Russia is a little different, they've always had a seat and a bit of fear/respect as a nuclear state, Putin aside, most of the oligarchy just want the money from being a player in the global market and want Russia to be known as a viable exporter of resources. Putin is damaging that mission. I think that the situation they are currently in has exposed Putin and Russia's military strength.. Don't be fooled by the US supplying "aid" to Ukraine, while they might call is humanitarian, it is 100% a proof of concept of US military against russia. We are proving our weapons/systems are superior and we are the reason ukraine is succeeding. Don't think Russia doesn't see this. This is all being done without the risk of US soldiers.

Now NK, its changed a bit between il and un, Il's whole deal was getting control over his people through brutality and fear, any means necessary. To ensure a lasting family dynasty. He restricted trade and did everything to keep people from leaving. When the Soviet Union fell they lost their main supporter. Which as we know eventually led to the Arduous March. So that was leading to mass defection. Il made sure that he and the government would survive and did that by using the military. Since then the Military has been a sign of social status, even back then, if you were in the KPA you got food and resources before the people did. That drove citizens to join the military just to survive. NK has a Songun policy that really started with Il. Now Un is bad the same way his dad was by still adopting the military/gov above all else. But biggest thing is they want to be taken seriously as a Global player and want to be seen as a capable military and nuclear state. Under Clinton, we really tried alot to get NK to denuclearize, from diplomacy, economic aid, food. Allied with other countries to try to get NK to the table and treat them as partners. It led to some tenative freezes and things but the whole thing was untenable because they always found ways to cheat. Under Un they really don't want to be part of the Interational community, but they still want to be seen as a threat should anyone not play their game. I think having talked to alot of soldiers on the SK side while there, NK while never coming out and saying it, really desire reunification. Problem is the support from SK citizens is getting less and less. So its kind of a I'll break up with you before you can break up with me. US having allies in both Japan and SK makes making a military move risky. Because while SK and Japan are formidable, China and Russia provide much more combined with the KPA. Though from what I've seen, its kind of a love/hate with China/NK, while China provides economic support I'm not sure they'd be willing to be pulled into a war with the US. They are against the nuclear capabilities in the hand of KJU. Russia was the same way. North Korea I think ultimately is just trying to build deterrent. It goes back to trying to ensure survival of the government. They believe the US and its allies want to remove them from power. So all this comes from a place of insecurity. They don't trust anyone. The other train of thought we heard of alot goes back to reunification. If not in the true sense, they want to build up enough of their weapon arsenal to use it as leverage to get the US out of SK and maybe broker a treaty of some source of treaty with SK. They are in a bad way right now. In history, when things start to get bad, they do things like this to get attention.. Creates a global event to something they do that could be provoking. So then the rich countries like the US come to them and say " hey whats it going to take to stop this" Its perpetual.

Anyone thats done the DMZ rotation can tell you its pretty bad. Alot of watching them watching you. we have like 60 or so posts while they have triple that. Tons of mines, and I mean Tons, like over a million. But you see stuff while there and you realize that NK military, while vast in number, would fold like a cheap tent if rounds started going downrange. I've done time at Casey, Osan and even Hovey. While I loved being able to get to Seoul. Horrible duty.

Just a parting comment. While any threat of WWIII is just catastrophic to think about, I think people sometimes forget how good our military is(aside from the abortion that was Afghanistan pull out), well before the Zoomers ruin it(lol). Noone has fought in more conflicts. We are the most battle tested military with air and sea superiority. Our SpecOps are second to none, and any in the same realm like UKSF are allies. We have the most technologically advanced allies in the world. WW3 would be bad for sure, but with the allies we have it would end quickly. I think China and Russia know this. I think Putin will be taken out shortly if the continued threats towards the US keep occuring. They have to know at some point we will call that bluff.. If your military can't beat a bunch a armed civilians, what are you going to do if we come rolling through. North Korea is the same, its all posturing from an insecure man. This last missile "test" is just a cry for attention, but make no mistake, one of those rockets hit japan or SK even by accident, it will get real fast. On the DMZ we kinda always hoped they would F around and find out. But we will see here, US and Allies will meet, they will threaten KJU, they will compromise and things will quiet down until they run out of whatever it is we gave them and then they'll have another "test" and we will talk about again..lol. NK will be a problem until China and Russia see them for what they really are and that is a dangerous leech that might cause them to be pulled into something they don't want. Because make no mistake, china couldn't afford to lose the US as a trade partner. They might do the work for us.