by Geoffrey Fattig

The recent North Korean missile and nuclear tests represent a dangerous escalation in the security dynamic in north-east Asia. The successful nature of these latest demonstrations of North Korean weapons technology implies the threat posed by the DPRK has become much more serious. With leading media and conservative figures in South Korea beginning to call for reintroduction of nuclear weapons into South Korean territory, and North Korea signaling its intent to carry out further weapons tests this year, we are reaching a point where the dangers of a new conflict breaking out are similar to when the first nuclear crisis erupted in 1994. Yet the stubbornness of the key players in the region – the US, South Korea and China – to deviate from the test-sanction-test cycle to address the North Korean Problem means the situation will get worse before it gets better.