Year in photos: Korean crisis

A South Korean soldier stands inside a conference room in Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas on July 14, 2010. (Kim Jae Hwan/AFP/Getty Images)

Each week seems to bring new heights to the tension between North and South Korea. On Monday, the South went ahead with live-fire drills, despite warnings from the North that it would retaliate. The North did not retaliate — this time — but questions remain as to when and if each side will reach its tipping point.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (right) and his youngest son Kim Jong Un (left) watch a parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Oct. 10, 2010. Kim Jong Il promoted his son to military general this past September, in the clearest sign yet that Kim Jong Un would succeed his father as leader of North Korea. What is the old man thinking? Here's five things you need to know about Kim Jong Il's brain. (Petar Kujundzic/Reuters)

After showing off its nuclear technology in November, North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island, Yeonpyeong, killing at least four people and triggering an exchange of fire from the South. It was the first time the North attacked the South on land since the Korean War. Here, huge plumes of smoke rise from Yeonpyeong on Nov. 23, 2010. (AFP/Getty Images)

Destroyed houses are seen on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island, following an exchange of fire between North and South Korea on Nov. 24, 2010. In the wake of the North's initial attack, the region again played the parlor game of crafting a response to the regime’s idiosyncratic brand of brinksmanship. (Korea Pool/Getty Images)

South Korean war veterans protest during an anti-North Korea rally on Nov. 30, 2010, in Seoul. While dissent has long been present among South Koreans, it's more recently that there have been grumblings of dissent in the North. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Mourning messages are placed on a picture of the sunken South Korean naval corvette Cheonan, in central Seoul, May 4, 2010. The sinking of the Cheonan in March killed 46 South Korean sailors and ratcheted up tensions on the peninsula. Questions arose that, unsurprisingly, the international community is still asking today: Is North Korea ready to talk? Or, will it continue threatening to drown its enemies in a “sea of fire”? (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)