Nuclear Test

North Korea fires sixth missile in three days

Seoul: North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Monday, making six launches in three days, and it condemned South Korea for criticising what it said were its legitimate military drills. South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea had fired one missile on Monday morning and a second one in the afternoon. Both were fired into the sea off North Korea's east coast, a ministry official said.

The launches come hard on the heels of more than two months of threats from North Korea that it would wage a nuclear war against South Korea and the United States if it were attacked.

The North condemned joint US and South Korean military exercises, that ended in late April, as a rehearsal for an attack on its territory.

"We are conducting intense military exercises to strengthen our defence capacity," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the body that handles inter-Korean issues, as saying on Monday....more    

North Korea may launch medium-range missile test

Seoul: North Korea may test a new missile to mark the birth anniversary celebrations of state founder Kim il Sung on Monday. The isolated and impoverished state celebrates the former leader's birth anniversary on Monday amidst growing tensions in the east, after weeks of war threats from Pyongyang. Speculation has mounted of an impending medium-range missile test launch in North Korea after reports in South Korea and the United States...  

North Korean nuclear missiles: The mercury rising

The Timeline February 12, 2013: North Korea conducts nuke test despite warnings of sanctions. UN sanctions imposed on North Korea. US sends Naval destroyers and B2 stealth bombers and drops test packages over South Korea. North Korea moves Musudan Missiles to east coast; BM25 Musudan, also known under the names Taepodong X, Nodong / Rodong-B and Mirim. This is presumed to be their main weapon, which is an intermediate-range ballistic ...

North Korea nears 'dangerous line': US Defence Secretary

Washington: Asserting that the US is ready with all its contingency plans to defend itself and its allies from any misadventure from North Korea, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has warned that the isolated nation was "skating very close to a dangerous line." "North Korea has been, with its bellicose rhetoric, with its actions, skating very close to a dangerous line," said Hagel with Army Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the...  

China rebukes North Korea, says no state should sow chaos

Beijing/Seoul: China's leaders issued thinly veiled rebukes to North Korea for raising regional tensions, with the president saying no country should throw the world into chaos and the foreign minister warning that Beijing would not allow mischief on its doorstep. The weekend comments were the strongest yet by China in response to more than a month of North Korean rhetoric that has included threats to launch a nuclear attack on...  

South Korea expects North Korea to launch missile test this week

Seoul: South Korea expects the North to launch a missile this week. Seoul says it's on military readiness posture and has hit out at Pyongyang's scare tactics. Meanwhile, the US is trying to calm tensions by delaying its own missile test. ...

North Korea seen readying for fourth nuclear test

Seoul: Activity in North Korea appears to show it is preparing for a fourth nuclear test, with movement at its atomic test site similar to events preceding earlier blasts, a newspaper reported on Monday, quoting a senior South Korean government official. North Korea has intensified warnings in recent weeks, declaring it had entered a state of war with Seoul, threatening to strike US targets and blocking access to a border...  

North Korea cuts military hotline with South Korea

North Korea upping its war rhetoric, has said on Wednesday that it is cutting a key military hotline with South Korea in response to new UN sanctions, which was its only formal channel of communication with the South. This comes a day after North Korea reportedly readied its military units, tasked with targeting the US. ...  

S Korea, US begin drills as N Korea threatens war

South Korea and the United States began annual military drills on Monday despite North Korean threats to respond by voiding the armistice that ended the Korean War and launching a nuclear attack on the US. ...  

UN approves new sanctions against North Korea

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, and a furious Pyongyang threatened a nuclear strike against the United States. ...  

North Korea threatens South with 'final destruction'

North Korea threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a debate at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a nuclear test last week. ...  

North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh N-test

North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks, said a source with direct knowledge of the message. ...  

'N Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test'

North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests in 2013 in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks with Pyongyang, said a source with direct knowledge of the message. Further tests could also be accompanied in 2013 by another rocket launch, said the source who has direct access to the top levels of government...  

IAEA, Iran end nuclear talks in Tehran, outcome awaited

The UN nuclear watchdog and Iran ended a day of talks in Tehran on February 13, Iranian media reported, and Press TV state television said results were expected to be announced soon. ...  

N Korea's nuclear tests represents threat to US: Panetta

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta today said that the combination of a recent missile test combined with nuclear explosions by North Korea represents a real threat to America. "There is no question that North Korea constitutes a threat to the United States, to regional stability and to global security. The combination of a recent missile test combined with what apparently was this nuclear test, we believe, represents a real threat...  

Obama tells N Korea to meet international obligations

US President Barack Obama today warned both North Korea and Iran to meet the international obligations regarding their controversial nuclear programme or else face isolation and action. In his first State of the Union Address of his second term, Obama termed the nuclear explosion of North Korea as "provocative" and vowed to take "firm action" against Pyongyang. ...  

Obama calls North Korea nuclear test a 'provocation'

US President Barack Obama says North Korea will only achieve the security and prosperity it seeks by meeting its international obligations, not by conducting nuclear tests. ...  

North Korea tells UN will never bow to nuclear resolutions

North Korea told the UN disarmament forum on Tuesday that it would never bow to resolutions on its nuclear programme and that prospects for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula were "gloomy" because of a hostile US policy. ...  

UNSC to meet on Feb 12 on North Korea's nuclear test

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on North Korea's apparent nuclear test at 9 am EST (1400 GMT) on February 12, council diplomats said. One Western diplomat said he hoped the council would approve an initial statement condemning the nuclear test on February 12 and begin work on a more comprehensive council reaction. ...  

Clues hint at timing of North Korea nuclear test

North Korea vowed in January to carry out its third nuclear test but has said nothing about timing. As a result, the building suspense in Seoul has prompted many to look at the dates Pyongyang has chosen for past atomic tests, as well as rocket and missile launches. ...