ABSTRACT
This chapter delves further into the North Korean case by evaluating the nature of the contemporary threat posed by North Korea; what key factors motivate the regime in Pyongyang; and how regional powers seek to manage North Korea. The threat from North Korea to regional security exists both at the domestic and international level. North Korea has no allies to speak of, possesses the dubious record of broken commitments to a host of international agreements, and the treatment of its own citizens is probably the worst of any country on the globe. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is an oddity in contemporary international relations. A capricious nuclear-armed state in a neighbourhood fraught with territorial contests and tensions based on deep historical fault lines hardly seems like a recipe for stability, but one of the other paradoxes of North Korea is that it lacks a real appetite for armed conflict, despite its frequent sabre rattling.
