Korean Peninsula: Uneasy status quo, but sparks fly when North tests missiles

For decades, North Korea has resisted calls to end its nuclear programme, which it parlays into security reassurances and aid.

Relations between North and South Korea, which are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, see-saw between belligerence and detente, with ramifications for the wider security situation in North-east Asia.