MOSCOW (Yonhap News) ― Two North Korean nationals were sentenced to eight year prison terms after being caught trying to steal secret rocket technology from the Ukraine, local sources said Saturday.Sources said the North Koreans identified as Ryu Song-chul and Lee Tae-kil were arrested for spying in July after they tried to steal classified technology from the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipropetrovsk. The sentence was handed down by a Ukrainian court late last month.Yuzhnoye’s Dnipropetrovsk bur

North Korea said Saturday that it has no immediate plan to conduct a third nuclear test.The North's latest announcement made through a statement issued by its foreign ministry spokesman came amid growing international concern about its possible nuclear test following April's failed rocket launch."(South Korea) seeks to rattle the nerves of the DPRK (North Korea) in a bid to cause it to conduct a n

Two North Korean nationals were sentenced to eight year prison terms after being caught trying to steal secret rocket technology from the Ukraine, local sources said Saturday.Sources said the North Koreans identified as Ryu Song-chul and Lee Tae-kil were arrested for spying in July after they tried to steal classified technology from the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipropetrovsk. The sentence was h

South Korea accused North Korea on Friday of “crossing the line” with its recent threats and insults, and pressed the impoverished country to start repayments for past food aid.The Unification Ministry, in charge of cross-border affairs, said the North should immediately halt threats and slander against the South’s conservative President Lee Myung-bak.“Such threats are crossing the line the two Koreas must keep in their relations,” said spokesman Kim Hyung-suk.The North has for months heaped ins

North Korea will field 49 athletes in 11 sports in the upcoming Olympic Games in London, the country's official news agency reported Friday.   Thirty-five female and 14 male athletes have so far qualified for the July 27 through Aug. 12 games in women's football, marathon, table tennis, wrestling and weight lifting, the (North) Korean Central News Agency said.   The weight lifters and wrestlers ar

North Korea announced Thursday that foreigners would be allowed visa-free access to a new economic zone near its west coast, along with tax breaks.North Korea and China are jointly developing the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwado zone on two islands in the estuary of the Yalu River that marks their border. Ground was broken last December.“Foreigners and vehicles may enter or leave the zone through the designated route without visa upon presentation of passports or other equivalent pass,” said Pyongyang

The United States and China share responsibility for resolving the issue of North Korea's proliferation activities, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said.On a trip to Asia, Panetta singled out North Korea as a continuing threat, along with the terrorism, not only in Pakistan but in Yemen and Somalia and North Africa."We continue to face the instability of North Korea and the potential for so

China appears to be striving to revive momentum for the resumption of the multilateral talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, while its impoverished ally, hit by severe droughts, is in dire need of outside aid.The U.S. still remains uncertain of Pyongyang’s sincerity about its denuclearization, and stresses “no rewards” for bad behavior while leaving open the possibility of talks.“China, as the host of the denuclearization dialogue, has been raising its voice (for the resumption of the talks

A U.S. diplomat handling Korea affairs said Wednesday that Washington is willing to "constructively engage" with Pyongyang if it ceases provocation.Jim Zumwalt, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, stressed that the U.S. is not interested in talks for the sake of talks."The United States is prepared to engage constructively with North Korea, but its new leadershi

North Korea‘s air force has sharply increased sorties since mid-May, with some fighter jets flying close to South Korea’s airspace, in what appears to be part of routine exercises, a military source said Wednesday.“Since mid-May, the number of sorties North Korean jet fighters make has risen sharply,” the source said. “Up to 50 sorties have been made a day, and two to three of them approached close to the tactical action line (TAC).”The TAC is an imaginary line that the South established about 2

Demands apology for criticism; mentions coordinates of major news outletsThe North Korean military on Monday issued an ultimatum to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and conservative media organizations to choose between a “sacred war of revenge” or issue an apology for criticizing a propaganda event held in Pyongyang.Seoul’s Unification Ministry protested the threat as a serious provocation to the nation’s democratic system. “We send a final ultimatum to the traitors regarding the developmen