Emma L. Belcher says the recent detterence of a North Korean ship carrying nuclear material highlights the need for criminal codes that take nuclear crimes seriously.

UN Security Council Resolution 1985 regarding North Korea was adopted by the UN Security Council on June 10, 2011.

Following U.S. envoy Robert King's visit to North Korea to assess the food situation in the country, CFR's Adjunct Senior Fellow for Korea Studies Scott A. Snyder says that any U.S. decision to provide food aid to the country should be accompanied by steps to minimize moral hazard.

Even if a U.S. assessment of North Korea's food situation echoes a UN report earlier this year that warned of shortages, debate rages about whether new food aid should be provided to a recalcitrant Pyongyang.

As former president Jimmy Carter visits Pyongyang, any movement on resumption of stalled talks on North Korea's denuclearization is unlikely, says CFR fellow Sue Terry. Washington should continue to deter Pyongyang's aggressive behavior using sanctions and working with regional allies, she says.

Scott Snyder and See-won Byun analyze the divergent responses throughout Asia to the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

Writing for the Washington Post, Nicholas Eberstadt argues that for all of its many weaknesses, North Korea employs a coherent and consistent strategy for nuclear negotiations.

The latest inter-Korean talks were shadowed by North Korea's failure to apologize for the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong Island shelling. This raises questions about renewed diplomacy on the North's nuclear program, says CFR's Scott Snyder.

Paul B. Stares discusses the volatility of the situation in Korea.

South Korea's exercises on Yeonpyeong are a response to last month's North Korean attack and growing public anger, says CFR's Scott Snyder, who urges greater China-U.S. cooperation on the Korean peninsula and strengthening South Korean defenses.

WikiLeaks' cables on North Korea's missile sales to Iran have raised new concerns about the country's proliferation activities. Expert Jeffrey Lewis says Pyongyang's procurement networks pose the biggest threat, and recommends the international community strengthen interdiction measures.

With tensions on the Korean peninsula continuing to arouse U.S. concern, expert Leon Sigal calls for the United States and South Korea to support a peace process and political and economic engagement with North Korea.

Joshua Kurlantzick argues, "China can't fix North Korea, so don't ask it to try."

Colonel Gian Gentile discusses the ability of the U.S. military to deal with the conflict in the Korean peninsula.

Leslie H. Gelb says North Korea's attack on a South Korean island likely won't escalate into a full-blown battle, but war is closer than in decades.

North Korea's strike on Yeonpyeong Island is part of a military escalation designed to strengthen the authority of leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-Un, say experts, and underscores Washington's frustrations with Pyongyang and Beijing.

Peter M. Beck argues that the attack on Yeonpyeong is a sign of internal pressures on the North Korean regime--and a warning that America's current approach to the region isn't working.

These teaching notes, by CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Scott A. Snyder, feature discussion questions and additional projects for educators to supplement the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report, U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula. In this report, a bipartisan group of eminent leaders in the fields of defense policy, weapons of mass destruction, human rights, and academia discuss their consensus on these issues and provide a range of recommendations for U.S. policy toward North and South Korea.

Reports of a newly operational nuclear enrichment facility in North Korea highlight the regime's defiance of U.S. policy and UN sanctions as well as China's increasing closeness with North Korea, says CFR's Scott Snyder.

Further provocations by North Korea as well as other dangerous military interactions on or around the Korean peninsula remain a serious risk and carry the danger of unintended escalation.