In the recently released 2018 US Department of Defense Nation Defense Strategy, it claims: 

North Korea seeks to guarantee regime survival and increased leverage by seeking a mixture of nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional, and unconventional weapons and a growing ballistic missile capability to gain coercive influence over South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

Yet North Korea's immediate neighbor - South Korea - felt comfortable enough with this "rogue regime" that it not only invited high level diplomats to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, it had its own athletes compete side-by-side with their North Korean counterparts as a unified team. 

The opening ceremony included a unified parade, song, and chorus group. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister publicly greeted South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Other senior North Korean leaders and diplomats were present and interacted with their South Korean counterparts.

ABC News would report in their article, "Kim Jong Un's sister shakes hands with South Korea's president at Olympics opening ceremony," that: 

After arriving in South Korea with a high-level delegation, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un publicly shook hands with the neighboring nation's president during tonight's opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

CNN would report that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would go as far as inviting South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. 

Evident is the absurdity of Western political and media claims about the danger North Korea presents to the world, when the very nation it is allegedly still technically at war with - South Korea - invites its leadership to a sporting event their athletes compete as a team together in and whose leaders watch, sitting side-by-side. 

However, CNN's article, "Kim Jong Un invites South Korean President Moon to Pyongyang," would reveal:    

Moon responded to the invitation by suggesting the two countries "should accomplish this by creating the right conditions," adding that talks between North Korea and the United States were also needed, and requested that North Korea be more active in talking with the US, according to Kim Eui-kyeom.

In essence, the president of South Korea requires US permission to conduct what should be South Korea's own bilateral talks with its immediate neighbor to the north. And here is revealed both the root of tensions on the Korean Peninsula - America's involvement - and the sum of all American fears - peace between North and South - especially on their own terms.

For the United States, North Korea has been a convenient pretext to remain deeply embedded on the Korean Peninsula, admittedly part of Washington's strategy - not to deal with a rogue state - but to further encircle and contain China's rise in Asia. The US maintains a significant military presence in Japan for similar purposes and has attempted to reestablish a significant military presence in the Philippines toward this end as well.

Pretext For Permanent US Occupation 

It has been the United States pressuring South Korea to maintain a heavily militarized and belligerent posture versus North Korea, conducting annual military exercises with the United States aimed at provoking North Korea's leadership.

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