Asia, Nuclear Weapon | featured news

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is calling North Korea's development of nuclear weapons a "growing threat" to the U.S. and its allies. In a telephone call Tuesday evening to Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan, Hagel cited North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles and said Washington and Beijing should continue to cooperate on those problems.

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.

Former professional basketball star Dennis Rodman says he plans to return to North Korea to vacation with Kim Jong Un. Rodman met with the authoritarian leader in late February during a visit that was not endorsed by the U.S. State Department. The visit came during a period of tension between the countries over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing.

The director of National Intelligence says an unpredictable North Korea, with its nuclear weapons and missile programs, stands as a serious threat to the United States and East Asia nations....

Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyang's drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures....

The White House says the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself after a North Korean ballistic missile attack. White House spokesman Jay Carney was responding to the North's vow to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the U.S. That threat came in retaliation for tough new U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

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.

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.