For almost three-quarters of a century, an armistice – not a peace treaty – has prevented old foes North Korea and South Korea tearing each other apart. Their respective backers, China and the US, underwrote a chilly cold war status quo.
Now, momentously, the ice is cracking. But it's not a political thaw. Mutual hostility is undiminished. Rather, it's because North Korea, buoyed by new friends in high places, is on a roll while South Korea is suffering a very public meltdown.
Dictator Kim – Asia's putative mad king – was always dangerous. Now he's getting downright bullish. Last week he claimed that the US, South Korea and Japan were planning a nuclear attack.
Even as North Korea becomes more threatening to its neighbour in the south and poses a greater military challenge to the west, it has gained more economic stability and become less vulnerable.
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