Via the Korea Economic Reader comes this good read:

Korea’s launch is decidedly bad news for a global economy with too much on its plate already. Yet there were winners and losers in this week’s dramatic news from Pyongyang.

First, the winners, since it’s a short list. Leading this group is Kim himself. Think about it: North Korea’s economy, according to 2007 World Bank data, is worth almost $26 billion. It’s not fair to compare that with the $14 trillion U.S. economy, so let’s go with Warren Buffett.

The Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman, according to Forbes magazine, lost as much in the last year as the collective output of North Korea’s 23 million people. Even after losing that much, Buffett was worth an estimated $37 billion as of mid-March.

It’s tempting to fantasize about Buffett just buying the place. He has given away tens of billions of dollars. Imagine the good that could come from buying out the Kims and giving North Korea to Obama. It will never happen, of course, but one can dream of a Buffettland above the 38th parallel.

Yet that really does put things in perspective. The second- wealthiest man in the world could buy Kim’s Hermit Kingdom and still have enough for Mongolia and Namibia, too. And here you have this nation that could easily be purchased by a single U.S. investor essentially holding entire parts of Asia hostage.   [Bloomberg]

Make sure to read the rest, but it does put into perspective how insignificant North Korea would be in the world if it wasn’t for their coventional military and WMD capabilities.  That is why Kim Jong-il devotes all his nations limited resources to maintaining these capabilities and trying to further expand them because it is the only thing they got that keeps them relevant and ultimately Kim Jong-il in power.