Asia, North Korea | featured news

North Korea condemned a recent U.S. pledge to provide nuclear defense of South Korea, saying Thursday that the move boosts its justification to hold onto atomic bombs and invites a potential "fire shower of nuclear retaliation."

The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has taken charge at the country's spy agency to prepare him to inherit the leadership of the nation from his father, a news report said Wednesday.

China shares the region's "serious concerns" about a nuclear North Korea and urged all parties to keep negotiating, a senior Chinese military officer said Wednesday after talks with Pentagon officials.

The U.S. is moving ground-to-air missile defenses to Hawaii after North Korea's recent moves to restart its nuclear weapon program.

The leaders of South Korea and the United States told North Korea to drop its atomic ambitions and stop threatening the region while media reports on Wednesday said Pyongyang was moving ahead with plans to launch a long-range missile.

North Korea and Iran are about to become two radically different experiments in how American “engagement” works or fails to work.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang on Monday to condemn the U.N. rebuke of the country's latest nuclear test amid concern the communist regime could conduct another one.

The North Korean government says it intends to weaponize its remaining stockpile of plutonium and to pursue uranium enrichment despite the latest U.N. sanctions resolution.

The permanent members of the Security Council have approved a draft resolution that expands export limits and financial restrictions, diplomats said.

A Russian Foreign Ministry source said there were signs Tuesday that North Korea was preparing to launch new missiles, Interfax news agency reported.