North Korea appears unlikely to deliberately escalate tensions in the coming year as the regime will prioritize domestic development. However, its nuclear policy, burgeoning relations with Russia, and evolving geopolitical factors will increase the risks of North Korea becoming a flash point in the medium to long term.

The country's supreme leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a mammoth new resort on North Korea's east coast, which can accommodate up to 20,000 guests, and who knows, in the future, you could be one of them.

The Wonsan Kalma resort was opened in a grand ceremony last month by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, who hailed it as a "world-class tourist and cultural destination". The details of how this resort was built have been shrouded in secrecy in a country largely closed to the outside world.

South Korea, Japan and the United States conducted a joint air drill on Friday involving a U.S. B-52 strategic bomber and fighter jets of the two U.S. allies over international waters, the South's defence ministry said.