Opinion | Time for China to get tough with North Korea

Now that Kim Jong-un has a new best friend, in former NBA star Dennis Rodman, the world has a serious problem. This new Rodman-led "Awesomeness Diplomacy" has rocked the world peace life raft. Considering what Rodman personifies, "respect" is not going to be Kim's game plan.

So it would seem that all China's "history" with North Korea, and the previous talk about the two nations being "as close as lips and teeth" aren't going to mean much to Kim. And that's bad news for relations. Make no mistake, North Korea's launch of its latest nuclear test over the Lunar New Year, and the recent flare-ups in the midst of China's leadership transition are taunts.

Some have high hopes that the first woman president south of the 38th parallel and the first Asian at the helm of the UN could help forge a path to peace, but they just seem to be cramping Kim's style.

On top of the fact that North Korea has long had issues about gender, especially those with power (Hillary Rodham Clinton was graced with the North Korean epithet of a "minister in a skirt"), the last thing Kim wants is for a powerful woman like Park Geun-hye - the "Queen of Elections", in fact - to be any sort of role model for North Korean women.

As things stand, Kim and Park aren't going to be sharing soju any time soon. Family history - Park was regarded as South Korea's "first lady" after her mother was killed by a North Korean assassin - will guarantee more drama; the North has already attacked Park's "venomous swish of skirt".

So what about UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon? The fact that he's from South Korea certainly doesn't help. And while Ban may well believe Korean rapper Psy is a new instrument for world peace, he's not going to do much for the Korean Peninsula. There's no Gangnam style in North Korea; Kim seems all too eager to show the world "Jong-un style" instead.