North Korea a dystopian and impoverished country of twenty-four million inhabitants supports a military of more than 1 million soldiers. In comparison the United States with a population of 230 million has 1.29 million active-duty troops.

The Hermit Kingdom does not need such a vast army, nor does it need to spend 30% of its GDP annually on military expenditures, including nuclear weapons.

North Korea has a military-first political ideology, which means that military spending comes before feeding its starving masses, health care, infrastructure, and everything else.

North Korea does not need a million-soldier army, or nuclear weapons, none of the countries that border it, China, Russia, and South Korea pose any threat. Who would want to invade and occupy a failed nation with a starving population, no infrastructure and no oil or any other natural resources?

North Korea’s huge army and nuclear arsenal are not primarily to deter any outside threat, but to discourage its citizens from overthrowing its dictator, Kim Jong Un. Its nuclear intercontinental missiles also discourage the United States from meddling in its affairs.

Kim Jong-un’s iconic missile shaped skyscrapers dominate the skyline of North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang. They are symbolic of the failed dictatorship, residents of the towers can only use its elevators when there’s electricity, which, due to the nation’s faltering electrical grid, is for three hours in the evening. Imagine thousands of the residents trying to use the elevators at the same time, that pretty much sums up life in North Korea.