 On this show, the daily debrief, we have often talked about the rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula. Now, the region had been relatively peaceful for decades, but in recent times, tensions have arisen and trust has broken down on both sides. A key reason is South Korea's active participation in U.S. strategies and maneuvers in the region. Meanwhile, North Korea conducted its third round of missile tests in a week. We go to Anish for the latest. Anish, thanks for joining us. Let's first take a look at the immediate developments. How do you see these missile tests? What has been the response from South Korea? How do you also see some of the recent developments? These include decisions on the question of reunification itself, the institutions connected to it. So, what do you make of all this? Yes, Prashant. So, what we are looking at is the third such cruise missile test happening within less than a week, actually. And this is pretty much in line with the kind of tensions that have been escalating in the region, especially in the Korean Peninsula over the past few months now. The thing is that we have to obviously look at it in the larger context. But what we are looking at right now is that relations have really worsened to a point where we are looking at confrontations at every possible juncture. And these cruise missile tests are pretty much just a sign that things are not going to be the same it used to be. And there is going to be far more confrontations, especially from the North right now, because it has pretty much given up, so to say, on this entire thing of reunification, and this entire goal of reunification, which was at the foundations of any attempt of peace or negotiations between the two Koreas. So, right now, on Monday, the missile, the cruise missile that was launched was a submarine launch cruise missile. And it is pretty much a new brand of cruise missile that has been developed by North Korea. And this in itself has been a big matter of concern for the South, because obviously the development of new missile technology by the North has always been a matter of alarm for the South. And obviously it's ally, the United States, which holds a massive military presence in the region as well. So, in all in all word, we are looking at is like a very deliberate attempt to escalate tensions on the part of the North, but definitely something that has been happening for a while now. And it cannot be divorced or looked in isolation from what has been happening for the past few years now, especially from the South and the United States, the kind of provocations that have happened over the years, and which has led to the situation right now. Ranish, now stepping back a bit, what does this really imply for the region? We have actually talked about on this show quite often how this region has generally been quite peaceful, but now in recent times, tensions have really been escalating. So, how do you see the broader context? Tensions are nothing new between two Koreas Prashant. But what we are looking at right now is probably a point of low return has been reached. Recently, we have seen North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talk about and even pretty much stating that reunification is no longer a goal. It is not viable. It is not desirable and that it is going to treat the South Korea as an enemy state or an enemy entity and no longer part of Korea. And obviously, the ultimate goal would include reclaiming the entirety of the Korean Peninsula, but the language of reunification is pretty much absent. That also was coupled with calls by Kim to dismantle pretty much every attempt or any monument that existed, especially the arch of reunification in Pyongyang that has always been looked up as this monument for a future hope of reunified Korea, which apparently has been destroyed or demolished very recently between the 19th and the 23rd of this month. Obviously, this was not as widely reported, but there was indication that the North Korean leadership has wanted the arch to be demolished. But we are yet to get proper official confirmation from North Korean officials so far, but definitely multiple reports and satellite images have shown that the arch is missing right now. And that itself clearly shows that tensions, it's a symbolic act, but definitely what we are looking at is that without any talk or any idea of a reunification or possible reunification, peace talks become completely irrelevant in the case of inter-Korean relations. And that is pretty much the point where we are at. And this is dangerous because we must remember that just a couple of years ago, we were already talking about how the two Koreas came together for a declaration to end the Korean war, which is de facto in place even though and it's only ceasefire between the two sides that is holding any kind of hostilities from getting out of hand. And at this point in time, if these tensions continue, the war can be reactivated. It is no longer a very distant possibility. It is something that is pretty much at the horizon right now. And we need to wait and see how the South Korean administration, especially the conservative and the very hardliner UN government, which can be held responsible for the kind of provocations that have led to this situation where reunification or even for that matter peace talks have become completely irrelevant as far as North Korea is concerned, is how he is going to respond to all of this. There has been no statement so far. And which is kind of jarring considering how he had pretty much a statement or a provocative statement for pretty much anything that happened when it comes to North Korea. So this kind of silence right now, a very studied silence at a time when he's also beleaguered by his own failures in the domestic front pretty much shows that the southern side has taken it far more seriously than it. I mean like it is quite serious, but this is going to be bigger, like the gravity of it is going to be much bigger than what we could have thought of maybe say a couple of months ago. So things have really gone that far and we can really hope that there can be a reset to status quo ante. But definitely we are just not in a position to say that that would be possible, especially under current administration so far. And that is a big, big problem because as I keep saying, as we have kept saying in this show, this is a region which hasn't had a war for nearly three quarters of a century and that is something quite novel in the entirety of the modern world right now. So if war is something that is now quite a looming possibility, that should be a match of concern for everybody and not just the East Asians. It is pretty much something that can affect everybody around the world right now. Thanks so much Anish for joining us. Measles might not seem like an alarming disease to many of us, but it can have a serious impact on a person's health. In recent times, the World Health Organization has been sounding the alarm on a rise in Measles cases in many parts of Europe. Forcing countries even in other parts of the world to take notice and step up precautions. Where are these cases increasing and why is it happening? We are joined by Hannah. And on multiple episodes, we seem to be discussing diseases which are easily preventable but nonetheless are causing a great deal of alarm. So let's start with the WHO of course in a sounding alarm on the number of cases. So let's start with what is the spread, which are the countries which are really affected? Well, one of the most recent alarms was sounded in Europe and that's because there was around a 30-fold increase in the number of cases of measles in the European region last year compared to the data from the previous one. So while the most affected countries were in the East, including Russia, some of the news that made most headlines, not surprisingly, they were located in the European countries, including the UK. But what we are seeing is an overall trend and that's related partly at least in the decrease of the uptake of the vaccine. We need around 95% coverage with the MMR vaccine in order to have herd immunity. But over the years, these percentages have eroded in the UK as well as in the rest of Europe. And of course, you know, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, then there was an additional hit on the public health services. Many people were not able to get their children to get the vaccines. So now we have a bigger population, which is essentially exposed to the effects of what we are seeing. But of course, we know that since the alarm has been sounded in Europe, other countries in other regions have also said they would be particularly careful. So we have seen health authorities in Korea, in the US, issuing warnings or expressing concern about what's being seen and asking people to be cautious and to return to the vaccines, to the vaccine campaigns that we had previously seen. And, you know, this is not just something to be taken very lightly because you said rightly that, you know, measles is something that we talk a lot about that has been on the public health agenda for a very long time. And some of the public health officials have also recognized that people have also become a bit accustomed to measles not being perceived as such a terrible disease. But we do know that it can have very serious side effects and it can cause very, very serious cases of pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, it can even cause that. So it's not something that people can discard and say, you know, it's okay to go through it. It's actually something that can be very serious and put kids' lives at risk. And in this context, what are the reasons that, you know, there is an increase in cases? You mentioned, of course, the question, the issue of vaccines, but how does it really play out the reason for hesitancy? What are some of the other factors contributing to this? Well, if, for example, and if we take the UK as a case study in this regard, there has been vaccine hesitancy since the late 1990s, and that is because, of course, you know, there were those discard, of course, allegations that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. But now the public health authorities in the UK are warning that it's not only about that. So it's not, of course, people, you know, people in the past have reluctantly and maybe more cautiously approached vaccination campaigns for measles. Their numbers right now show that this situation has somewhat improved. So younger parents are more prone to get back on the vaccine train and actually get all the doses covered. But what we do see is that there's now a bigger population of younger adults, of those who haven't been vaccinated, who are now exposed to the disease or who can facilitate the spread. And then, of course, we do have a large number of kids who have not received vaccines either because of the COVID pandemic, but also because the public health services and particularly primary healthcare has been so weakened that they cannot actually access the vaccines. So it's not only, you know, about doing a very good public health campaign and showing to people that the vaccines work. It's also about making sure that the vaccines are there for people and that they're easily accessible. That's not the case in the UK right now. And I would say that it's probably not the case in the rest of Europe right now. So one of the big hurdles in the way of health ministries of those in charge of public health policies right now is to get a very rapid response. So to increase the number of vaccinations that we're seeing, but also to make sure that, you know, the health workers who are there delivering the vaccines, to make sure that the health services that we need to actually get those vaccines to the people are there and are properly funded. Thank you so much for that update. That's all we have in today's Daily Deep Brief. We'll be back with a fresh episode tomorrow. In the meanwhile, do visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on all the social media platforms. If you're watching this on YouTube, please hit that subscribe button. Thank you.