North Korea, Nuclear Weapon | featured news

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.

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.

A U.S. envoy will hold talks with North Korea on its nuclear program in Beijing next week, the first such negotiations since the death of the nation's longtime leader, Kim Jong Il.

Mr. Kim had been grooming his third son, Kim Jong-un, believed to be in his late 20s, to be his successor, as his country struggled to fight widespread food shortages and international sanctions imposed for its nuclear weapons development.

North Korea said Monday it has agreed to hold more talks with the United States as Pyongyang renewed its commitment to resuming the long-stalled talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs.