Why Current Tensions With North Korea Is 'Scary'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says nuclear weapons are the "life" of his nation. (KCNA)

Why North Korea Regime Is Scary -- Scott A. Snyder, Special to CNN

(CNN) -- North Korea, under its untested young leader Kim Jong Un, has ratcheted up the threats toward South Korea and the United States to unprecedented levels and with greater intensity than ever before.

A torrent of threats has flowed from North Korean spokesmen, including a promise of preemptive nuclear strikes on the United States and calls to "break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like."

North Korean brinkmanship, bluff, and bluster are stock elements in its diplomatic toolkit, but why have the threats become so outsized, and how worried should we be? Is North Korea playing the same game it has always played, or does the now-nuclear playbook of a rash young leader represent a new threat the we cannot afford to ignore?

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My Comment: There is no question that the U.S. strategy towards North Korea has changed in the past few weeks .... eclipsing Iran as the world's #1 nuclear-arms threat.

Update: The following two must read commentaries explore the possibility that North Korea is NOT bluffing ....

1) Who Says North Korea Is Bluffing? -- Jacob Heilbrunn, National Interest
2) Think Again: North Korea. North Korea is a lot more dangerous than you think, but that doesn't mean that Kim Jong Un is insane. -- David Kang and Victor Cha, Foreign Policy