North Korea has again put itself at the centre of international relations. As the US
pushed for a start to six-party talks, Pyongyang lifted the veil on a hitherto secret uranium-enrichment facility and launched an artillery barrage on a South Korean island, injuring four
soldiers, and damaging several buildings. The South Korean military scrambled fighter jets and returned fire and the situations remains tense.
Conflict with nuclear-armed North Korea has intensified in recent years. North Korea launched nuclear and missile tests last year and sank a South Korean warship in March this year, killing 46 sailors. But the first ground-to-ground assault across the DMZ represents a new escalation in the decades-long, but usually non-violent conflict.
What is North Korea up to? The maritime boundary has long been a bone of contention between the two countries. The North does not recognise the border that was drawn by the United Nations when the 1950-53 Korean War ended.
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