The United Nations (UN) has imposed six sets of sanctions against North Korea since its first nuclear test in 2006, but these have failed to stop the isolated state from pursuing its missile weapons programme.

The fact that North Korea’s weapons programme has been able to continue unabated is a legacy of the Cold War and, by and large, due to external influences, analysts said.

Security analyst Li Mingjiang from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, noted the close contacts that North Korea has with Iran and Pakistan.