A test of quality friendships

Strained ties: A North Korean flag flying in the country’s embassy compound in KL. The Hermit Kingdom cut diplomatic ties with Malaysia on Saturday. — Bloomberg

THE Cold War swept in from 1947 and took decades to end. The Korean War began a few years later and has not officially ended.

From 1949, Kim Il-sung began building his political base in Pyong-yang. In the 1990s he passed the national leadership to his son Kim Jong-il, who later passed it to his son Kim Jong-un.