Earlier quoted context omitted.
On a less sarcastic note, the fact that Western governments have such a difficult time gathering credible intelligence in North Korea is evidence that the North Koreans have a robust intelligence apparatus. What the whole Abdul Khan episode brought to light some years back was how Western agencies underestimated the technological and political skill and motivation of many so-called "third world" countries. Arguably t…
That's a lot of assumptions. You could say that the lack of another 9/11 type attack in recent history and the high failure rate of these missiles shows that the US Intelligence community has already overcome this prejudice.
Now, maybe the intelligence community came around much earlier. But certainly Congress was still having trouble coming to terms with the reality. Why? Because it was just so difficult to believe (and still difficult to believe) that such a repressive society could achieve such a feat.
It is, admittedly, difficult to believe for me. But I understand part of that difficulty is because Westerner's believe that such feats aren't possible without a culture of individualism that unleashes individual initiative. Maybe such a culture is superior. But it clearly isn't necessary. And that should make us question much about what we think other countries are capable of, and when they'll be capable of it.