Why we're happy with Korean status quo NOBODY would care much about North Korea - a small and isolated country of 24 million people, ruled by a grotesque dynasty that calls itself communist - if it were not for its nuclear weapons. Its current ruler, Kim Jong-un, the 30-year-old grandson of North Korea's founder and "Great Leader," is now threatening to turn Seoul, the rich and bustling capital of South Korea, into "a sea of fire." US military bases in Asia and the Pacific are also on his list of targets.