Strategypage writes:
Years of economic decline, growing corruption and persistent government mismanagement have created a health crises in North Korea. This is the main reason so many young males are physically unfit for military service. ...
Hunger is growing, and more people are selling what they own to buy increasingly expensive food. More people are eating corn instead of rice. Starvation deaths are not a major source of deaths yet, but malnutrition is a growing public health problem, and increasingly obvious. This can be seen in pictures of young troops. They are smaller than previous generations of soldiers. Public order is breaking down in more obvious ways. Anti-government graffiti is more common, in addition to illegal drug sales and efforts to use bribes or deceit to avoid military service. Government employees are increasingly demanding bribes just to do their jobs.
Even well off people living in the capital are suffering from the gradual deterioration of everything.
Yet the North Koreans want nukes to prevent invaders from taking over this Hell on Earth?
If nukes are to protect the North Korean regime, the regime had best figure out how to use nukes on their own people.