North Korea | featured news

North Korea said its much hyped long-range rocket launch failed on Friday, in a very rare and embarrassing public admission of failure by the hermit state and a blow for its new young leader who faces international outrage over the attempt.

North Korea did not launch its long-range rocket Thursday, but the country reiterated a message that it shouldn’t be punished when it goes ahead with the blast sometime within its stated five-day window.

A joke circulating among officials in Beijing pretty much underlines the bind China is in over North Korea's plans to send a satellite into space. North Korea's young ruler Kim Jong-un phones a Chinese leader to tell him about timing of the planned rocket launch. "When will it be?" asks the Chinese leader. Kim replies: "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four..."

North Korea could carry out a controversial rocket launch this week, straining further the ties between the nuclear-armed state and other countries in the region.

South Korean news outlets quoted anonymous government sources as saying that satellite images of a growing pile of earth at a nuclear site might signal plans for a test.

The United States announces that it is suspending food aid to North Korea in light of Pyongyang's plans for a missile launch next month.

President Barack Obama on Monday emphasized his vision for a nuclear-free world and warned that North Korea and Iran should shun nuclear weapons or face tough action from the international community.

President Obama will join the leaders of more than 50 countries in Seoul, South Korea, next week for a nuclear security summit.

North Korea plans to launch an “earth observation satellite” in April to mark the 100th anniversary of state founder Kim Il Sung’s birth, a month after agreeing to a moratorium on missile and nuclear testing.

The United States said Wednesday North Korea has agreed to suspend nuclear activities and accept a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, in a breakthrough in negotiations with the secretive communist nation.