North korea threatens America

"I don’t think [Kim Jong Un] wants war.... I think he recognizes North Korea’s initiation of military force would be incredibly risky and likely to bring about the outcome he most wants to avoid, which is the end of his regime," Robert Einhorn of the Brookings Institution tells Newsweek.

The North Korean leader's belligerence is part of a "conscious strategy," according to Einhorn. 

"I think all of these practical steps to improve technical deterrent capabilities as well as these verbal outburst[s] are designed to…protect [North Korea] from what [Kim Jong Un] sees as U.S. intention to end this regime," says Einhorn, who formerly advised the Obama administration on nonproliferation. 

"Despite the appearance of irrationality, I think [Kim Jong Un] is a very rational actor," Einhorn adds. 

In this sense, the North Korean regime isn't asking for war, it's simply letting the world (specifically the U.S.) know it's willing to put up a vicious fight to survive.