North Korea has been issuing hyperbolic threats for decades, such as turning Seoul into a “sea of fire” –- one recent academic analysis of its language was titled “Turning it up to Eleven”.
Pyongyang sees itself as defiantly facing down the menace from Washington, and anything fitting into that narrative bolsters the regime’s claim to legitimacy.
At the same time Trump has theatrical instincts.
“This is the WWF part of Trump, reality TV, where each day is like a mini-show, and you need a foil, you need an enemy, you need a sense of drama and a good guy and bad guy, all these classic elements of popular entertainment,” says Delury.
“While North Korea is a horrifically stupid choice as a place to fight a real war, it’s a great place to fight a fake war. They will do this for four years, happily, keeping it at rhetorical Defcon 10.
“It looks to me like they both really want this,” he added. “I think they are thriving on it.”
AFP