Obviously this is the man's reference. Nuclear warfare is deep-rooted in game theory. It is literally as simple as tic-tac-toe as far as when sovereign nuclear nations should attack each other, whether they should, and how to react to an attack with nuclear weapons.

IMO this North Korean threat of firing a missile in the direction of Guam over Japan "to land in the sea" is as good as a guarantee that if they fire the missile, it WILL land on Guam and WILL destroy it. Similarly, China's promise "to remain neutral unless the US attacks first" is a guarantee that if the US retaliates to such a "test" they will renege on their promise and intervene in any US military action on Korea. Effectively - if North Korea fires that missile, then China is in a de facto alliance with North Korea.

This whole affair is much reminiscent of the Cuban Missile Crisis, only that was between 2 superpowers, 1 Superpower and the roughly 7 or so regional powers (some of whom have nuclear weapons capable of nuking the US) that exist in the region that would be forced to participate if they fire that missile.