Topic: Pyongyang

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North Korea abandons armistice: 4 key questions answered

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are ratcheting up. The US has started its annual war games with South Korean forces, and North Korea has used that fact to declare that it is invalidating the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953. What really has North Korea upset, though, is the tough, new sanctions passed by the United Nations in response to the North's nuclear test last month.Here are the top four questions analysts are wrestling with on the heels of these developments.
Not just sexy Kim Jong-un: 5 times the Onion has fooled foreign media

When the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, took as straight news The Onion's declaration that stout North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was 2012's "Sexiest Man Alive," it became the biggest foreign media outlet to be fooled by the satirical American newspaper. But it is not the first. Here are several other foreign news sites that took Onion fiction as newsworthy fact.
Who are China's next leaders?

On Nov. 15, the new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party – the group that rules China presented itself to the world. Here are the bios of the seven men who take the reins of China.
Five tough truths about US-China relations

The more American and Chinese officials proclaim their innocent intentions toward each other, the deeper the level of mistrust they generate. Official candor on five key truths about US-China relations will likely contribute to a more mature bilateral relationship and could help halt a potential slide to conflict.
Blast-off: 6 recent missile advances

Missiles have been prominent in the news with India’s successful test, North Korea’s failed one, and much talk of missile defense systems in Europe and the Persian Gulf. Here are six recent noteworthy missile-technology advances.

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Hillary Clinton in China: a juggling act over North Korea, Iran

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a dual task – keep China on board for tougher sanctions against Iran and coax it into going along with an international condemnation of North Korea over the Cheonan warship incident.
How will North Korea respond to South Korea's threats?

A third nuclear test and naval confrontations in the Yellow Sea are likely, say analysts, in response to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's announcement Monday of retaliatory measures against North Korea for torpedoing the navy ship Cheonan.
Cheonan warship sinking: Will South Korea blame Kim Jong-il directly?

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak may specifically blame North Korea's President Kim Jong-il for the Cheonan warship sinking on March 26. On Monday, President Lee plans to give a speech outlining his nation's response to the North Korea torpedo attack.
UN will investigate North Korea sinking of South Korean ship

North Korea faces new pressures in the torpedo attack on a South Korean ship that killed 46 sailors. Secretary of State Clinton is in China, where she will discuss reinforced sanctions on North Korea.
The Monitor's View: A needed UN response to ship sinking by North Korea

The United Nations' response to the ship sinking by North Korea needs to be forceful enough to also remind South Koreans that the world wants them to remain vigilant, not indifferent.
North Korea rebuffs South Korea's evidence on Cheonan attack

South Korean defense officials presented evidence Thursday that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship, in March, killing 46 sailors.
South Korea freezes North Korea money ahead of Cheonan warship sinking report

South Korea on Monday froze funds for government exchanges with the North, a possible sign that Seoul is preparing for the results from an investigation into the March 26 Cheonan warship sinking that killed 46.
North Korea claims successful nuclear fusion test

Turning nuclear fusion into a viable energy source has long eluded the world, but North Korea on Wednesday claimed success. Analysts are dubious and say the claim likely meant for leverage in six-party talks.
North Korea's Kim Jong-il visits China with hat in hand, and a threat

North Korea’s need for aid may have prompted Kim Jong-il's visit to China. But the isolated nation has leverage over its powerful ally: instability next door if China says no.
NPT 101: Will the US accept a nuclear-capable Iran?

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad restated his opposition to nuclear weapons at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference this week. But analysts say that an Iran capable of building a nuclear bomb is something that the US may have to get used to.
Kim Jong-il is in China? We have no information on that.

The Monitor's Beijing bureau chief hit a wall of official secrecy regarding the China visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It was only the beginning of a tough day of reporting.
South Korea's leader calls Cheonan warship sinking 'no accident'

President Lee Myung-bak today called for a review of South Korea's defenses against the North, while using his strongest language yet to imply that the North sank the South's Cheonan warship on March 26.
Did North Korea's Kim Jong-il take a secret train to China?

North Korea’s secretive leader Kim Jong-il may be visiting China, as reports emerged of a ‘special’ train – his preferred means of travel – at the border. Kim may seek his powerful ally’s help on dwindling food aid.
South Koreans, mourning Cheonan sinking, eye North with suspicion

South Koreans ended five days of mourning with a funeral for the 46 sailors killed in the still-unexplained Cheonan sinking last month. Many Koreans are struggling with how to respond if North Korea is found to have played a role in the attack on the naval vessel.
North Korea seizes South-owned resort as warship tensions grow

North Korea has seized five hotels owned by South Korea in a jointly operated resort. The move comes as the South weighs its response to the Cheonan warship sinking.
Sinking South Korea's ship wouldn't be North Korea's first provocative act

Since South Korea's ship the Cheonan went down, Seoul has been careful not to jump to conclusions about North Korean involvement. But the list of provocative acts by the north is long.
South Korea raises sunken warship amid questions about retaliation

The South Korea raised the sunken warship Cheonan Thursday. Across South Korea, the view is growing that North Korea is responsible for a blast that killed 46 sailors.
Senegal's big bronze statue: Monument to liberty or authoritarian rule?

A 170-foot-tall bronze statue in Dakar, Senegal, was meant to represent freedom and promise, much like the Statue of Liberty. But many say the $20 million African Renaissance Monument instead symbolizes a president's authoritarian rule.
American gets 8 years labor, could become North Korea pawn in nuclear talks

North Korea on Tuesday fined and sentenced American missionary Aijalon Gomes to 8 years of hard labor for illegally entering the country. He could become a bargaining chip in six-party nuclear talks.
South Korean ship sinking: Was North Korea involved?

The cause of the South Korean ship sinking is unclear. But North Korea has taunted the South in the past, and the two navies exchanged gunfire last year.
Who is the American slated to face trial in North Korea?

Details are emerging about Aijalon Mahli Gomes, the American who will face trial in North Korea after having crossed into the country 'illegally.' From Boston, he had been teaching English in South Korea.
North Korea spurns UN push to stop executions and torture

The North Korea ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva denounced its recommendations just as reports emerged that the North had executed the official responsible for a ruinous currency revaluation.
Opinion: Why China drags its feet on UN sanctions against Iran

China will work to water down any Security Council resolution though a delay-and-weaken strategy that maximizes concessions from both Iran and the West.
Difference Maker Former prisoner of North Korea builds university for his former captors

Decades after being imprisoned by North Korea on espionage charges, Dr. Kim Chin-Kyung is opening the first privately funded university in the north as a way to increase dialogue with the closed-off country.
Kim Jong-il birthday is all about North Korea's succession

On Kim Jong-il's birthday, the North Korean leader's attention appeared focused on grooming his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, for succession. The senior Kim did not attend his birthday bash.