LOS ANGELES — For much of the first few years of the new millennium, North Korea was viewed as the most probable nation-state aggressor in Asia.
The holed-up communist regime had precious little to show for its decades in power, apart from its notorious pileup of arms and soldiers, which it brandished in pathetic abundance. Its creepy isolation and penchant for primitive propaganda pronouncements made scenarios of aggression more sellable than silly.
In short, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was everything a paranoid anticommunist could hope for by way of a credible mean tangible villain.