I'm a little worried (as we all should be) by North Korea's apparent testing of a nuclear bomb.

Its not so much that I think they could fire a missile at the US, though apparently there is some risk of that.

I'm actually more concerned that they have been testing missiles recently, flying them over Japan or the most recent that failed and crashed in the Sea of Japan.

I'd be extremely worried if I lived in Japan right now (I may even retire there, so its not an entirely empty sentiment). The next time North Korea launches a "test" missile, how should we react? How should Japan react? How are they to know that Kim Jong Il didn't strap a nuclear warhead onto it?

The second scary question - what if he did? What if heaven forbid he nuked Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan? Its not like the US could "nuke them back to the Stone Age" with China on one side and South Korea and Japan so close. Nuclear fallout doesn't stop at the border - just ask any of the farmers in the UK whose sheep became radioactive after Chernobyl. And of course, its only the top leadership that is at fault here - that rank and file working in the fields are as innocent as always.

What this should teach us if nothing else is that once a nation has The Bomb, suddenly a whole bunch of options are off the table. Can't invade - thats like prodding a hornets nest. Turning their country to glass is interesting rhetoric but totally dumb.

Best to make sure it doesn't come to that in the first place. Iran anyone?