North Korea, Nuclear | featured news

Pyongyang’s warning that it will step up its uranium enrichment comes two days after the country’s leader called for expanding his country’s nuclear arsenal both in “quality and quantity.”

North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a continuing escalation of tough rhetoric against Seoul and Washington after coming under international sanctions for its nuclear test.

The barrage of threats from North Korea has sparked talk from within South Korea of the need to develop its own nuclear weapons. A recent poll shows that two-thirds of South Korean citizens surveyed support the idea, especially in the wake of North Korea's third nuclear test in February.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to announce Friday afternoon that the Pentagon will enhance the nation's ability to defend itself from a nuclear attack by North Korea, a U.S. defense official told CNN.

North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric while the U.N. Security Council considers new sanctions against the reclusive country.

North Korea apparently conducted a widely anticipated nuclear test Tuesday, strongly indicated by an "explosion-like" earthquake that monitoring agencies around the globe said appeared to be unnatural.Click to Continue »

It remains unclear just when, if ever, North Korea will attempt their controversial third nuclear test, but there are growing signs that the reclusive nation's biggest political ally is growing weary of its behavior.

The U.N. Security Council is united on North Korea's nuclear arms program and will undoubtedly approve tough measures against Pyongyang if it carries out a new atomic test as expected, South Korean U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said on Monday.

North Korea's missile tests and menacing rhetoric have disappointed U.S. expectations that young leader Kim Jong-un would be different than his father but Washington still hopes to persuade Pyongyang to change course, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

North Korea has confirmed its intention to carry out a third nuclear test, saying it is the “demand of the people.” It comes after the UN tightened sanctions against the regime, following its December long-range rocket launch. "The people's demand is that we must do something even greater than a nuclear test. The United Nations Security Council has left us with no other options. We have no other ways but to push forward to the final showdown," Rodong Sinmun, the official daily newspaper of the ruling communist party, wrote in a commentary on Saturday.