As much as I hate Mao, there's some truth in power from barrels. Militaries can still be turned, but there needs to be some idea and I just don't see that yet with the state of Russian opposition, both civil and military.
I'd think NK learnt its lesson from the 1990s about food. I guess, NK is interested in goods that aren't easily made at home and isn't already being supplied by China. Latter condition somewhat cancels out bulk goods.
I think the Russian Empire will not give away expensively conquered land and people to basically a political vassal who is a member in a concurrent political entity and system. Today's Political Hungary might have powerful aspirations, but it's current actual power is somewhat limited to a gatekeeper (migration, military aid, energy flows) since Hungary is not a big entity like the USA, Russia, China or the EU as a whole.
I wonder how much the situation would compare to a hypothetical scenario where Texas would hold trade talks with China.
I don't know much about Hawaii. I actually it to come from volcanic activity, but drought and subsequentially missing water inflow turned the ponds salinity to 70 ppt and halobacteria turned it pink.
North Korean workmanship seems to be at a premium worldwide. North Korea could lead the absurd world consisting of Russia, Belarus, Iran, Hamas, Taliban, Cuba, Nicaragua etc. into a sparkling future.
As much as I hate Mao, there's some truth in power from barrels. Militaries can still be turned, but there needs to be some idea and I just don't see that yet with the state of Russian opposition, both civil and military.