LogFAQs > #882292606

Lots of wrong information in this thread.

China doesn't give a fuck about being the "only" Socialist nation. Once Deng Xiaoping took over they reduced it to the fig leaf excuse of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" which just means capitalism with an authoritarian government. China is a capitalist country and socialism is deader than Mao.

North Korea would need missiles to hit Japan. No conventional artillery could shoot that far. South Korea is obviously the most easily available target but also not a particularly likely one outside of some insane desperation strike to take out a bunch of US/UN/allied group forces as well. North Korea wants unification more than the South at this point but they want it on their own terms. Zero chance of South Korea getting nuked; low chance of a majorly destructive first strike effort either.

China doesn't want to own North Korea. North Korea exists because China wants a buffer and a shitty neighbour to take heat. Owning them outright removes all the benefits and just gives them a massively dysfunctional frontier on their east cast to match the mess they've got on their west side in Xinjiang. Even if everyone knows China keeps the lights on in Pyongyang it keeps China from having a land border with a US ally.

To address the main question: North Korea is what it is because China is propping them up. The situation can't be dealt with extensively because China doesn't want the country to implode because it would be a massive war/refugee crisis on their doorstep and unification likely means a country that will have favourable relations with the US touching them.