North Korea - Current News and Information
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North Korea News
Chinese leaders on Monday sent a jointly-signed message to their counterparts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , congratulating them on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK.
Leaders congratulate DPRK's 60th birthday
A senior U.S. diplomat says the current stalemate with North Korea over its nuclear capabilities will be resolved soon.
U.S. Confident N. Korea Stalemate To Pass
Is Kim Jong Il for real? The question has baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years, but a veteran Japanese expert on North Korea says the 'dear leader' is actually dead and his role is played by a ...
Pakistan suicide blast death toll reaches 35
SOUTH Korea's spy agency on Sunday denied a media report that the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il might be worsening.
Is Kim Jong Il sick?
North Korea conceded its first goal in seven matches in a 2-1 win Saturday against the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifier.
North Korea beats UAE 2-1
The U.S. gained key international backing Saturday for a bitterly contested plan to sell peaceful nuclear technology to India _ a South Asia powerhouse that has tested atomic weapons but has refused to sign ...
45-nation group OKs landmark US-India nuke deal
Instead, he and his shipmates became pawns in a Cold War sideshow when North Korea captured the Navy spy ship and imprisoned its 82 crew members.
40 years after capture by North Korea, USS Pueblo crew reuniting, awaiting Navy recognition
North Korea has told Japan it will not reopen its investigation into the abduction issue until after a replacement has been named for outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
N. Korea to delay abduction probe
North Korea has crossed a new threshold in rebuilding a prominent nuclear facility, breaking seals placed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, FOX News has learned.
New Evidence Affirms North Korea Reassembling Nuclear Facility
The Bush administration touts its new relationship with Libya as a foreign policy success but elsewhere from North Korea to Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faces bad news.
Struggling for victory
The stepfather of an alleged spy accused of sleeping with South Korean military officers in exchange for classified information has also been charged in a case gripping the country.
Korea Gripped By 'Sex Spy' Case
A North Korean newspaper reported this week that U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen.
North Korean report: Sharp a - war fanatic'
South Korea announced Wednesday that North Korea has started restoring its nuclear facilities following a recent threat to do so, but the United States said it appeared Pyongyang had not actually taken such a ...
SKorea Says NKorea Has Restarted Nuclear Work
If you think Iran is scary, just consider what would happen if Islamic extremists took over Pakistan.
What's Worse: Iran's Bombast -- or a Real Live Pakistan Bomb?
SEOUL, South Korea : North Korea's main symphony orchestra has put off a plan to play in Britain this month due to a funding problem, a U.S. government-funded radio station reported Wednesday.
Report: NKorean orchestra postpones British event
The six-party talks are facing both the opportunity of moving forward and difficulties that need to be jointly handled by all parties involved, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
China calls on parties to overcome difficulties on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue
SEOUL: A US activist has won the Seoul Peace Prize for her campaigns to improve the human rights of North Koreans and of Sahrawi refugees from Western Sahara, the award's committee announced Wednesday.
US rights activist wins Seoul Peace Prize
Korea and U.S. Carefully Assess Pyongyang's Nuclear Ambitions South Korea and the United States are avoiding overreacting to Pyongyang's claim on Tuesday that it halted disablement of the Yongbyon reactor in ...
Korea and U.S. Carefully Assess Pyongyang's Nuclear Ambitions
Even as the Nuclear Suppliers Group is to meet on September 4 to give India a waiver from the ban on nuclear commerce, which was imposed on this country in 1978 by the London Suppliers Club - the predecessor of ...
Leader Article: We're Not a Rogue State
SEOUL, South Korea : South Korea has decided to allow a top North Korean defector and heavy critic of the communist regime to freely travel abroad, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
SKorea to allow top defector to travel abroad
US Military Officials Concerned North Korea Could Transfer WMDs to Terrorists
VOA News - Dan Robinson - Capitol Hill - 31 Mar 2004
Senior U.S. military officials say they are concerned about possible North Korean transfers of nuclear or other weapons of
mass destruction to terrorist groups. However, in testimony Wednesday to a congressional committee, they say U.S. and South
Korean forces are well-prepared to deal with any threats arising from the North.
Admiral Thomas Fargo, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, and General Leon LaPorte, commander of U.S. forces in South
Korea, say North Korea's nuclear programs, ballistic missile production and illicit narcotics-related activities pose a
threat to the region and the world. - Read More on Voice of America ...
Listen to Dan Robinson's report (RealAudio)
Robinson report - Download 417k (RealAudio)
North Korea May Demand U.S. Pullout From South Korea
9 March 2004
North Korea's government said it will make the pullout of U.S. forces from South Korea a condition
of a nuclear agreement, unless the U.S. stops insisting that an accord require the North to dismantle its weapons program first.
North Korea also will demand a 'complete, verifiable, irreversible security assurance' from the U.S. in exchange for American
insistence the nuclear program be dismantled on those terms, the official Korea Central News Agency said in a release.
The U.S. aims to round off preparations for a second Korean War by rummaging through (North Korea) under the pretext of
'inspection', the agency said. If the U.S. gives up its demand for 'scrapping nuclear program first' and makes a switchover
in its Korea policy, dramatic progress will be made in settling the nuclear issue.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming
under Communist domination and the southern portion becoming Western
oriented. KIM Chong-il has ruled North Korea since his father and the
country's founder, president KIM Il-song, died in 1994. After decades
of mismanagement, the North relies heavily on international food aid
to feed its population, while continuing to expend resources to
maintain an army of about 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile
development and research into nuclear, chemical, and biological
weapons and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to
the international community.
North Korea's Special Weapons
The following information is US Government public information. The information is presented for informational and educational purposes only.
Nuclear Weapons
The US has been concerned about North Korea's desire for nuclear weapons and
has assessed since the early 1990s that the North has one or possibly two
weapons using plutonium it produced prior to 1992.
In 1994, Pyongyang halted production of additional plutonium under the terms
of the US-DPRK Agreed Framework.
We have assessed, however, that despite the freeze at Yongbyon the North has
continued its nuclear weapons program.
If the Framework Collapses
If North Korea abandoned the Agreed Framework Pyongyang could resume production
of plutonium.
Reprocessing the spent 5 MWe reactor fuel now in storage at Yongbyon site
under IAEA safeguards would recover enough plutonium for several more weapons.
Restarting the 5 MWe reactor would generate about 6 kg per year.
The 50 MWe reactor at Yongbyon and the 200 MWe reactor at Taechon would
generate about 275 kg per year, although it would take several years to
complete construction of these reactors.
Uranium Enrichment
The United States has been suspicious that North Korea has been working on
uranium enrichment for several years. However, we did not obtain clear evidence
indicating the North had begun constructing a centrifuge facility until
recently. We assess that North Korea embarked on the effort to develop a
centrifuge-based uranium enrichment program about two years ago.
Last year the North began seeking centrifuge-related materials in large
quantities. It also obtained equipment suitable for use in uranium feed and
withdrawal systems.
We recently learned that the North is constructing a plant that could produce
enough weapons-grade uranium for two or more nuclear weapons per year when
fully operational -- which could be as soon as mid-decade.
We continue to monitor and assess the North's nuclear weapons efforts, which
given the North's closed society and the obvious covert nature of the program,
remains a difficult intelligence collection target.
