Or maybe because they never really were in an actual position to entangle themselves and are only now growing more powerful to actually do something. I perceive the leadership to be very reactive and it seems so far the provocation wasn't enough to react all too violently. Provoke them enough now and you'll get the button.

They're not growing more powerful, they're economy is growing at a much slower rate than China and Russia, two of the countries that border them. They're not going to risk going to war.

Then why do you think they even have a nuclear arsenal?

North Korea is even more reactive than EA, wow

As I said before, to deter people from invading them.

why?

Except that you just said everyone knows they would never press the button because they're too scared of the consequences. So how does that deter anyone?

They wouldn't use them to start a war, but they may use them during the course of the war. When they're getting invaded they have nothing to lose, but before getting invaded they're not going to risk it.

Public news like that is intended - at least partially - for the domestic audience in North Korea, who are kept in line with anti-American propaganda and a perpetual fear of war. On an international level, it's sound and fury, designed to make the West think twice.

North Korea would never win against the United States. However, Seoul, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, is within easy striking range of hundreds of North Korean artillery pieces. The entirety of South Korea's densely populated country is within easy striking range of the North's short and medium range missiles. Japan, another densely populated American ally is within easy striking range of the North's medium range missiles. Even if we assume the North's long-range capabilities aren't comprehensive, then their artillery, short and medium range weaponry could still cause tens or hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths before the Americans would have time to take out the entirety of the North Korean military.

These warnings aren't meant as a threat that the North can go toe to toe with the States; it's a reminder that should the Americans attempt either a small or large scale assault, the North has an arsenal that could exact a serious toll against nearby civilian populations. Add to the fact the North could deploy nuclear or even thermonuclear weaponry - and likely would, if they felt their regime was facing an existential threat - and any American strike would have to be weighed carefully. The North's conventional and nuclear weaponry doesn't exist because the North believe they can win a war, it's there so that the cost of an American victory is too high.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree here. "Being invaded" seen from the viewpoint of a dictator can be quite different than what a normal person thinks.