North Korea has been digging special tunnels at a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in North Hamgyong Province, sparking concerns that it may be preparing for another nuclear test, government and military sources said Sunday.North Korea conducted its two previous plutonium-fueled nuclear tests, one each in 2006 and 2009, at the site. “South Korea and U.S. intelligence authorities have spotted the No

   WASHINGTON -- The United States Thursday warned of further provocations from North Korea within months as part of the ongoing effort by leader Kim Jong-il to cede power to his youngest son.   Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, however, told a forum here that he saw "no signs that I'm aware of that they're preparing for near-term missile tests."   Reports said that North

Information is so tightly controlled in North Korea that the reclusive communist state will not likely be affected immediately by the evolving social network service that has played a pivotal role in Egypt's popular revolution, an expert said Tuesday.   But Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, did not preclude the possibility of South Korean pop culture penetrating deep into

 A North Korean man crossed the inter-Korean border and defected to South Korea, a military official said Wednesday.    The man in his early 20s passed through the heavily armed border and was spotted by South Korean soldiers patrolling a frontline guard post at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Cheorwon County, some 120 kilometers northeast of Seoul, the official said.    A team of military and intelli

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― A senior U.S. senator Monday called on the Obama administration to secure transparency in the distribution of food aid to North Korea before any resumption of the aid, which was suspended years ago over the same issue, is made.“Any resumption of U.S. food aid to North Korea should be contingent on North Korea allowing access and accountability by monitors in accordance w

A senior Chinese official has supported North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s plans to cede power to his youngest son, the North’s official news agency reported Tuesday.Meng Jianzhu, Chinese state councilor and public security minister, “warmly congratulated Kim Jong-il upon his reelection as general secretary of the WPK and Kim Jong-un upon his election as vice chairman of the Central Military Commis

A 43-year-old North Korean defector who has taken asylum here since 1997 believes that his and other defectors’ remittances to their relatives in the communist state help enlighten them about the free, democratic and capitalist South.“When we make remittances to our loved ones in the North, we talk to them over the phone to ensure the money was properly sent. Through such talks, a wave of news abo

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The White House said Friday that North Korea will face further isolation if it refuses to engage in dialogue with South Korea in a serious manner.The North demonstrated a lack of seriousness once again by walking out of its rare military talks with the South last week, White House spokeswoman Robert Gibbs said at a press briefing.“I think it was clear, again, when talks

   North Korea's foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread across many parts of the country after the first case was confirmed in the capital city on Dec. 25, a U.S. broadcaster said Sunday.   Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting a report by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, said the communist country confirmed that since the first case hit a small cattle farm in Pyongyang, the highly

  Nearly half of North Korean defectors here have remitted money to their families in the impoverished communist nation under U.N. sanctions, a poll showed Sunday.   According to the survey of 396 North Korean defectors residing in South Korea, aged 15 or older, 49.5 percent said they have sent money to their families in the North, while 46 percent said they have not and 4.5 percent said that they