Asia, North Korea | featured news

An American tour operator has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for alleged “hostile acts” against the repressive regime, according to its official state news agency. Kenneth Bae, who is in his mid-40s and lives in Washington state, has been described by friends as a devout Christian who took tourists on trips to North Korea, The Associated Press reported.

North Korea demanded on Tuesday that it be recognized as a nuclear weapons state, rejecting a U.S. condition that it agree to give up its nuclear arms program before talks can begin.

North Korea on Thursday demanded the lifting of United Nations sanctions and an end to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises as preconditions for starting dialogue.

A new Pentagon report says North Korea probably has nuclear weapons that can be launched by ballistic missile, although it says the weapons are not very reliable....

Foreign ministers from the G8 group of rich countries failed to patch up deep divisions over Syria or come up with a plan on North Korea during a meeting in London on Thursday.

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific reassured Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. military could intercept any missile launched by North Korea and aimed at America's territory or its East Asian allies.

The American military commander in the region is staying there instead of returning to Washington--taking no chances as North Korea continues to make threats.

... Though it remains a highly unlikely scenario, Japanese officials have long feared that if North Korea ever decides to play its nuclear card it has not only the means but several potential motives for launching an attack on Tokyo or major U.S. military installations on Japan's main island. And while a conventional missile attack is far more likely, Tokyo is taking North Korea's nuclear rhetoric seriously.

American officials said new “counterprovocation” plans called for an immediate but proportional “response in kind,” hitting the source of any attack by North Korea with similar weapons.

China's leaders issued thinly veiled rebukes to North Korea for raising regional tensions, with the president saying no country should throw the world into chaos and the foreign minister warning that Beijing would not allow mischief on its doorstep.