Six decades after the Korean War (1950-53) was ended by the signing of an armistice agreement, the two Koreas are still technically at war. The fragile truce, signed on July 27, 1953, has contributed to the volatility and hostility seen on the Korean Peninsula today.

The time has come for China to rebalance its traditional geostrategic interests with its new role as a global leader – and that means adopting a policy of disciplined engagement toward North Korea. Only then will an internationally coordinated response to the North's nuclear ambitions be possible.

South Korea President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the United States was overshadowed by a scandal surrounding Park’s spokesman. While some believe the scandal distracted from Park’s agenda, Donald Kirk postulates that the trip helped cement ties between South Korea and the US, offering hope for future six-party talks with North Korea.

While tensions on the Korean Peninsula have slowly began to dissipate, Nathan Beuchamp-Mustafaga delves into the complex issue of how China uses North Korea as leverage in the U.S.-China relationship and provides policy responses for the United States.

The state of security in Northeast Asia will be counteractive to the state of Sino-US relations. Thus, increased cooperation in Northeast Asia will also provide a favorable opportunity and important platform to cultivate a new type of relations between China and the United States.

How China and the U.S. relationship benefits from the provocative behavior from North Korea remains to be seen. Yet in a meeting between John Kerry and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, an agreement was reached on finding a peaceful way to ensure a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

China appears to be fed up with North Korea’s belligerent attitude and reckless threats of nuclear war, but does this necessarily mean China will abandon it’s long-time ally? Zhu Feng examines the possibility of a radical policy shift by China and whether Kim Jong-un’s regime has gone too far with its latest saber rattling.

While tensions on the Korean Peninsula have gained widespread attention, Ted Galen Carpenter posits that the greater threat to stability comes from territorial disputes between Japan, China and Taiwan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

In response to the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea's third nuclear test conducted on 12 February, 2013, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a new resolution on March 7 to impose additional sanctions on the country.

The U. S. Asia Pivot nevertheless has implications for the North Korean issue. A focus on China means China-North Korea issues would be dealt with within the framework of future U.S.-China relations, which could in turn affect the North Korean nuclear problem.