They just want more money from Japan South Korea and US. The problem with North Korea is that its a "no-man's land" in terms of geopolitics because of it's unique position as a pivot point. Meaning four of the most powerful great powers sit around it, (Russia to the North,China the west, Japan to the east, and US (via S.Korea) to the south) Noone (not even W) is completely insane enough to disrupt this delciate balancing act or else we're going to make WWII look like a rock throwing contest. If these "great powers" weren't screwin around on the peninsula then the South we had have attacked and unified the country a LONG time ago.

What are the North's options if South Korea, Japan, and the USA all laugh in their faces and tell them to f**k off when they demand financial aid, no matter what kind of crazy threats they make?

"What are the North's options if South Korea, Japan, and the USA all laugh in their faces and tell them to f**k off when they demand financial aid, no matter what kind of crazy threats they make?" Seems like thats likely to be the case. My quess is that they will rant and rave about the "evil" US and eventually come back to the table. If not, then they can see if they eat those nukes, because they are of very little use otherwise.

"What are the North's options if South Korea, Japan, and the USA all laugh in their faces and tell them to f**k off when they demand financial aid, no matter what kind of crazy threats they make?" I'd suggest a little quid pro quo, but this may have to wait until someone like myself becomes President. Something like "Ah, I see North Korea has five nuclear bombs and is demanding financial aid. Please inform Pyongyang that the United States has 8,000 nuclear bombs and that North Korea has 30 minutes, back-dated 27 minutes ago, to come up with a reasonable explanation why the ICBMS heading their way should never have been launched."