Under what conditions would South and North Korea unify?
no I cant answer the question I can only apply common sense. first of all what is meant by unify. we have a dictator in North Korea who will kill his people and relatives with no mercy and no justice at a blink of his eye. who would want to unify with that. If the Kim family was removed along with people who believe in his leadership, then the values of South Korea and US Values will be welcomed by the envious people of North Korea would love to have, North Korea my accept the leaderships value of South Korea and play part in that unification then it would work. North Korea would be on the road to recovery from the poverty stricken people to a flourishing country that would reap the benefits along with the rest of the world. but to unify as in be friendly interaction like the Olympic games following the phrase be close to your enemies will be like walking on egg shells. Such dialog my lead to revealing your strengtths and weaknesses.
Is North Korea going to attack the United States?
Okay, I have the clearest answer right here. First, their technology is so far behind that they can barely hit the northern coast of Australia. That's as far as they can hit. Second, the US is protecting South Korea. North Korea wants to invade South Korea and unify into one Korean country, ruled by the Kim Jong Un from North Korea. They can't invade because the US is defending South Korea. So basically, North Korea is hostile towards anyone who is friends with South Korea. ----- Longer version, but in simple terms: North Korea is Communist/socialist/totalitarian, whatever you want to call collectivism, so naturally they're opposed to countries with capitalism and democracy. Most of the capitalist countries in the world, specifically US and NATO (UK, Germany, and France (which is semi-Socialist)), are ideologically opposed to socialist countries, which are Russia, China, and of course, North Korea. Naturally, ideological antagonism translates to geopolitical tensions. Personally, I feel that ideology is a pretext used by the existing governments that took power through adherence to whatever part of the political spectrum they started at (like the Bolsheviks; now they know total collectivism doesn't work at all) to maintain power over their nation. It's also more or less a way to simplify geopolitical alliances, and with the help of nationalism, serve the realpolitikal self-interests of individual nations. IN SHORT: 1) North Korea could not send a nuclear bomb to America in reality. Their missiles are outdated by 30 years. 2) They are mad at the USA because in 1950, we fought a war against them (the Korean War) and prevented them from seizing South Korea (which they are still 'trying' to do).
What's the current status of North Korea and South Korea?
South Korea has been trying to friend North Korea, but their efforts have been consistently blocked to date. Why would they go to war? There's paranoia aplenty in North Korea, however there is nothing of economic or military value to South Korea that can be found in North Korea. North Korea is a nation that can barely feed and clothe and house a majority of their own people because North Korea is not open to mutually beneficial capital investment, manufacturing and trade. North Korea continues to make negative investments in their armed forces and nuclear weapons program when there is no real need to do so. And until they decide to adopt a 21st century economic system they will remain a frightfully backwards and irrelevant country. Except, of course, insofar as they can threaten and coerce other nations. In that respect North Korea is relevant. However that course of action erodes and exhausts the very trust that is necessary for the peaceful co-existence and productive relationships among sovereign nations. Have a wonderful 2012, and remember every day to give thanks you are an American. Other people do not enjoy a fraction of the political freedoms, legal rights, and economic opportunities that we do.