When North Korea conducted its first nuclear test at Punggye-ri on Oct. 9, 2006, the world saw a possibility that the small impoverished state could threaten global security. As the first test was followed by five more - the latest of which was in September 2017 - tension has only been escalating. The United Nations and the U.S. attempted to estrange Pyongyang by placing sanctions on the state to impede its global trade power and cripple its economy.
South Korea's new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, in his Liberation Day speech on August 15, reminded the world that "denuclearization of North Korea is essential for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and around the world."