BBC News - N Korea and Iran 'sharing ballistic missile technology'

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North Korea and Iran appear to have been exchanging ballistic missile technology in violation of sanctions, a leaked UN report shows.

The report, obtained by Reuters, said regular transfers had been taking place through "a neighbouring third country", named by diplomats as China.
The sanctions were imposed on Pyongyang by the UN after it conducted a series of nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
They ban all trade in nuclear and missile technology with North Korea.
They also imposed an arms embargo and subjected some North Korean individuals to travel bans and assets freezes.
North Korea has twice tested nuclear devices and said in September last year that it had entered the final phase of uranium enrichment.
The country is believed to have enough plutonium to make about six bombs, but is not thought to have developed a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
'New challenges'
The report was written by a UN panel of experts monitoring Pyongyang's compliance with the sanctions.

It said that "prohibited ballistic missile-related items are suspected to have been transferred between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] and the Islamic Republic of Iran", using regular scheduled flights on national carriers Air Koryo and Iran Air.

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N. Korea details nuclear program amid tension - World news - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com

Image by Getty Images via @daylifehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40427485/ns/world_news-asiapacific

SEOUL — Secretive North Korea detailed for the first time its expanded nuclear program on Tuesday, saying it had thousands of working centrifuges, as pressure built on China to rein in its ally amid tensions on the peninsula.

Pyongyang's revelations about its uranium enrichment, which gives it a second route to make a nuclear bomb, came a week after it fired an artillery barrage at a South Korean island, killing four people including two civilians.
Although North Korean rhetoric remained high — the country warned the U.S.-South Korea military drills could trigger "full-blown war" — a senior North Korean official left Pyongyang for talks with leaders in China.

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Experts have voiced surprise at the sophistication of a uranium enrichment plant and light-water reactor at the North's main nuclear complex, which were shown to a U.S. scientist earlier this month.

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China proposes emergency talks on Korea crisis - World news - Asia-Pacific - North Korea - msnbc.com

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeGet ready folks this could very well become a major problem.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40401513/ns/world_news-asiapacific

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — China called for emergency talks on resolving a crisis on the Korean peninsula on Sunday, and Seoul and Tokyo said they would study the proposal, as the U.S. and South Korean militaries started a massive drill.

Beijing's move to bring the two Koreas to the negotiating table comes after global pressure on China to take a more responsible role in the standoff and try to rein in ally Pyongyang.
China made clear that the talks would not amount to a resumption of six-party disarmament discussions which North Korea walked out of two years ago and declared dead. South Korea said it would carefully consider China's suggestion.

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Both Beijing and Pyongyang have been pressing regional powers to return to talks, in some form or other, for the past few months, in a move analysts say is designed to extract concessions.
China, which agreed with South Korea that the situation was "worrisome," suggested the emergency talks for December among North and South Korea, host China, the United States, Japan and Russia. It did not say whether Pyongyang had agreed to join.
Japan was non-committal. "We want to respond cautiously while cooperating closely with South Korea and the United States," Kyodo news agency quoted Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama as saying.
Beijing has longstanding bonds with Pyongyang, and has sought to shield its small, poor neighbor from a backlash that China fears could draw an even more ferocious reaction from North Korea and dangerously destabilize the region.

Critics in Washington and other capitals say China's approach amounts to coddling a dangerous nuclear-armed state.

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North Korea bombs S. Korea

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INCHEON, South Korea — South Korea warned North Korea on Tuesday of "enormous retaliation" if it took more aggressive steps after Pyongyang fired scores of artillery shells at a South Korean island in one of the most serious attacks on its neighbor since the Korean War ended in 1953.

The South fired back after Tuesday's attack and sent fighter jets to the area, close to a disputed maritime border on the west of the divided Korean peninsula and the scene of deadly clashes between the two rivals in the past.
South Korea was conducting military drills in the area at the time but said it had not been firing at the North. Pyongyang blamed Seoul for starting the fight, which killed at least two South Korean marines and wounded at least 15 other troops along with three civilians and razed scores of houses on the island of Yeonpyeong.

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Calling the incident "an invasion of South Korean territory," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak warned that future provocations could be met with a strong response, although there was no indication of immediate retaliation.

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N. Korea vows 'nuclear strikes' in latest threat

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's military warned South Korea and the United States on Friday of "unprecedented nuclear strikes" over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country. The North routinely issues such warnings and officials in Seoul and Washington react calmly. Diplomats in South Korea and the U.S. instead have repeatedly called on Pyongyang to return to international negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear programs. "Those who seek to bring down the system in the (North), whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army," North Korea's military said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. The North, believed have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs, conducted its second atomic test last year, drawing tighter U.N. sanctions.

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N Korea 'executes' top official

clipped from english.aljazeera.net A former top North Korean official has reportedly been executed over his handling of last year's botched attempt at currency reform that triggered widespread unrest. Pak Nam-gi, the former chief of the ruling Workers' Party finance and planning department, was executed by firing squad last week South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. The execution took place at a military range outside of the capital, Pyongyang, the agency said citing unidentified sources. Pak spearheaded last November's currency revaluation as part of the North's efforts to resolve worsening inflation. The move was also seen by many observers as an attempt by the country's leaders to reassert control over an emergent market economy. But the scheme, which involved redenominating the North Korean won, reportedly lead to widespread panic and unrest as many North Koreans saw their savings wiped out.

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N. Korea Says It Is Ready to 'Blow Up' U.S.

clipped from www.foxnews.com SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea's army said Monday it is ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a rehearsal for attack. South Korea and the U.S. — which normally dismiss such threats as rhetoric — began 11 days of drills across South Korea on Monday morning to rehearse how the U.S. would deploy in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. and South Korea argue the drills — which include live firing by U.S. Marines, aerial attack drills and urban warfare training — are purely defensive. North Korea claims they amount to attack preparations and has demanded they be canceled. The communist country has issued similar rhetoric in the days leading up the drills. On Sunday, it said it would bolster its nuclear capability and break off dialogue with the U.S. in response to the drills. The North has demanded a lifting of the sanctions and peace talks with the U.S

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N. Korea's Kim Jong Il sends nuclear envoy to China

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clipped from www.usatoday.com SEOUL (AP) — North Korea's Kim Jong Il reportedly dispatched his top nuclear envoy to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss restarting nuclear disarmament talks, a day after pledging Pyongyang's commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Kim made the disarmament pledge during a meeting Monday with a high-level envoy from Beijing at the start of a week of diplomacy designed to get the six-nation nuclear talks back on track. A high-level U.N. envoy also flew to Pyongyang on Tuesday for a four-day trip. North Korea has made clear it wants U.N. sanctions lifted and a peace treaty with Washington formally ending the 1950-1953 Korean War before it returns to the disarmament talks. Pyongyang cites the U.S. military presence in South Korea as its main reason for building up its nuclear weapons program. Washington says Pyongyang must come back to the talks first before any discussion about political and economic concessions.

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