The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), better known as North Korea, was established in 1948 following the liberation of Korea from Japan in 1945. Following the end of WWII the Korean Peninsula was under the trusteeship of a joint Soviet‐U.S. Commission in an effort to establish a national government. The U.N Security Council failed to resolve the issue of unification as a result of Cold War politics leading to the establishment of North Korea and South Korea (Republic of Korea). In 1951, North Korea launched an attack against South Korea. The U.S. allied with South Korea, and the Soviet Union along with China backed North Korea. The U.N. intervened in its first collective action under its Charter and managed, with the leadership of the U.S., to stabilize the border between the two Koreas at the 38th parallel. Although an Armistice Agreement between the two states was signed in 1953 , border and naval clashes remain to this day intact.

North Korea Diagnostic 2010