Engaged in a cold war for nearly 65 years, the two Koreas have seen their relations starting to thaw over recent months. The United States and China are changing their tune and agreeing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Is this just another episode of appeasement before the resumption of tension, or a strategy by North Korea to end the sanctions that are suffocating it and gain time to achieve its nuclear ambition? Can the two Koreas really take their destiny into their own hands without being the economic and geostrategic toy of the great powers around them, and start a lasting peace process?