North Korea appears to be looking to make more bomb fuels at its main nuclear facility, experts say
The U.N. atomic agency and outside experts say North Korea may have started operating a light-water reactor at its main nuclear complex in a possible attempt to establish a new facility to produce bomb fuels.
South Korea throws huge K-Pop concert for Scouts after storm Khanun disrupted their Jamboree
A day after a powerful tropical storm flooded dozens of homes and turned streets into muddy rivers, South Korea is throwing a huge K-Pop concert in Seoul for 40,000 Scouts whose global Jamboree was disrupted by the weather.
US, allies clash with Russia, China over North Korea's failed military spy satellite launch
The United States and its allies clashed with Russia and China over North Koreaโs failed launch of a military spy satellite this week in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, which Moscow and Beijing refused to condemn.
WHO: China's COVID plan is 'unsustainable' due to omicron
The head of the World Health Organization says Chinaโs extreme approach to containing the coronavirus is unsustainable because of the highly infectious nature of the omicron variant, but that itโs up to every country to decide what policy to pursue.
UN investigator calls for 60M vaccine doses for North Korea
The United Nationsโ independent investigator on human rights in North Korea has called for the international community to provide 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the isolated authoritarian nation, which has recently showed signs of easing one of the worldโs most restrictive pandemic border closures.
US and Russia clash over use and impact of UN sanctions
The United States and its allies clashed with Russia and China in the U.N. Security Council over the usefulness and impact of U.N. sanctions, currently imposed on countries from North Korea to Yemen and Congo as well the al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups and their affiliates and supporters.
N Korea says hypersonic missile tested to modernize weaponry
North Korea said Thursday it has successfully launched a hypersonic missile as part of efforts to modernize its strategic weapons systems, days after leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his military forces despite pandemic-related difficulties.
Japan PM vows to step up defense amid China, NK threats
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at his first troop review, has renewed his pledge to consider โall options,โ including acquiring enemy base strike capability, and vowed to create a stronger Self-Defense Force to protect the country amid growing threats from China and North Korea.
China: US should push North Korea diplomacy, not pressure
Chinaโs U.N. ambassador is expressing hope President Joe Bidenโs policy toward North Korea will give more importance to diplomacy and dialogue instead of โextreme pressureโ to try to stop Pyongyangโs nuclear program and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
Biden to veer from Trump, Obama policies in taking on NKorea
The White House says President Joe Biden plans to veer from the approaches of his two most recent predecessors as he tries to stop North Koreaโs nuclear program, rejecting both Donald Trumpโs deeply personal effort to win over Kim Jong Un and Barack Obamaโs more hands-off approach.
Biden to veer from Trump, Obama policies in taking on NKorea
The White House says President Joe Biden plans to veer from the approaches of his two most recent predecessors as he tries to stop North Koreaโs nuclear program, rejecting both Donald Trumpโs deeply personal effort to win over Kim Jong Un and Barack Obamaโs more hands-off approach.
US eyes additional UN action on N. Korea after missile tests
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)WASHINGTON โ The Biden administration said Monday it's looking at โadditional actionsโ that the United Nations might take to respond to North Koreaโs recent missile tests. โWeโre looking at additional actions that we might take,โ Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and others Security Council members. Last week, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea in a defiance of U.N. resolutions that ban such launches by North Korea. Some experts say North Koreaโs missile launches, the first of their kind in a year, were aimed at applying pressure on the Biden administration. Past short-range missile launches by North Korea have typically drawn U.N. Security Council condemnations, but not fresh sanctions.
Russian diplomats hand-push trolley over North Korea border
In this image taken from a video released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, a group of Russian diplomats push hand-pushed rail trolley with their children and suitcases to the border with Russia. A group of Russian diplomats and their family members returned to Russia from North Korea on a hand-pushed rail trolley on Thursday because of COVID-19 restrictions in the country, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a Facebook post. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)MOSCOW โ A group of Russian diplomats and their family members returned to Russia from North Korea using a hand-pushed rail trolley on Thursday because the coronavirus pandemic has halted all passenger traffic between the countries, Russia's Foreign Ministry said. They then put their children and luggage onto a rail trolley and pushed it for more than a kilometer (more than half a mile) across the border into Russia. North Korea has claimed to be coronavirus-free, and sealed its borders and halted passenger traffic with other countries.
Kim vows to bolster North Korea's military at party meeting
A traffic officer stand in attention along a main street of the Central District in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The state media report Thursday on Kim's speech to the Workersโ Party congress the previous day didn't elaborate. South Koreaโs spy agency told lawmakers in late November that Kim was worried about President-elect Joe Bidenโs expected new approach on North Korea. State media didnโt provide much details on Kimโs economic review. Cheong said North Korea likely didnโt want foreign experts to learn its poor economic performance too easily.
World leaders talking to Biden about the virus, other issues
World leaders spoke to President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday about cooperating on the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other issues, even as President Donald Trump's refusal to concede complicates the U.S. post-election transition. Kang Min-seok, Moonโs spokesperson, said the leaders also agreed to meet โpossibly soonโ after Bidenโs inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has constantly complained about the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. Morrison said he and Biden during their call made clear their commitment to strengthening the bilateral alliance. __AP writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
North Korea celebrates party anniversary amid economic woes
People wearing face masks watch a TV screen during a news program reporting about the ceremony to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the North Korea's ruling Workers' party, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. A part of letters read on the top "A military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the North Korea's ruling Workers' party." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
North Korea may show new missiles at weekend military parade
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2015, file photo, warheads are paraded during a military parade during celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of North Korea's Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. For months, North Korea has been relatively uncombative, as leader Kim Jong Un grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, a string of natural disasters and the deepening economic pain from years of tough U.S.-led sanctions. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
UN chief: World is living in `shadow of nuclear catastrophe'
TANZANIA โ U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the world is living โin the shadow of nuclear catastrophe,โ fueled by growing distrust and tensions between the nuclear powers. The U.N. chief told a high-level meeting to commemorate the recent International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons that progress on ridding the world of nuclear weapons โhas stalled and is at risk of backsliding." And he said strains between countries that possess nuclear weapons โhave increased nuclear risks.โAs examples, Guterres has expressed deep concern at the escalating disputes between the Trump administration and China. And North Korea boasts about its nuclear weapons. โMaintaining nuclear weapons, is clearly, a zero-sum situation, while total abolishment of such weapons, will ensure that humanity prevails,โ Marsudi said.
At UN, Trump raps China for virus as US deaths top 200,000
Beyond criticizing China, Trump took aim at the very foundation of the United Nations by urging other leaders to put their own countries first, a message that echoed his โAmerica Firstโ campaign mantra. Speeches by U.S. presidents are normally a highlight of the annual General Assembly, a premier event on the global diplomatic calendar. โThe United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions,โ Trump said, without elaborating on what punishment he thought was warranted. The Republican president is running behind Biden in many polls, yet told the U.N. General Assembly that he'd be back next year. Few U.N. member states believe the U.S. has the legal standing to restore the sanctions because Trump withdrew from the agreement.
Trump highlights foreign policy wins as he woos voters
President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Washington. On some of the most troublesome national security challenges facing America โ nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea โ Trump has failed to make deals. The White House, for its part, casts Trump's recent flurry of foreign policy activity as evidence that long-sought initiatives are coming to fruition. โHeโs not running on his foreign policy,โ Trumpโs senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner told White House reporters last week. โIf North Korea behaves true to form, then we should expect to see some sort of provocations -- maybe not before but after the election,โ Cha said.
Trump highlights foreign policy wins as he woos voters
President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Washington. On some of the most troublesome national security challenges facing America โ nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea โ Trump has failed to make deals. The White House, for its part, casts Trump's recent flurry of foreign policy activity as evidence that long-sought initiatives are coming to fruition. โHeโs not running on his foreign policy,โ Trumpโs senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner told White House reporters last week. โIf North Korea behaves true to form, then we should expect to see some sort of provocations -- maybe not before but after the election,โ Cha said.
North and South Korea brace for strong typhoon
SEOUL Hundreds of flights were canceled in South Korea while North Koreas leader expressed concern about a potential loss of lives and crops as the countries braced for a fast-approaching typhoon forecast as one of the strongest to hit their peninsula this year. South Koreas weather agency said the typhoon will start to affect the mainland at night before making landfall in western North Korea early Thursday. South Korean authorities were also shutting down public parks and evacuating hundreds of fishing boats and other vessels, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said that during a ruling party meeting on Tuesday, the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, called for thorough preparations to minimize casualties and damage from the typhoon. The storm comes weeks after torrential rains caused flooding and massive damage to homes and crops in North Korea, inflicting further pain to an economy ravaged by U.S.-led sanctions over the North's nuclear weapons and border closures amid the pandemic.