The situation on the Korean Peninsula has become increasingly tense since the beginning of this year. On Jan 17, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared that it would take an "all-out confrontational posture" against the Republic of Korea (ROK). On Jan 30, Pyongyang announced that it was scrapping a non-aggression pact and all other accords with Seoul. In March, amid mounting tensions, the ROK and the United States kicked off a joint military exercise, only to be followed by the DPRK's April 5 launch of a satellite - believed by the US and Japan to be a long-range missile - and Pyongyang announcing its permanent withdrawal from the Six-Party Talks.

The escalation of tensions did not stop there. On May 25, the DPRK conducted a nuclear test despite the opposition of the international community. The next day the ROK said it was joining the Proliferation Security Initiative, a US-led program to intercept shipments suspected of carrying equipment for weapons of mass destruction. Last Wednesday saw the culmination of tensions, when the DPRK renounced the 1953 truce that ended the Korean War and stated that the Peninsula has entered a state of war.

Many people are perplexed by the series of extraordinarily tough actions emerging from Pyongyang because they are unable to identify major events or causes that could have provoked the DPRK to resort to the extreme actions it has taken.