"There is no force in the world that can block the powerful march of our army and people, who are holding high the banner of the suns of great Comrade Kim Il-sung and great Comrade Kim Jong-il and continuing to advance under the leadership of the party and with strong faith in sure victory." - Kim Jong-un

North Korea would be horrific enough if it was a fictional place, but its nuclear weapons program is all too real. On September 17, 2017, President Donald Trump, whose use of Twitter may be what he’s best known for, tweeted another nickname of the type he has infamously coined for his opponents: "I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!"

The Rocket Man in question, of course, was none other than the notoriously brutal and wildly erratic North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un. In less than 24 hours, the viral tweet had not only racked up tens of thousands of retweets and triple the likes, it had spawned countless Elton John-themed memes and inspired headlines from just about every news source around the world. Capitalizing on the viral nature of the controversial tweet, Trump repeated the nickname just a few days later in his speech before the UN General Assembly. He warned the congregation of fidgety ambassadors about the grave threats posed by North Korea's depraved regime: "The United States had great strength and patience, but if forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.... Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime."

Less than a week later came Kim Jong-Un's scathing response. "Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say.... I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire." The usage of the archaic insult had even those well-versed in the English language whipping out their phones in unison to look up the term ("an old person, especially one who has become weak or senile," courtesy of the Oxford English dictionary). Apart from the avalanche of memes and comedic jabs from the usual array of late-night hosts that ensued, a quick search of the word "dotard" now brings up unflattering pictures of the president.

North Korea's bizarre feuds with the rest of the world have been turned into comedy gold time and time again, perhaps because their endless threats seem so far removed from reality. But just how serious is the threat of nuclear war against North Korea? North Korea’s Nuclear Program: The History of the Hermit Kingdom’s Development of Nuclear Weapons looks at how North Korea has developed and tested destructive nuclear weapons over the past several decades.