While hundreds of trucks and tourists flow across the China-DPRK border unhindered every day, the road of inter-Korean exchange has faced some surprising bumps and barriers in 2019 best illustrated by two key recent examples.

Firstly, what should have been a straightforward January delivery of Tamiflu medication to help North Koreans through the freezing Winter season remains stuck in South Korea.

This is despite the fact that humanitarian exemptions have long existed within the North Korea sanctions regime to facilitate such deliveries.

Secondly, South Korean Journalists reporting on a belated New Years event in