"Is that sarcasm? I genuinely can't tell. Direct conflict with the US is a terrible idea, and both countries know that."

The US has not enough soldiers in South Korea to face CN or RU. RU could probably take out US carriers and planes "at will" with their unmatched rocket technology. The last thing I heard was that RU jamming technology is also far ahead of the curve. And they have a nuclear arsenal to match the US. At the same time, RU has a boarder with NK while the US supply lines would be far stretched.

By the way, it was the end of the German Empire when the king decided to "kick the Serbs in the nuts"