World powers continue to punish North Korea with economic sanctions, but the pressure has so far failed to push Pyongyang toward denuclearization.

Kim Jong-un has accelerated North Korea’s buildup of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, while also modernizing its large conventional force.

South Korea’s megaconglomerates have helped lift the country out of poverty, but their extraordinary influence could put the health of the Korean economy at risk.

China’s recent push to renew the Six Party Talks, stalled since 2008, has raised hopes for progress on the peninsula despite worries that Pyongyang may have restarted its old nuclear reactor.