Nuclear Nightmare: Understanding North Korea

The Doomsday Clock is counting down and North Korea could push it closer to midnight.

The shadow of nuclear Armageddon, international intrigue and high-stakes military strategy have brought the world face-to-face with the unimaginable.

Meet Kim Jong II, leader of North Korea, a nation imprisoned by poverty and with a population so hungry, people eat bugs and grass. Now this megalomaniacal dictator is holding the civilized world hostage with what many see as a cunning strategy of extortion, threatening to use its arsenal of nuclear weapons. It's a strategy by which the United States has indicated it cannot abide.

In a joint production between the Discovery Channel and the New York Times, go behind the headlines to discover the little-understood origins and almost-stranger-than-truth facets of this dangerous confrontation. See a side of Kim Jong Il rarely revealed -- his love of slasher flicks and his affinity for prostitutes -- and learn why the United States may have no other palatable option than to play ball with Kim, allowing him to continue his weapons development program.

It's quite literally a race against time -- if North Korea, as it promises, uses its nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" -- it could to give birth to World War III or even a nuclear Armageddon. It's a game of international intrigue and high-stakes military strategy. But more importantly, it's the story of destitute North Korea and its bizarre leader, and how he has brought the U.S. and the world to this point in time -- five minutes until doomsday.

North Korea: Nuclear Nightmare - part 1

North Korea: Nuclear Nightmare - part 2

North Korea: Nuclear Nightmare - part 3

North Korea: Nuclear Nightmare - part 4

North Korea: Nuclear Nightmare - part 5

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"Although September 11 was horrible, it didn't threaten the survival of the human race, like nuclear weapons do." -- Stephen Hawking