In the latest round of Six-Party Talks on the Korean nuclear issue, the parties involved have expressed optimism on the outcome. The thinking is that the main players the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) could return to the Agreed Framework signed in 1994.

With the current talks in Beijing, which began on February 8, it's time to recap the long and twisting road that's already been traveled.

After the emergence of the so-called Korean nuclear crisis in 1993, the US and the DPRK reached an agreement known as the US-DPRK Framework on Nuclear Issues on October 21, 1994.