One of the biggest stories of late is North Korea's continuous saber-rattling, or should it be missile-rattling, provocations that have raised tensions in neighboring countries, even supposed ally China and the U.S. Its recent sentencing of 2 U.S. journalists to 12 years for spying because they were caught doing a story just within North Korean territory seems tremendously daring, like if they're daring the U.S. to fight. It might be a sign of desperation, especially with South Korea's refusal to be taken advantage of by them in recent years and with the leader's poor health including an alleged stroke. One thing, is that this is one of the worst, if not the, and most unjust regimes in the world. Asia Times has a whole bunch of insightful articles here.
To be honest, one wonders if the best thing the rest of the world can do is call the North's bluff and wait for Pyongyang to actually start a war. The South's military superiority along with American support and possibly Japan as well, would easily defeat North Korea and cause an overthrow of their regime.