Since entering office six months ago, President Barack Obama has juggled a cocktail of foreign relations nightmares -from two pending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the U.S.’ ever-hostile relations with Iran.

But while the Obama administration’s primary diplomacy efforts have been in the Middle East, the largest threat to national  security is posed by none of those countries, rather, from one in the Far East.

Or at least the largest, and most obnoxious,  foreign relations nightmare.

Last week, after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton used numerous traveling appearances to preach isolation of North Korea in response to the country’s refusal to end it’s nuclear arms program, it fired back.

“We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community,” said a North Korean spokesperson, according to the international media. “Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping.”

To be fair, North Korea would be in the right to claim that Clinton kicked off this international tiff.

“There is no place to go for North Korea,” Clinton said to reporters after she persuaded Burma, one of North Korea’s few remaining political allies, to comply with sanctions against the country. “They have no friends left.”

Though President Obama promised he would sit at the table with any foreign leaders, and furthermore, that he would promote discourse that was both civil and productive, his administration provocation of North Korea is consistent with America’s handling of the country for decades and indicative of the U.S.’ general distaste for the North Korean government.

Former-President George W. Bush enjoyed an equally snarky relationship with North Korea and it’s leader Kim Jong Il. After describing Jong Il as “spoiled child at a dinner table,” North Korea shot back, calling Bush a “political idiot” and “tyrannical imbecile” who lacks “even an iota of elementary reason, morality and ability to judge reality as a human being.”

Ouch.

Although, anyone who knows a thing or two about our foreign policy knows that name-calling has been a stable of our relationship with North Korea for at least the last 40 years.

Back in the late 1960s, a North Korean military leader referred to then-President Lyndon Johnson as a “war maniac” and a “living corpse,” adding that those who served under him would burn in hell with John F. Kennedy.

But in recent years, North Korea has become increasingly hostile and threatening in more than just words, but also in military actions.

Despite strong opposition from the international community, North Korea tested a nuclear device in May, and has boycotted talks to stall it’s nuclear arms program, declaring it will continue to expand nuclear development in order to defend itself from the U.S.

Following her war of words with the North Korean leaders, both Clinton and North Korean diplomats have said they are willing to return to the negociation table.

Another sign that the severed relationship between the two countries could improve are the rumors that Jong-il has chosen Kim Jong-un, his youngest son, as his successor. The younger Kim has first-hand experience with Western culture, and maybe the the regime change necessary to finally improve relations with the U.S.

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