Given its own history as a divided nation and given the fact that Berlin is one of the few  European countries to maintain diplomatic relations with both North and South Korea,  numerous observers have raised the possibility of a special role to be assumed by Berlin  in the North Korea conflict. However, despite repeated rhetorical support for a peaceful  solution of the nuclear crisis and vocal support for inter-Korean reconciliation, the German  government has not, so far, lent any tangible political support to those objectives. Rather,  Berlin is fixated on the firm implementation of sanctions and is, in fact, a driving force behind  the EU’s autonomous punitive measures against Pyongyang.