WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― North Korea will not abandon its nuclear weapons as it views them not only as a deterrent against regional interference but as a tool to attract international attention and economic aid, the commander of U.S. forces in Korea said Tuesday.“I do not see that he will give up his nuclear capability,” Gen. Walter Sharp told the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to No

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The U.S. State Department has confirmed an American is being held in North Korea, though declined to identify the individual as it called for the detainee’s release on humanitarian grounds.Swedish officials, who represent the U.S. in the absence of diplomatic ties between Pyongyang and Washington, “have been able to visit” the detained individual, State Department spokesman Mark

South Korea has included a section about North Korea’s young heir apparent in its annually-released guidelines for unification education, noting the need for students to develop critical views about the ongoing three-generation succession in the North, officials said Wednesday. Seoul’s state-run Institute of Political Education for Unification provides teachers with new guidelines in educating ele

Shift in means of transport may signal changes under next North Korean leaderBeijing asked North Korea’s next leader Kim Jong-un to fly to China instead of using the train, which his father has resorted to for various reasons including safety, diplomatic sources in Seoul said, signaling changes in the traditional allies’ future relationship.Kim Jong-un is expected to visit China as early as late A

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Myanmar has not yet developed the technology for nuclear weapons, but has a chance of succeeding with help from North Korea, a scholar said Monday.Speaking to a seminar at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Robert Kelly, a nuclear engineer, said Myanmar has several factories capable of enriching uranium that were built with German technol

South Korea censured North Korea on Monday for terminating an exclusive tourism deal with a South Korean company that has been unable to operate in the communist state for years amid strained inter-Korean relations.North Korea said Friday it has terminated exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan at Mount Geumgang, a resort on its east coast, voicing skepticism over the resumption of the joint ve

U.S. Pacific commander says no signs of N.K. preparing for missile tests in the near futureNorth Korea established a sophisticated missile launch site on its west coast near its border with China late last year, in apparent preparation to test-fire a ballistic missile that could threaten U.S. territory, reports said Friday.The site in Dongchang-ri in North Pyeongan Province is five times larger th

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will be accompanied by as many as three former heads of state on his visit to North Korea slated for April 26-28, a diplomatic source here said Sunday.Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari will join Carter’s delegation to North Korea, said the source, noting that the group has already been known to include former Irish President Mary Robinson and former Norwe

North Korea has ordered its citizens in Libya not to return home, a move apparently aimed at preventing the news of anti-government movements in the northern African state from spreading among its isolated people, a source here said Sunday. The communist North has ordered its embassy in Libya to “obey the measures taken by the Libyan government” instead of sending people back home, the source said

  A chief North Korean military general said Friday that his troops will not remain a "passive onlooker" if South Korea and the United States continue their joint military exercise, according to Pyongyang's official news agency.   The threat from Ri Yong-ho, vice marshal of the Korean People's Army, came at a ceremony to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the election of North Korean leader Kim Jon