The U.S. Tried to Make Friends with North Korea

This is especially distressing considering what we learned yesterday. The U.S. tried to repair their broken relationship with North Korea after Kim Jong-Il died. Spoiler alert: it didn't work. The L.A. Times reports the U.S. took two diplomatic trips to North Korea last year -- one in April and one in August -- in an attempt to "improve relations" with the notoriously grumpy country. Of course, no one is willing to admit on record the trips ever occurred, but the reason for the U.S.'s diplomatic optimism was the passing of Kim Jong-Il. They figured the country might be more willing to cooperate under new ruler Kim Jong-Un. So, yeah, it didn't turn out the way they hoped. The April trip was reportedly to try and dissuade the country from launching a long-range rocket. That didn't work. The point of the second trip is unclear, but whatever it was, it didn't work either. 

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At least the U.S. gave it the old college try. The relationship was never repaired in any way, and North Korea's anti-American rhetoric gained steam over the course of the last year. Just yesterday they were threatening the U.S. with "miserable destruction" if they didn't get their way. North Korea also, eventually, executed a nuclear test as a way to get attention from the West, even though that was generally seen as a stupid strategy for them to employ. The U.S. tried to talk, and you rebuffed them. Now you're probably never, ever, ever getting back together.