A U.S. radar ship capable of tracking North Korean missiles has arrived in Japan, an official said Friday, as the communist nation is forging ahead with preparations for a banned long-range rocket launch.The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen "made a scheduled port visit" to the port of Sasebo near the Korean Peninsula "as part of the ship's routine presence and operations in the region," Cmdr. Bill Clinton, the spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, told Yonhap News Agency.The arrival coincides with heightened

The first phone call between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping since the North's nuclear test appears to show that Beijing is still unprepared to act differently in its handling of Pyongyang, a U.S. expert said.In the 45-minute call initiated by Xi, Park asked for Chinese cooperation in efforts to put together U.N. sanctions strong and effective enough to make North Korea change its course, saying North Korea's provocations pose threats to peace in Northeast A

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Friday and agreed on the importance of a "strong and united international response" to North Korea's provocations, the White House said.It was the first that the two leaders have spoken since the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test. The conversation also came amid mounting calls for China to use more of its leverage with Pyongyang to rein in its recalcitrant neighbor."Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the complete and

Recent satellite imagery shows the arrival of tanker trucks at the launch pad of North Korea's rocket site in an indication that the communist nation is forging ahead with a planned rocket launch, a North Korea-monitoring website said Friday.The imagery taken of the North's Sohae or Dongchang-ri site on Wednesday and Thursday showed the tanker trucks at the old fuel and oxidizer bunkers, 38 North said in a report, adding that the trucks' presence more likely indicates the filling of tanks within

Chinese President Xi Jinping's rare phone call to his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, underscores growing concerns over North Korea's defiant pursuit of missile and nuclear programs.It marked the first time that a Chinese leader has held a telephone conversation with a South Korean president over a North Korean nuclear test. No consultations were held between the leaders of the two neighbors when North Korea carried out three previous nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.Park is the fir

The United States declined comment Friday on a phone conversation between President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping in which the Chinese leader repeated calls for dialogue to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula without mentioning sanctions on North Korea."We are not going to comment on conversations that took place between China and ROK," Katina Adams, a spokesperson at the U.S.State Department, said in response to a request for comment from Yonhap News Agency.It was the firs

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that there should be neither nuclear weapons nor war on the Korean Peninsula as he spoke by phone with President Park Geun-hye for the first time since the North's nuclear test last month.Xi also said that all relevant parties should deal with the situation in a "cool-headed" manner from the perspective of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula while sticking to the principle of dialogue and negotiations, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry."Un

South Korea raised the travel advisory level for Istanbul on Wednesday, a day after a deadly terrorist attack killed 10 people and injured 15 others, including a South Korean college student.A Syrian suicide bomber targeted a popular tourist destination in the Turkish city on Tuesday, with the Islamic State jihadists blamed for the attack.South Korea had previously placed the former Turkish capital on the lowest travel advisory level of "blue" out of the four existing ones.The level has now been

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pledged Wednesday to cooperate on the U.N.'s move to deal with North Korea's latest nuclear test, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Lavrov delivered the message in a telephone conversation with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se.He was quoted as saying that Moscow agrees to the seriousness of the North's nuclear weapons development.He added Russia will actively participate in consultations at the U.N. Security Council to punish Pyongyang under the princi

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that the alliance between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo should be strengthened in the face of North Korea's latest nuclear test."North Korea's nuclear test will never be allowed as it is a grave threat to Japan and South Korea in terms of national security," Abe said during a meeting with South Korean lawmakers in Tokyo.Pyongyang asserted on Jan. 6 that it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, a claim disputed by outside experts but that still r