, both interrupted by war. So if the worst happens, we will have personal experience of what is lost. Not much of a comfort.
When one depends on North Korea to be the rational partner in a confrontation, well.
I thought this article was very good and got at the American view of being untethered by history.