North Korea

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Clinton Arrives in Japan, Warns North Korea

Secretary of state begins week of visits in Asia

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton, on her first trip as secretary of state, arrived today in Tokyo, where she warned North Korea to live up to its commitments to dismantle its nuclear programs, reports the AP. Clinton said the main issues on her agenda include climate change, clean energy, and nuclear proliferation, as...

Clinton Tells N. Korea to Scrap Nukes for Peace Deal

Obama administration willing to aim for permanent peace

(Newser) - Before heading to Asia tomorrow on her first trip as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton sent a clear message to North Korea: Scrap the nukes, drop the war talk, and reap the benefits of better relations with the US, CNN reports. Pyongyang's nuclear program is “the most acute challenge...

Earth, Sky Celebrate Kim Jong-Il's B-day

Leader's upcoming birthday has improved weather: state agency

(Newser) - Temperatures in North Korea are warmer than normal, willow catkins are in bloom, and the moon is sporting a halo—all thanks to Kim Jong-Il. A Korean news agency says “that even the nature and the sky unfolded such mysterious ecstasy in celebration of the birthday” of the North...

Pakistan Frees Nuke Scientist Khan From House Arrest

Admitted giving secrets to North Korea, Iran

(Newser) - The Pakistani scientist who admitted to giving nuclear secrets to rogue states was freed from house arrest today, the BBC reports. Abdul Qadir Khan was pardoned in 2004 but has remained under tight restrictions; the former head of Pakistan’s nuclear program can now leave his house and receive visitors....

Clinton's First Official Stop: Japan

Secretary of state to discuss economy, North Korea

(Newser) - The first stop on Hillary Clinton’s first official trip as secretary of state will be in Japan, reports Asahi Shimbun, allying Japanese fears that Tokyo would take a back seat to the Obama administration's focus on China. The trip will also include stops in China and South Korea. Clinton...

Tensions Flare as N. Korea Axes Pacts With South

Risk of border skirmishes looms

(Newser) - North Korea is unilaterally scrapping all agreements with South Korea as political and military tensions mount between the rival neighbors. The North Koreans are even repudiating the 1953 truce which ended the Korean war, reports the New York Times. Analysts see the move as a tactic to grab the attention...

Post-Stroke Kim Jong-il Meets Chinese Official

Visit marks first appearance with foreigners since illness

(Newser) - Kim Jong-il, the North Korean supreme leader, met a senior official from China's Communist Party today—in his first known meeting with a foreigner since suffering a stroke in August. The meeting was seen as an attempt to show that Kim remains in charge of North Korea, which has strongly...

North Korea Threatens to 'Shatter' South

Pyongyang claims to have plutonium for 4 nuclear bombs

(Newser) - North Korea threatened to “shatter” South Korea today as reports surfaced that Pyongyang may have enough plutonium stocks to produce at least four nuclear bombs, the Guardian reports. The North said rising hostilities with Seoul compelled it to take “an all-out confrontational posture” over a disputed maritime border...

Kim Jong-Il Names Youngest Son as Successor: Reports

Swiss-educated Jong-Un, about 25, said to be thoughtful, intelligent

(Newser) - Kim Jong-Il has picked his third—and, at about 25, thought to be his youngest—son, Jong-Un, as his successor in North Korea, Reuters reports. Though it has yet to be confirmed, officials said they have been instructed to spread the message, possibly to quell anxiety over who would lead...

USS Pueblo Crew Awarded $65M

Judge awards damages against North Korea for torture

(Newser) - In a distant echo of the Cold War, a federal judge has ordered north Korea to pay $65 million in damages to four crewmen from a US ship captured in 1968, reports AP. The USS Pueblo was seized by North Korea on an intelligence-gathering mission, and crew members were severely...

Kim Jong-Il Cheered at Concert
 Kim Jong-Il Cheered at Concert 
Dec 29, 2008 5:41 AM CST

Kim Jong-Il Cheered at Concert

First major public appearance since stroke

(Newser) - A wildly cheering orchestra audience greeted North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il at his first major public appearance since his suspected stroke in August, reports Reuters. Western intelligence experts began speculating in September that Kim was seriously ill—or dying—when he failed to appear at an important military parade at...

Kim Jong-Il Back in Public After Stroke

North Korean leader appears recovered

(Newser) - US intelligence officials believe North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has recovered from a stroke he suffered last August, and has been making public appearances, Reuters reports. The 66-year-old dictator recently inspected army units and a ceramics factory, according to North Korea's state-controlled media. One appearance is believed to have taken...

23 Years in a North Korean Prison Camp

Escapee, born in prison, tells of routine, stunning torture

(Newser) - There are 14,431 North Korean defectors living in South Korea, but only one, Shin Dong-hyuk, who escaped from a Northern prison camp. In an interview with the Washington Post, Shin describes the daily horrors of life inside Kim Jong-Il's gulags, from fire torture to mutilation. He committed no crime—...

N. Korea Talks Stumble Over Rules for Probing Nukes

Pyongyang balks at demands over verification

(Newser) - Talks to curb North Korea’s nuclear-weapons activities have stalled over rules for investigating its programs, Reuters reports. Five other countries have been negotiating with Pyongyang over verifying such activities after North Korea agreed to partially shut down a nuclear complex. “It’s been a very difficult day, indeed...

US Claims Success in Latest Missile Defense Test

System shoots down projectile over Pacific

(Newser) - The Pentagon says the latest test of its missile-defense system, performed today, was a success, Reuters reports. An interceptor missile dispatched from an Air Force base in California shot down a test projectile—similar to those Iran and North Korea claim to possess—fired from Alaska over the Pacific this...

Obama to Fill WMD Post Bush Ignored

Dem has long focused on stopping proliferation of nuclear, chemical arms

(Newser) - President-elect Obama will hire an official to oversee efforts to stop terrorists from gaining nuclear and biological weapons, the Boston Globe reports, a position the Bush administration approved but left unfilled. Such efforts are currently spread among many agencies, and a report predicting a deadly attack within 5 years using...

N. Korea Clamps Down on Border

Major setback to years of economic, tourist ties between Koreas

(Newser) - North Korea today made good on its threat to restrict border crossings from South Korea, severely hampering trade and ending tourism with its neighbor. The move, blocking large numbers of South Koreans and reducing border-crossing hours, is a protest against South Korea's new hardline president that negates years of hard-fought...

N. Korea to Shut Border With South

Pyongyang angered by South Korean government's actions

(Newser) - North Korea says it will cut access to South Korea on Dec. 1, by closing the border and severing the sole civilian phone link between the two nations, the BBC reports. The North has grown increasingly hostile to the South since it elected President Lee Myung-bak, who promised to “...

Kim Jong-Il Had a 2nd Stroke: Japanese TV

Report suggests that North Korea leader could be incapacitated

(Newser) - Uncertainty grew this morning about the health of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il after a Japanese television station reported that he has suffered a second stroke, Reuters reports. The claim came from a source connected to an American intelligence agency, but South Korean officials rejected the assertion. North Korea...

World Policy Can Wait a While, Obama
 World Policy Can Wait
a While, Obama
opinion
Nov 9, 2008 7:30 PM CST

World Policy Can Wait a While, Obama

For a while, inaction may be the best course

(Newser) - From Iran to Venezuela, President-elect Obama's best foreign policy option is to lie low for now, John Barry writes in Newsweek. Sudden forays into tricky hotspots—think Bay of Pigs, or President Bush's North Korea missteps—can prove costly, and most of the world's problems need a breather anyway. In...

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