history, diplomacy, korea, kim jong un, trump, deja vu

history matters.

why did Japan attack the US at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941?

answer: because diplomacy failed.

"Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions they planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States."

Attack on Pearl Harbor - Wikipedia

"Some scholars consider the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 to have been the beginning of World War II. ... The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy to expand its influence politically and militarily in order to secure access to raw material reserves, food, and labor."

Second Sino-Japanese War - Wikipedia

"The U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan in July 1941, following Japanese expansion into French Indochina after the Fall of France, in part because of new American restrictions on domestic oil consumption. ... On August 17, (1941) (US president Franklin) Roosevelt warned Japan that the U.S. was prepared to take steps against Japan if it attacked "neighboring countries".

"Japan and the U.S. engaged in negotiations during the course of 1941 in an effort to improve relations. During these negotiations, Japan offered to withdraw from most of China and Indochina when peace was made with the Nationalist government, adopt an independent interpretation of the Tripartite Pact, and not to discriminate in trade provided all other countries reciprocated. Washington rejected these proposals. Japanese Prime Minister Konoye then offered to meet with Roosevelt, but Roosevelt insisted on coming to an agreement before any meeting. The U.S. ambassador to Japan repeatedly urged Roosevelt to accept the meeting, warning that it was the only way to preserve the conciliatory Konoye government and peace in the Pacific. His recommendation was not acted upon. The Konoye government collapsed the following month when the Japanese military refused to agree to the withdrawal of all troops from China.

Japan's final proposal, on November 20, offered to withdraw their forces from southern Indochina and not to launch any attacks in Southeast Asia provided that the U.S., the UK, and the Netherlands ceased aiding China and lifted their sanctions against Japan. The American counter-proposal of November 26 (November 27 in Japan) (the Hull note) required Japan to evacuate all of China without conditions and conclude non-aggression pacts with Pacific powers. However the day before the Hull Note was delivered, on November 26 in Japan, the main Japanese attack fleet left port for Pearl Harbor."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor#Diplomatic_background

history's lesson is this:
sometimes diplomacy fails.
will madman kim jong un attack the USA with nuclear weapons?

maybe.
if he does, then it will be just another example in history when diplomacy failed.