PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) _ North Korea vowed Sunday to go ahead with plans to launch a long-range rocket, rejecting criticism in the West that it would scuttle recent diplomacy. North Korea said Friday that it would fire an observation satellite into space on a new rocket as part of celebrations next month of the 100th anniversary of late President Kim Il Sung's birth. The announcement came ...

North Korea said Saturday it would invite foreign experts and journalists to observe a satellite launch which has sparked widespread condemnation and US threats that it could jeopardise food aid. The Korean Committee for Space Technology "will invite experienced foreign experts on space science and technology and journalists" to observe the blast-off next month, the official news agency said. T...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A long-range rocket launch planned by North Korea probably would wreck its recent food-for-nuclear concessions agreement with the United States and, with it, hopes for improving relations under the North's new leader, Kim Jong Un. The North announced Friday its planned launch of a satellite into space, marking a sharp and sudden turn just 17 days after the two countries offered...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department said Friday it will be "very hard to imagine" giving planned food aid to North Korea if the communist regime goes ahead with its plan to launch a satellite, a move seen as a disguise for a missile test. "Were we to have a launch, it would create, obviously, tensions," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing. "And that would make the...

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) _ North Korea plans to blast a satellite into space next month to mark the centenary of the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung, which the U.S. quickly called a ``deal-breaker'' for a new agreement where the U.S. would exchange food aid for nuclear concessions. After Friday's surprise announcement, the United States warned it would not send food aid to North Korea if it...

North Korea said Friday that it would launch a satellite in mid-April to mark the centennial birthday of its late founder Kim Il-sung, a move that experts say is a cover for another long-range missile test. The announcement came despite an agreement on Feb. 29 with the U.S. to temporarily halt its uranium enrichment at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon and put a moratorium on nuclear and miss...

North Korea said Friday that it would launch a satellite in mid-April to mark the centennial birthday of its late founder Kim Il-sung, a move that experts say is a cover for another long-range missile test. The announcement came despite an agreement on Feb. 29 with the U.S. to temporarily halt its uranium enrichment at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon and put a moratorium on nuclear and miss...

Despite rising cross-border tension, the trade between South and North Korea surged 36 percent from a year ago to $320 million in the first two months of this year, government data showed Friday. The data provided by the Korea Customs Service indicated that the trade via the inter-Korean industrial complex has not been affected by tensions on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea slapped sanctions ...

North Korea said Friday it will launch an earth observation satellite next month to mark the centennial of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un. The announcement came weeks after North Korea agreed to freeze its uranium-enrichment facilities and temporarily halt its nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 tons of ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered his troops to maintain maximum vigilance as the North‘s fighters and warships hit targets in live-fire military maneuvers, Pyongyang’s state media reported Thursday. His inspection of the drills by the country‘s army, navy and air force came as the communist country repeatedly threatened to launch a “sacred” war against South Korea over Seoul’s defamation ...

About 130 senior North Korean officials visited the border village of Panmunjom last week as the communist country ratcheted up militaristic rhetoric against South Korea, a South Korean military official said Wednesday. The trips came days after their new leader Kim Jong-un placed his troops in Panmunjeom on alert during his surprise inspection trip to the village straddling the heavily armed in...

China has never repatriated any politically-motivated North Korean defectors, and has helped them migrate to other countries, including South Korea and the U.S., a Korean politics professor said quoting a Chinese government official. His comment comes as international pressure is growing on China to not repatriate North Korean defectors who might face severe punishment under the Kim Jong-un regi...