North Korea would consider political ramifications rather than technical issues should it decide to conduct another nuclear test, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Sunday.“Whether to conduct a nuclear test or not, that is a matter of a political decision based on its judgment of what impact the test will have on its fate,” he told reporters, declining to be named. His remarks came as the U.N. Security Council is mulling a widened application of its sanctions against Pyongyang following its bo

(Yonhap) -- North Korea completed construction on a taekwondo center in its capital city to better showcase the merits of the traditional martial art, a state-run newspaper said Saturday.   The Rodong Shinmun, picked up in Seoul, said the center has been built in downtown Pyongyang.   The center houses a training center, library, international conference hall, history museum and other amenities, w

North Korea‘s traditionally secretive state television is increasingly broadcasting live under new leader Kim Jong-un, in a rare break from efforts to inherit the traits and policies of previous rulers in the dynastic regime.In the four months following the Dec. 17 death of Kim’s father and strongman Kim Jong-il, the (North) Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station has aired many of the nation‘s key events live, including all the awkward moments the late Kim apparently tried to avoid, according to

Despite U.N. Security Council condemnations, North Korea said it will continue launching satellites under its space program that outsiders see as a pretext to test long-range missiles.The North Korean Committee for Space Technology, which was behind the failed rocket launch a week ago, said North Korean “satellites for peaceful purposes will be put into space one after another,” in an English-language statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency late Thursday.The committee did no

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressed concern Thursday that North Korea might have mastered a mobile ability for long-range missiles.“There is growing concern about, you know, the mobile capabilities that were on display on the parade activity in North Korea,” he said at a congressional hearing.The North showed off what appeared to be a new long-range missile on a 16-wheel vehicle during the parade on Sunday in front of foreign reporters and television crews.Experts are split over its ra

North Korea on Thursday threatened to wage a “retaliation war” against South Korea if Seoul does not apologize for allegedly “defaming” the North’s recent celebrations of the birth of founder Kim Il-sung.Pyongyang said Seoul’s Lee Myung-bak administration insulted the “supreme dignity” of its regime by criticizing its rocket launch when it celebrated the centenary of its late founder Kim’s birth on April 15.“The puppet traitor group should immediately apologize for the grave crime of insulting t

South Korea has deployed new cruise missiles capable of destroying targets such as missile and nuclear bases anywhere in North Korea, the defense ministry said Thursday.The ministry released a video clip of the test-launch of the missiles, saying they could hit "any place" in the North."With such capabilities, our military will sternly and thoroughly punish reckless provocations by North Korea whi

North Korea‘s recent failed rocket launch shows that the communist country has made little progress in its spaceflight program, the head of the U.S. missile defense program said Wednesday. The assessment by Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly raises questions about the immediate threat to the United States from a North Korean long-range missile and the billions that the U.S. spends to counter it. O‘Reilly testified before a Senate panel in defense of the missile defense program and the Obama administra

North Korea urged South Korea Thursday to offer an apology over the alleged defamation of Pyongyang's milestone festival, a day after its military threatened to blow up Seoul.The latest harsh rhetoric comes amid tensions following the North's failed rocket launch last week. The U.N. Security Council has condemned the launch and called on member states to find ways to tighten sanctions on the commu

Beijing appears to have sent warning against future provocationsChina has reportedly stopped repatriating North Korean refugees against their will in an apparent show of discontent over its wayward ally’s unilateral launch of a long-range rocket last week despite its calls for restraint.Citing multiple Chinese sources, the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday that Beijing has stopped sending them back to the repressive state where refugees could face harsh punishment including tortu

Pyongyang rejects U.N. Security Council statement, warns U.S. of retaliationSouth Korea’s Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said Wednesday it was time to consider a fundamental change in the international community’s response to North Korea, which has persistently tried to develop nuclear weapons and launch missiles over the past 20 years.“If you look at the past 20 years, the same scenes are repeating continually. What has not changed in those scenes is that North Korea has been continuing to deve

China has stopped sending fleeing North Koreans back across the border, in retaliation for Pyongyang failing to consult its ally over last week's rocket launch, a Japanese report said Wednesday.The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted two Chinese officials as saying the long-standing policy of swiftly returning any North Korean who made it across the border and into China -- despite the punishment they face --