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I think the world is in serious danger now that we know that Kim Jong Il has the bomb. I don't think he's suicidal enough to launch a first strike nuclear attack against the US, but I wouldn't put it past him to secretly sell a nuclear device to a terrorist group or to push the button several decades from now as he lies embittered on his death bed.

That said, there seems to be precious little the US can do short of surprise nuclear annihilation that would bring him back in line. Any bombing would almost certainly fail to destroy their nuclear capacity. Any invasion would mean the immediate sacrifice of Seoul and 8 million people, all of which are well within North Korea's artillery range. And threats of further isolation and sanctions are akin to threats of throwing Brer Rabbit into the briar patch. Despite the hardships and deprivations of his people, Kim Jong Il's regime is stable precisely because it is isolated. Less contact with the outside world allows him to better propagate the fabrication that the North Korean people are better off than they really are and American-led sanctions gives him a convenient excuse for all their hardships.

The same problems would likely exist if Iran develops nuclear weaponry. Iran is already under heavy sanctions as it is and the world can't very well do without the one export Iran has in spades: oil. And yet, any pre-emptive military action would also appear to be ill-advised and highly unlikely. The prospect of a retaliatory nuclear attack, however, would be taken as far more likely and certainly more devastating than any half-assed bombing of their enrichment facilities.

If I may make a somewhat novel proposal, what if the US were to respond by sending North Korea a postcard welcoming it into the nuclear club, but stating that as long as they were in the club, we would consider them personally responsible for any nuclear attack on the United States or its allies? If and when Iran becomes a nuclear power, we could send them the same postcard. This would present them with a sort of prisoner's dilemma. They might consider themselves to be perfectly trustworthy custodians of their nation's fates, but would they be just as trusting of each other not to get them entangled into an all-out nuclear war? The fact that Iran might balk at having their civilization's existence tied to the good behavior of North Korea and vice versa would seem to give them an incentive to return to the negotiating table that more sanctions or pre-emptive military action cannot.

Just a thought.