North Korea crisis in 300 words
22 December 2017
The North Korean stand-off is a crisis that, at worst, threatens nuclear war, but it's complicated. Let's take a step back.
Why does North Korea want nuclear weapons?
The Korean peninsula was divided after World War Two and the communist North developed into a Stalinesque dictatorship.
Almost entirely isolated on the global stage, its leaders say nuclear capabilities are its only deterrent against an outside world seeking to destroy it.
How close are they?
North Korea has claimed it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb - many times more powerful than an atomic bomb - that can be miniaturised and loaded on a long-range missile.
State media called the test "a perfect success", and although analysts said the claims should be treated with caution, leaked information suggests US intelligence officials do believe North Korea is capable of miniaturisation.
Pyongyang views the US as its main adversary and has fired a missile that experts say could reach the US itself. It also has rockets aimed at South Korea and Japan, where thousands of US troops are based.
What has been done to stop them?
Attempts to negotiate aid-for-disarmament deals have repeatedly failed, and throughout 2017 Kim Jong-Un ordered a series of incendiary ballistic missile tests.
In response the UN has implemented increasingly tough sanctions. Even China, the North's only real ally, has added to the economic and diplomatic pressure.
Is it for real this time?
The crisis has been brewing for years, but 2017 has been a game-changer.
With US within reach of a strike, progress towards miniaturisation has ramped up tensions. Over the summer, North Korea grew increasingly provocative, threatening the US Pacific territory of Guam and Japan.
Donald Trump responded by saying the US was ready to respond militarily if it was forced to defend itself or its allies.
Never has the rhetoric exchanged been more inflammatory and personal, and experts are increasingly alarmed.
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