A shift in Washington’s strategic focus has opened fissures in the US-South Korea alliance.

A shift in Washington’s strategic focus has opened fissures in the US-South Korea alliance.

Demand for Korean War peace treaty by prominent activists casts light on issue drawing criticism and support.

The lives of 304 people – including 250 schoolchildren – were lost a year ago, prompting national angst and anger.

A year after Sewol ferry disaster, devastated relatives voice anger at government’s failure to recover all the bodies.

Government meddling and restrictions on freedoms threaten to unravel hard-fought democratic gains, critics say.

In a twist of fate, defected North Korean prison guard and former inmate join hands to create change.
![Former prison guard Ahn Myeong Chul is working to bring about change in North Korea [Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20151684040904580_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Leftwing UPP’s parliament members to move court to challenge Constitutional Court’s right to de-seat them.
![South Korea's constitutional court de-seated five UPP lawmakers last month [AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/201515101521202734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The DMZ, infamously seeded with countless land mines, is the most heavily armed strip of land on Earth.
![A South Korean sentry a few metres south of the inter-Korean border known as the DMZ [Andrew Salmon]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141029125621771580_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
North Korea’s recent flurry of diplomatic activity signals increased efforts for international outreach.
![Kang Sok-ju, right, appears to be part of a new diplomatic offensive aimed at better international relations [AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/20149712182952580_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)