For a despotic regime apparently hell-bent on nuclear aggression and ruin, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea seems to have found a comfortable niche as the butt of many jokes.

Memes such as this are only the most recent examples of a popular culture that, frankly, does not take Kim Jong Un and Pyongyang’s military leadership too seriously.

Even the Atlantic could not help but take a subtle jab at North Korea’s newest leader, with a recent piece observing what would seem to be a serious flaw in the military command’s strategic planning against the United States.

Kim Jon Un (BBC News)

              It would be easy to automatically regard North Korea’s most recent display of dark bravado, originating from its most recent nuclear weapons test, as comical at best, macabre at worst. Surely, nothing will actually come out of this latest instance of antics from the Hermit Kingdom, right?

               Well, not so fast. If nothing else, the North’s newest leader certainly seems eager to push the situation as close its limits further than previously.

               He certainly enjoys inducing headlines. Just look at the reopening of a nuclear power plant, in violation of a 2007 disarmament with the United States and utilizing both uranium and plutonium enrichment. And while the U.S. may be confidently regarding the move as yet another bluff from Pyongyang, that may not lessen concerns as anti-missile systems are being deployed to Guam and a joint North-South industrial plant has been cut off to South Korean workers along the Demilitarized Zone.

               Now, the North has even gone so far as to advise foreign embassies to evacuate the capital, while moving medium-range missiles to the east coast. The recent chain of events has been sufficient to delay a planned U.S. missile test, out of fears of misinterpretation by the Kim government.

               Another ominous charade? Or warning signs of graver things to come? That remains to be seen. But even if this is another false alarm, one cannot help but wonder just how far Kim Jong Un is willing to test the limits—before conflict erupts.