When you put aside the rhetoric, the actions, the reactions, the opinions which are formed around North Korea, it is exactly the policies of both the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese etc which created the vacuum on which the leader is able to survive and prosper.
Now clearly the conditions under which their great beloved leader subjects to the North Koreans to is the literal translation of totalitarian domination. However with that being said let's first of all take a step back and look at the desperate poverty of North Korea, According to Wikipedia North Koreas GDP amounts to 12.38 billion which per capita is around $490 per person. Yet it doesn't have to be that way because North Korea is actually home to multi trillion dollar resources in the form of iron, gold, magnesite, zinc, copper, limestone, molybdenum, graphite but there is one problem, the North Koreans cannot take advantage of this because they do not possess the equipment needed to mine for this.
As a result of this they are entirely dependent on primarily China which in turn leverages this to acquire these resources. This subjugation ensures that North Korea's wealth can be extracted and kept under control. Now as for the actions of their leader, they are clearly not the actions of a mad man, they are calculated, the message being sent each time is that we (his regime) will not be intimidated and have the weaponry to cause serious damage to both South Korea and to Guam. The reaction by the UN only strengthens his hand because state radio and tv promotes the idea that the North Koreans are being oppressed by outsiders who want to destroy their wonderful country and what does the UN do? impose crushing sanctions which have caused incalculable harm to them.
In turn North Korea ups the ante and flexes it's muscles more with missile displays and the reaction again is to impose yet more trade sanctions. Seriously, for anyone who is unaware, I really recommend reading about the suffering and deaths caused by the sanctions on Iraq. You would think that this would be the final straw for the North Koreans however their leaders are able to communicate to them an undeniable truth. If you back down and try and placate then your country gets destroyed, think Libya, think Iraq, think Syria. The latter of which did try and create friendly relations with America but when you extend the hand the hand is chopped off or a knife is placed in your back as you soon as you try and walk off.
So the actions of North Korea are entirely logical and the plight of the people there is heart breaking.
The sanctions must be stopped immediately, the provocations must be stopped immediately and if Trump truly does want to move away from these insane wars he must extend the hand of peace and be shown to be extending the hand of peace to end this madness.