Hans Blix, former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the U.S. and South Korea’s precondition for North Korea to halt uranium enrichment could make it more difficult to start six-party negotiations.Blix visited Korea as a member of an eminent persons’ group, or EPG, to provide advice to President Lee Myung-bak for when South Korea hosts the Nuclear Security Summit in March, next year. The group members held their first meeting in Seoul on Tuesday“The status of North

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il faces challenges in handing over power to his youngest son, Seoul’s top official in charge of relations with Pyongyang said.Kim named Jong-un vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party and a four-star general last year in the clearest sign yet of his intentions to make his son the country’s next leader.The 69-year-old leader is believed to have accelerated the succession plan since he suffered a stroke in 2008.The plan, if realiz

The United Nations’ envoy on North Korean human rights Friday promised to work toward the return of a Korean family believed to be held in the communist country, saying the case highlights the urgency of resolving abductions by the North.Thousands of South Koreans, including lawmakers and human rights activists, have mounted calls at home and abroad for the return of Shin Sook-ja and her two daughters, who were reportedly being held at a prison camp in North Korea, at least until recently.Shin’s