It's home to the world's longest-running war, but the prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula isn't the only thing that has the world's gaze firmly fixed on North and South Korea.

A bellicose, potentially nuclear-armed, military dictatorship in the North; a democracy with its first female president and beset by scandal in the South; and the rise and rise of pop acts on the global stage all make for some interesting watching when it comes to the two Koreas.

In this video Dr Emma Campbell discusses these and some of the other issues which will be examined at the 2013 Korea Update -- an annual conference in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific which looks at the latest trends, developments and issues in North and South Korea.

Story and production by Belinda Cranston. For more insight and analysis on North and South Korea visit