Good point. I don’t think the Chicoms want us, or the ROK’s on their border, and I don’t think they want to suffer on account of Kim & Co. A lot of bargaining room, to be sure !
Keep in mind China voted WITH the UN on these newest sanctions. Which tells me pressure or bargaining happened in order for China side with the UN on N.Korea....there are a lot of chips on the table I think, and all with vested interests have something significant to gain if they choose to corner Kim and his cronnies further.
But there are huge problems if they determine to shut the leadership down. S.Korea doesn't want the Northerner's crossing their borders and flood their nations infrastructure.....better a slow trickle which they are taking care of.....China surely doesn't want them over their border and flood them either. So there would have to be some-kind of containment...temporarily.
The N. Koreans have been living with a fifties mindset.....passed on to the next generations and this under a cult leadership. However, for years now cell phones and other informaton has been smuggled over to show the people how things really are in the rest of the world....how much of this got thru is uncertain...and even if so, the people would be, for the most part, too afraid to speak of amongst themselves.
With starvation issues etc. there would have to be an International push to get food etc. into the country...distributed ...and no doubt at all “Nation Building”....so lots of money from somewhere. In addition, educating the people...bringing them up to the 21st century...a huge project in itself. Like bringing someone out of a time warp.
So one of the bigger questions will be...how many countries and organizations can and would do this?...