The news out of North Korea is that the United States will be taking it off the list of states that sponsor terrorism - a list it's been on for about 2 decades. I don't know what the United States'efforts have been to this end, but the end is encouraging for the US, which has not had a lot of diplomatic victories recently.

That being said, I wonder what role South Korea has played in all of this. I imagine it's a lot bigger than has been getting reported, since there have been virtually no reports (not that I'm paying that much attention). I recall that US relations with South Korea have been strained recently over issues that didn't seem that big to me. The US may even have prodded South Korea to take on a bigger role in international diplomacy to get North Korea to cooperate, or are playing the international news to make it seem that North Korea is taking the steps itself to international cooperation.

Anyway, cooperation is a good thing. The dismantling of North Korea's nuclear arsenal is a good thing, too. So now the "what if": What if North Korea and the US become friends, and what if US relations with China sour at some future date...I'll bet the US will be reintroducing some sort of strategic military and nuclear training to our good friends, the North Koreans.

Eh, what do I know.