Chinese political processes don't work the way ours do, they don't announce brainsnap foreign policies in a 20 second news grab of rousing righteousness. It's all protocol, face, and subplots, give 'em time to give him enough rope to allow them to appear to be 'the good guys' and jag him the 'Asian' way. He'll eventually give them an excuse to flatten him and better to expend Chinese troops on him than ours. That N.Ks exchange Kim for Chinese rule is tough, but that's life.
Personally I think Western interference at this stage would be catastrophic. It would merely force China to 'defend' him as being part of their region of influence. They get really spiky about that. Just as the US does about it's. If Cuba had been a few thousand more miles away would they have given a toss about it? Nup, but it's tucked right under the US' armpit so it's considered in their region of influence, and it still itches for that reason alone. Just like Taiwan and HK itched China.
Those old gung-ho gunboat diplomacy days are past. Get over it and get used to it. It ain't our gunboats that hold the fire power any more.
Especially if you want to go messing about with Asia. We're a bit closer, we can 'smell' the dragon from here. You seem to be thinking of it as still sleeping, but it's very much awake and has an eye on anyone with a gunboat. Slaying it with a few navy SEALS isn't an option.
Taking on N.K. is tantamount to taking on China at present, you may want to think about that. I hope the diplomats and politicians are.
Cast your mind back and ask yourself had Kruschev shipped a few missiles into a Cuba that wasn't quite so close to the States would that little war brink dancing thing ever have happened? Didn't Kennedy only risk WWIII because Cuba was on his doorstep and Russia was moving in on it to help an ally out?
Same thing with NK and China. You really don't want to go there. China won't back off to save us from WWIII as old Nikita did. I know that's not the angle of it you people were shown, but it is the one I saw from here, sorry about that. Kennedy wasn't the hero in that to everybody.
You were shown a victory over Russia, we saw a strategic, and much appreciated, Soviet withdrawal to spare the world another war that none could win. Especially over a tiny pawn like Cuba. Kennedy wanted to take on Russia over a political chess move that involved 'his' region of influence. We didn't give a sh*t about Cuba and we couldn't see why the US expected us to die over it. Just pointing out that not all parts of the world see history from the same angle. If you don't mind I don't wanna die over 'liberating' NK either.
We can feel as bad as we like about the N.Koreans' plight but sometimes sh*t happens and the World has changed past the point of bailing it out in every instance. Sometime it had to come when enough is enough and some nations have to be written off as too hard for 'us' to fix. We should have called time long before this. Remember too that these 'liberations' have always had a buck attached to them in some way, oil, or trade routes or such. NK has nothing we need. Too pragmatic ? I'm just like that I guess, but that's how it works. Sad for the N.K people but that's how it crumbles.
We keep making the same mistake of trying to impose our ways on other cultures. The Middle East was never going to turn into anything resembling what we're take as normal, and Asia is a different ball game too. Stay out of it at least until they move missiles into Cuba okay?
That 'report,' emanating from China, that good ole Uncle was eaten by dogs is the kind of thing I'm alluding to. It's an 'Asian' way for China to lower his 'face' value and another reason to add to their eventual decision to reverse their support of him and still look good. To show it's not a backdown to Western influence. That's very important to them, it must appear to be their decision alone and for the right reasons. They must keep 'face.' And we'd be wise to pretend to let them have it.
'Dog' is to Asians what 'Swine' was to Germans. Their best insult was 'Schweinhund' pig dog, kind of a combination going on there. They don't like dogs as much as we do obviously.
Had Kim's Uncle been eaten by Tigers it wouldn't have raised an eyebrow, it would have been kind of a respectful end. But 'dogs' are very evocative to Asians. Even Japan's contemptuous descriptive for Koreans in general translated as 'Running Dogs'. Being eaten by dogs is viewed how we would see someone being thrown in to be eaten by pigs for instance. Ancestor respect comes into it too, although 'uncle' was only married to aunt, not genetically connected. Still that's no way to treat a relative there if you take my meaning.
That report, true or not, and probably not, would do vast damage to Kim's standing in the Chinese population and they are the ones who their Government must convince that turning on Kim after loudly backing him is a good thing. They're a new government, they don't want any of their own domestic boats rocking either.
But more importantly, it turns the West even more against him. 'We' aren't going to be so upset when China invades, sorry, liberates, NK in the future are we? It's a damned clever piece of 'diplomacy' when you look hard at it.
China's working on him. Give 'em time. They're very good at it in an Asian kind of way. Just don't count on NK being a democracy any time soon.
And don't buy real estate in South Korea. 
