International observers were surprised to see the Democratic People's Republic of Korea celebrate its Army Day on April 25 without any act of provocation, such as a missile launch. Yet the brief tranquility on the Korean Peninsula was short-lived as the DPRK reportedly test-fired a ballistic missile four days later.

Though the missile exploded shortly after liftoff, it still constituted a blatant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions which forbid Pyongyang from taking such provocative actions. Given that Pyongyang has repeatedly resorted to acts of provocation and defied the international community's call to stop its ambitious nuclear and missile programs, its latest move deserves to be condemned by the international community in the strongest terms.

However, as tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to escalate and the rival parties threaten each other with war rhetoric, it is necessary to ponder how the situation has worsened so fast and why it has tightened into such a complicated knot that it is almost difficult to undo it now.