Iran and North Korea signed a scientific and technological cooperation agreement Saturday, bringing the two nations deeply at odds with the U.S. closer together.Iranian state TV did not provide further details on the document but said it will include setting up joint scientific and technological laboratories, exchange of scientific teams between the two countries and transfer of technology in the

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a restaurant in Pyongyang, the country's state media reported Saturday, as he conducted his first inspection in the economic field in almost a month.Kim went around different sections of Haemaji Restaurant along with his wife Ri Sol-ju, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Kim "expressed great satisfaction" over the construction of the restaurant, say

Kim Young-nam, the ceremonial leader of the North, touted the regime's move to "build up the self-defensive war deterrent" at a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Iran, North Korea's state news media said Friday."The situation of the peninsula tells us that we were absolutely right to have chosen the path of Songun politics and built up the self-defensive war deterrent," Kim Young-nam, the presi

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said Thursday that North Korea has made "significant progress" in the construction of a new light-water reactor (LWR).In a new report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the dome has been placed on a reactor containment building in the secretive nation's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon."There have been indications that some components may have been instal

North Korea's state media said Thursday Typhoon Bolaven left three dead and 3,300 homeless and submerged farmlands, as the disaster-prone nation braced for the second major storm in less than a week.   The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the human casualties caused by Bolaven, which swept the North on Tuesday and Wednesday, without giving the number of those injured or missing,

North Korea reported Wednesday that strong winds and heavy rains unleashed by Typhoon Bolaven knocked down thousands of roadside trees, destroyed farmlands and buildings and caused other property damage across the impoverished nation.But the Korean Central News Agency reported no human casualties from the storm.The typhoon, which pounded South Korea on Tuesday and left nine people dead, "ravaged o

Mitt Romney, the U.S. Republican Party presidential candidate, expressed concern Wednesday over North Korea's alleged sales of nuclear weapons.He described the world as a "dangerous place" and stressed the seriousness of North Korea's threats."With instability in Pakistan and horrific violence in Syria, and with North Korea having shared nuclear technology, the threat of proliferation of weapons o

Ji Seong-ho knew there was no turning back as he pulled himself out of the water and onto the banks of the Chinese side of the Tumen River. He wiped tears from his eyes and quickly glanced at what he had just left behind.“I knew from that point, the next time I go to North Korea will be when reunification finally happens,” he said.Ji is a North Korean refugee who has lived in Seoul since 2006.The 30-year-old now runs a human rights group and studies law at a local university. He is one of about

Officials from Japan and North Korea were holding their first government-to-government talks in four years Wednesday, amid hopes that new leader Kim Jong Un will adopt a less confrontational approach to relations between his isolated, impoverished communist state and the outside world.The talks are being held in China, the North's closest ally and biggest aid source, which has been subtly pushing

North Korea on Tuesday unilaterally canceled plans to hold talks with two South Korean aid organizations that had planned to visit the communist country to discuss humanitarian assistance for flood victims.Okedongmu Children in Korea and Foundation of Inter-Korean Cooperation said they received fax messages from North Korea's National Reconciliation Council calling off talks set for Wednesday in G

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday he will meet North Korea's number two leader Kim Yong-nam later this week in Iran, where a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit will take place."As there are many occasions for participating heads of state to get together, there will be a chance to meet Chairman Kim Yong-nam and talk about peace on the Korean Peninsula and South-North Korea exc

The potential value of North Korea’s underground mineral resources is estimated at more than 11 quadrillion won ($9.7 trillion) as of this year, a report by a private think tank showed Sunday.The findings are based on the potential value and commercial prices of 18 key minerals in the communist country, the Seoul-based North Korea Resource Institute said.The figure is much higher than a 7 quadrillion won estimate released by state-run Korea Resources Corp. in 2010, which calculated the value of

A Korean-Chinese woman who fled China after helping North Koreans escape to the country was granted asylum here in a landmark court ruling Wednesday. The Seoul Administrative Court, reversing an earlier rejection by the Justice Ministry, decided to give refugee status to the 38-year-old Lee who fled here on a fishing boat last March. “Because Lee aided many North Koreans, the possibility of a heavy punishment once she goes back to China is large,” the court ruled. “China’s ‘legal’ penalty is sev