Seoul: North Korea sent one of its top military officials to Beijing on Wednesday as a "special envoy" of its leader Kim Jong-un, state news agency KCNA reported. There were few details of Choe Ryong-hae's visit, which came amid strained relations between China and North Korea after Beijing backed UN sanctions on Pyongyang for its February nuclear test.
Choe is the most senior North Korean official to visit Beijing since Kim's uncle Jang Song-thaek made the trip in August 2012.
Jang had been seeking a visit to China for Kim Jong-un and to bolster Chinese investment in the impoverished and isolated North. Choe is part of a powerful circle around the North's young leader that is headed by Jang. He is a long-time political administrator and was surprisingly made a vice marshal in the army last year despite having no military background.
China, the North's only major diplomatic ally, publicly condemned the nuclear test and Bank of China recently said it had ceased dealings with the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank, an institution that has been identified as a conduit for Pyongyang's weapons programme....
more
08:59 AM, May 22, 2013
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...
09:10 AM, Apr 08, 2013
The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the US. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea. ...
10:35 AM, Apr 01, 2013
A Tamil Nadu assembly resolution calls for the government to stop regarding Sri Lanka as a friendly state, impose economic sanctions and ask the UN to pass a resolution demanding a referendum on eelam. Is this a sign of Tamil nationalism spiraling out of control and threatening India's interests? ...
09:54 PM, Mar 28, 2013
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. ...
11:30 AM, Mar 28, 2013
North Korea repeated threats to target US military bases on Tuesday as Washington and its allies tightened economic sanctions against the isolated country by targeting Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank with new measures. ...
11:10 PM, Mar 26, 2013
Government's plans to set up a fund to back local insurers providing cover for refiners processing Iranian oil after companies warned they would be forced to halt imports from the sanctions-hit nation, the federal oil secretary said on Sunday. ...
05:47 PM, Mar 24, 2013
The US has warned Pakistan that if it goes ahead with the construction of a USD 7.5 billion gas pipeline with Iran, sanctions would be triggered, even as a section of the project was inaugurated on Monday. "We have serious concerns, if this project actually goes forward, that the Iran Sanctions Act would be triggered. We've been straight up with the Pakistanis about these concerns. As I said at some...
12:30 AM, Mar 12, 2013
Moving quickly after the UN Security Council passed an unanimous resolution against North Korea, the United States has slapped additional sanctions against the regime in Pyongyang, including three individuals involved in its proliferation programme. ...
12:04 PM, Mar 08, 2013
North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric just before the UN Security Council approved new sanctions against the reclusive country. US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said North Korea's threats would achieve nothing and would only further isolate the country. ...
11:30 PM, Mar 07, 2013
North Korea on Thursday vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, amplifying its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by UN diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test. ...
05:23 PM, Mar 07, 2013
The UN Security Council, ignoring threats from North Korea, is set to impose a fourth round of even tougher sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council will vote on the draft sanctions resolution on Thursday morning. The resolution was drafted by and the United States and China, North Korea's...
01:40 PM, Mar 07, 2013
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. ...
02:57 AM, Feb 16, 2013
North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened UN sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month. ...
01:39 AM, Jan 26, 2013
Washington: The United States will likely give on Friday another six-month reprieve from financial sanctions to India, South Korea, Turkey and others because they have reduced their purchases of crude oil from Iran, two US government sources said on Thursday. The United States has worked this year with all of Iran's major oil buyers in an effort to rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions by cutting revenue from oil sales. All...
02:46 AM, Dec 07, 2012
Dubai: Iran said on Tuesday it would stop oil exports if pressure from Western sanctions got any tighter and that it had a "Plan B" contingency strategy to survive without oil revenues. Western nations led by the United States have imposed tough sanctions on the Islamic Republic this year in an attempt to curb its nuclear programme that they say is designed to produce atomic weapons. Tehran says its nuclear...
01:04 AM, Oct 24, 2012
Washington: The United States has slapped sanctions on three Pakistan-based "terrorist facilitators" for helping the Taliban and other militant groups in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, including one man linked to a failed car bomb attack in New York in 2010. Announcing the sanctions, the US Department of the Treasury identified the three men as Maulawi Adam Khan Achekzai, Aamir Ali Chaudhry, and Qari Ayyub Bashir. Sanctions have been imposed on...
05:14 PM, Oct 18, 2012
Tampa (Florida): The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba's top eight commanders, including Mumbai terrorist attack mastermind Sajid Mir and its founder Hafiz Saeed's son. Announcing the sanctions, the US said LeT, despite being designated as a foreign terrorist organisation in January 2002, continues to "operate in Pakistan" and throughout the region and engage in terrorist activities worldwide. "LeT has conducted numerous terrorist acts against...
09:11 AM, Aug 31, 2012
Washington: A new package of severe sanctions on Iran's energy, shipping and financial sectors gained strong congressional support on Tuesday as US lawmakers sought to ratchet up the economic pressure in hopes of halting Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program. House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on late Monday on legislation that builds on the current penalties directed at financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank. The new bill...
08:22 AM, Aug 01, 2012
New York: Fears of violence in the Persian Gulf escalated, pushing the price of oil higher. The Obama administration slapped Iran with more sanctions aimed at stifling its nuclear program. Traders, who worry that the sanctions will eventually lead to a military conflict in the Gulf, responded by buying oil. "This just puts the risk back out there," said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst with Price Futures Group. Oil prices,...
07:36 AM, Jul 13, 2012
