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U.S. President Barack Obama uses binoculars to look at North Korea from the Observation Post Ouellette in the Demilitarized Zone which separates the two Koreas in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on March 25, 2012 in Panmunjom, South Korea. World leaders gather at Seoul to discuss on the issues to prevent possible nuclear terrorism and recurrence of meltdown of nuclear power plants and to minimize nuclear material across the world.

North Korea has been something of an international outlaw for years. It's also a vexing diplomatic challenge.

Just six weeks ago, the United States government reached an agreement with North Korea. The latter agreed to freeze it's nuclear development program in return for food aid. That agreement is now in peril.

North Korea violated the agreement by launching a missile on Thursday. But the missile didn't make it far; it burned out less than two minutes after launch, according to the Wall Street Journal.

NPR's Mike Shuster joins the show to explain how this international incident will affect the fraught relationship between the two nations.

Guest:

Mike Shuster is a foreign correspondent for NPR.