It possesses nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them, and despite some progress, it is by no means clear that the ongoing six-party talks will be able to reveal the full extent of the country s nuclear activities, much less persuade Pyongyang to give them up.
The United States maintains tens of thousands of forces on the Korean peninsula in support of its commitments to the Republic of Korea (South Korea), a country with which the North is still technically at war. And the peninsula sits in a strategically vital region, where the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea all have important interests at stake.
All of this puts a premium on close attention to and knowledge of developments in North Korea. Unfortunately, Kim Jong-Il s government is perhaps the world s most difficult to read or even see. This Council Special Report, commissioned by CFR s Center for Preventive Action and authored by Paul B. Stares and Joel S. Wit, focuses on how to manage one of the central unknowns: the prospect of a change in North Korea s leadership. The report examines three scenarios: managed succession, in which the top post transitions smoothly; contested succession, in which government officials or factions fight for power after Kim s demise; and failed succession, in which a new government cannot cement its legitimacy, possibly leading to North Korea s collapse. The authors consider the challenges that these scenarios would pose ranging from securing Pyongyang s nuclear arsenal to providing humanitarian assistance and analyze the interests of the United States and others. They then provide recommendations for U.S. policy. In particular, they urge Washington to bolster its contingency planning and capabilities in cooperation with South Korea, Japan, and others, and to build a dialogue with China that could address each side s concerns.

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While North Korea's 'Supreme Commander' Kim Jong-Un has been threatening thermo-nuclear war against the United States, Panorama reporter John Sweeney spent eight days undercover inside the most rigidly-controlled nation on Earth.

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A Brief History of Korea covers the history of Korea from the origins of the Korean people in prehistoric times to the economic and political situation in North and South Korea today, and the prospects of unification. Providing a detailed overview of the cultural and historical influences that have shaped Korean society, the author discusses the major periods of Korean history - Three Kingdoms, Koryo Dynasty, and Chosun Dynasty; the foreign invasions Korea has endured; the post-World War II situation that led to the country's division and the Korean War; and developments in North and South Korea from the end of the Korean War up through the present.