In an interview with RT's Natalya Novikova, Pyotr Razvin from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry explained why he believes the North Korean threat is blown out of proportion.

“North Korea has been threatening to spill seas of blood and destroy imperialists and their marionettes for several decades. I would not overestimate the actual threat,” Razvin said.

“If we look at it from a historical perspective, it has become a subject for jokes. Remember the late 50s joke about the ‘1215th serious Chinese warning’? So they’ve issued warnings but nothing followed. I think they could not have kept silent in their current position and they could not have approved of the maneuvers. They had to say something. Now what do they say? They threaten. But nothing specific happened. There has been no mobilization in North Korea. Their armed forces remained at their current positions. I think it is just natural for North Korea to take this stance.”