North Korea tension 'prompts US missile test delay'

This might make it took like Porky Pig in Pymyang is starting to win, although as I said on another thread that I expect the USN has a few submarines in the area armed with enough toys to roast Porky Pig and crush what is left of their economy.

It could also very easily be that the engineers found something wrong and they're using North Korea as an excuse to delay the test and fix the problem.

It's time for the North and South to kiss and make up.

Can someone shed some insight on the likeliness of a reunification someday?

I just can't see it happening. China does not want a capitalist liberal democracy next door with nuclear weapons, and I get the vibe South Koreans aren't interested in swallowing up 25 million refugees. That would be even more pronounced of a economic disparity than East and West Germany, no?

Like SK is a very modernized technologically advanced economy, and NK is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Rehauling that society and bringing the basic staples of modern life there would be a hell of an expensive undertaking.

How would anyone see a reunification working, if the NK dictatorship collapsed some day?

Lots of pro reunification sentiment in SK. Did you know there are faxctories in NK owned and managed by SK businesses operating in NK? NK is also trying to liberalise their economy to some exctent, and they face the same hazards as Russia did once somebody started tugging on the glasnost string. If NK collapses, there will be tremors felt around the world, and you're right SK would be hard pressed to just integrate the NK people. But if it happens gradually, it might just work out. China also recognizes it has to liberalize even more, and that it also has the tiger by the tail. Many people are nervous about that too.

If the Kim family collapsed I would think that China would role in and set up a true puppet Gov. and after getting the N. Koreans used to a China style of doing things take it over as another state. S. Korea might try and move a bit further north but I truly don't see them really wanting to try and take over the running of N. Korea for the reasons you stated above. I think they would after a big outcry over China interfering would sigh with joy that a more stable system was there and not have to worry about some crazy Kim pushing the button or blowing the bugle to sound the charge.

Time for Obama to grow some stones and be proactive for once and turn North Korea into a large parking lot for those South Korean Kias & Hyundais....

And how's that supposed to work, Mr. Wizard?

Many South Koreans don't want reunification; it would be ruinously expensive to drag North Korea into the 21st century. They don't mind using North Korea for cheap labor though.

Zero.

As you said, the Chinese won't like it, Sk doesn't have the money
to pay for it.

Hopefully, the Chinese get sucked into paying to prop up the regime
for a while longer, even if they collapse.

China will likely step in, and you'll see NK go from being a one family dictatorship to a one party state. Funny, the 'freedoms' enjoyed by the Chinese can only be dreamed about by North Koreans. Some extra food and money, for the and theirs, will buy them off for a few generations