North Korea, Nuclear Disarmament | featured news

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 has made significant progress in the construction of a light water atomic reactor over the past year, a U.N. watchdog report said, a facility that may extend Pyongyang's capacity to produce material for nuclear weapons.

North Korea said on Friday it was being forced to "reexamine" its nuclear program because of fresh signs the United States remains hostile towards the country, indicating it will step up defiant efforts to boost its nuclear arsenal.

The United States will not go forward with planned food aid to North Korea, the White House said on Friday, after the impoverished nation unsuccessfully tried to launch a long-range missile which Washington had warned would have consequences.

The United States announces that it is suspending food aid to North Korea in light of Pyongyang's plans for a missile launch next month.

President Barack Obama on Monday emphasized his vision for a nuclear-free world and warned that North Korea and Iran should shun nuclear weapons or face tough action from the international community.

President Obama will join the leaders of more than 50 countries in Seoul, South Korea, next week for a nuclear security summit.

The United States said Wednesday North Korea has agreed to suspend nuclear activities and accept a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, in a breakthrough in negotiations with the secretive communist nation.

A U.S. envoy will hold talks with North Korea on its nuclear program in Beijing next week, the first such negotiations since the death of the nation's longtime leader, Kim Jong Il.

North Korea says that before Kim Jong Il's death the United States offered to provide food aid if Pyongyang halted its uranium enrichment program. North Korea responded angrily to the offer Wednesday, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman accusing Washington of "politicizing" food shipments.