I've noticed a lot of people on here really don't understand what's going on between NK and the US, or why the Media is freaking out over Trump's remarks. If you have any questions about US-NK relations, or North Korea in general, feel free to ask.
Some basics:
>Is Kim Jong Un batshit insane?
No. He's clearly incredibly evil, but his actions have shown him to be very cold and calculating. He murdered his half-brother in Malaysia in order to prevent a possible coup. He killed one of his top generals in 2013 for the same reason.
>Why is NK trying to get Nukes?
There are several reasons, the primary being deterrence. After Qaddafi got coup'd, NK has accelerated its program: Kim sees them as necessary for his regime's survival. It also allows them to strong-arm their way into the international stage, as Mao did with China in the 70s. (The similarity between the two gameplans are striking)
It also bolsters support back at home among the populous, who reportedly have grown distrustful and resentful of the Kim regime as foreign media has become increasingly easy to smuggle across the border.
Many commentators believe that this signals NK actually wanting to co-operate and eventually negotiate a deal with the US; there's further evidence of this in their actual memos.
>Do they really have a functional ICBM that could hit the US? Are they really nuclear?
Yes and yes. However, they've yet to proven that their missiles are accurate enough, and they've yet to field test nuclear re-entry vehicles.They claim the former, but because they don't have functioning satellites (the two in orbit are in-operational), it's hard to gauge if that's actually true; as they have no way to prove it.
>Would they actually use them?
No, not unless the US signals that they're about to or planning to invade. They've said this explicitly in almost every state-memo regarding the US & SK. There's little reason not to believe them, they're not suicidal.