Walking Into Trouble

North Korea may have four bombs, many ABC WMD underground production sites, an ICBM program, starvation, a nutty dictator, a million man army and says it is building tactical nukes. Where's Bush - asleep at the wheel.

South Korea’s military analysts are predicting that military conflict could come before winter. The warning was echoed in a Washington Post interview last week by former Defense secretary William Perry. Yet U.S. officials seem utterly calm.

Until recently, U.S. officials thought Kim had no more than one or two nuclear devices. But administration aides now tell NEWSWEEK that he likely has three or four.

Neither side seems ready to blink. Still, the White House cannot ignore the risk that a cornered Kim might try to raise cash by selling the bomb to another rogue leader or to terrorists. Although the Bush administration insists it has no plans for military strikes on the North, one senior aide says the North could trigger war by exporting its nukes or fissile materials.