Topic: North Korea

North Korea Can't Stop Firing Missiles

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un applauds with children uring a visit to the Pyongyang Myohyangsan Children's Camp, situated at the foot of Mt. Myohyang in North Phyongan Province, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
REUTERS/KCNA

North Korea launched two more "projectiles" into the Sea of Japan on Monday and this is not a broken record.

By Connor Simpson

May 19, 2013

North Korea Tests Missiles for Second Day in a Row

North Korea fired a short range missile into the sea off its east coast on Sunday. It's the second day in a row the rogue nation fired short range missiles for no apparent reason. Seems a little wasteful, doesn't it? 

Comments | 1,439 Views

By Connor Simpson

May 18, 2013

Why Is North Korea Testing Missiles Now?

North Korea noticed the world stopped paying attention to them, and so, the country fired three short range missiles off the coast to out all eyes on them. Are we about to fall back into the endless stream of provocations and threats that seemed to die down?

Comments | 2,673 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 15, 2013

North Korea's 'Special Prison' for Its U.S. Prisoner Is Everything You Imagine

North Korea's state-run news agency announced on Wednesday that its mysterious American captive, Kenneth Bae, has begun his 15-year sentence at a "special prison," which has Korea watchers scratching their heads. And if Pyongyang is trying to parlay Bae's imprisonment into political gain after all, it's a pretty spectacular move.  

Comments | 3,494 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

May 9, 2013

New Details About North Korea's American Prisoner Are Appropriately Crazy

United States citizen and "devout Christian" Kenneth Bae is set to spend the next 15 years in a North Korea prison camp for possessing a National Geographic documentary, among other things.

Comments | 3,453 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 9, 2013

Did a Female North Korean Traffic Cop Save Kim Jong-un from Assassination?

This week, an emotional young traffic officer named Ri-Kyong Sim was honored at a military ceremony with the North Korean equivalent of the Medal of Valor — for what, nobody on the outside is exactly sure, but the best guess is that she may have inadvertently saved Kim Jong-un's life.

Comments | 20,645 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 8, 2013

Obama 'Handshake' Proves South Korea Is Worse at Photoshop Than the North

On Tuesday, President Obama met with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea at the White House, which the Yonhap News agency and every pretty much every news outlet on Earth reported. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Yonhap — South Korea's worldwide leader in news — had any photos. So, you know, why not fake a handshake between two world leaders?

Comments | 140,192 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 7, 2013

North Korea's U.S. Prisoner Was a Secret Missionary & That Won't Help an Escape

In meetings with the South Korean president Tuesday, President Obama surely asked about Kenneth Bae, the 44-year-old American sentenced to 15 years in a North Korean gulag. Here's a question worth asking: Now that it appears Bae was using his China-based tour agency as an undercover pipeline to sneak Christian followers into atheist North Korea, is it going to be even harder to get him out? Because Dennis Rodman's basketball diplomacy really isn't helping.

Comments | 2,830 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

May 6, 2013

Big Bad North Korea Is Retreating

Just over a month after moving its ballistic missiles to a launch site in the direction of the United States, the North Korean is pulling back and removing two Musudan missiles from launch ready status.

Comments | 2,012 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 6, 2013

Why North Korea Has the Upper Hand in the American Prisoner Negotiations

North Korean state-run media now insists the country has no plans to use Kenneth Bae, the American citizen sentenced to 15 years in a labor camp, "as a political bargaining chip" — and that the foreign ministry "has no plan to invite anyone of the U.S.," even though that kind of a deal might be in Pyongyang's best interests. Here's why the DPRK might actually be worth believing this time around.

Comments | 2,614 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

May 2, 2013

American Citizen Sentenced to 15 Years in a North Korean Labor Camp

Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American who lives in Washington state, was condemned to 15 years of hard labor by a North Korean court this week, prompting rumors of a possible diplomatic rescue mission to Pyongyang.

Comments | 6,459 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 30, 2013

Lindsey Graham Is a Terrible Expert on Everything

Of the Senator's latest expert suggestions — that the Boston bombings and Benghazi showed a national security weakness — President Obama said, "No, Mr. Graham is not right on this issue, although I'm sure it generated some headlines." Wrong. What it generated was cable news hits for Graham. And the No. 1 thing Lindsey Graham is an expert on... is getting on TV.

Comments | 3,548 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 30, 2013

Americans Don't Want War with North Korea or Syria

A new CBS News/New York Timespoll suggests that most Americans aren't concerned about conflict with North Korea or Syria. However, the results also suggest that the reason Americans don't care about the conflict is because they aren't paying attention.

Comments | 1,181 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

How the Trial of the American Citizen in North Korea May End

An American citizen will be put on trial for crimes against the state in North Korea in what surely isn't a facade in the ongoing bargaining between North Korea and the U.S. and what will surely be a fair and balanced trial based on real facts. 

Comments | 15,091 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Apr 15, 2013

Is It So Bad That the BBC Followed Students into North Korea?

An undercover BBC journalist surreptitiously entered North Korea with group of students attending the London School of Economics. Was he right to do so?

Comments | 1,147 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 15, 2013

Kim Jong-un Comes Out of Hiding for Missile-Free Holiday

After disappearing from the public eye for two weeks, America's favorite "artificial" head of state re-emerged at midnight Monday to celebrate the most important holiday in North Korea — albeit a scaled down version without any fireworks, figurative or otherwise.

Comments | 5,532 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 14, 2013

Dennis Rodman Will Return to North Korea on August 1

Dennis Rodman, the pierced and pugnacious former Chicago Bulls star, says he's excited to hang out with his new best friend Kim Jong-Un when he heads back to Pyongyang this summer.

Comments | 14,115 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 14, 2013

Nobody's Seen Kim Jong Un Publicly for Two Weeks

North Korea's been owning headlines for the better part of a month now with its threats against the American imperialists and friends. Kim Jong Un, however, has been less conspicuous.

Comments | 24,804 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 12, 2013

North Korea Says Tokyo Is Target No. 1

Don't look now, but the birthday of Kim Jong-un's grandfather is on Monday, and nothing would do more poetic justice to North Korea's warped version of history and its "unacceptable" war-mongering rhetoric than to drown one of its oldest enemies in a sea of nuclear flames. Which absurdity will win out?

Comments | 208,676 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 11, 2013

The Pentagon Can't Make Up Its Mind About North Korea's Nuclear Capabilities

The Pentagon is trying to be tactful about how it presents the threat of North Korea firing a nuclear missile capable of reaching the United States. But the brass is starting to seem cagey.

Comments | 3,884 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 11, 2013

The Tragic Comedy of the Syrian War

A YouTube video of Syrian men graciously offering their services in defending the U.S. from impending annihilation by North Korea is a window into the sad reality of tens of thousands of murdered and disappeared people.

Comments

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 11, 2013

Are Cooler Heads Ready to Prevail in Korea?

After several weeks of rising tensions and ever present threats of violence, both North and South Korea might finally be ready to start slowly backing away from each other with firing any shots.

Comments | 3,120 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 9, 2013

North Korea Tells Foreigners to Go Home If They Don't Want to Get Blown Up

Because North Korea is nothing if not considerate, their state media warned any foreigners on the peninsula today that they might want to go home soon—unless want to take their chances of surviving "a merciless sacred retaliatory" thermonuclear war. 

Comments | 5,312 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 8, 2013

North Koreans Skipped Work in Kaesong on Tuesday

North Korean workers didn't show up for work at the Kaesong factory complex Tuesday. Don't be jealous, though. This puts the future of the factory site and one of the country's biggest economic sources in jeopardy. 

Comments | 731 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 8, 2013

North Korea Says It's Shutting Down the Kaesong Factories

Amid confusion over a South Korean statement about a possible nuclear test, North Korea has dropped a smaller bombshell on the peninsula, announcing they will effectively shutdown their joint-industrial complex near the border.

Comments | 3,240 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 7, 2013

North Korea Appears to Be Prepping a Fourth Nuclear Test

A South Korean newspaper is reporting that North Korean troops are scurrying around the site where it tested a nuclear bomb on February 12, its third ever. All signs point to a fourth, and the timing couldn't be worse.

Comments | 5,041 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 7, 2013

Even China Wants North Korea to Chill Out

Chinese President Xi Jinping used his first speech since taking over to indirectly call out North Korea for being so prickly lately. He never mentioned the country by name, but it's pretty clear who he was referring to. 

Comments | 3,237 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 6, 2013

North Korea's Army Is Full of Jumping, Leaping, High-Kicking Martial Artists

Amid all of the very real threats of war and stuff from North Korea, you'd think American intelligence officers want as much video footage of the enemy as possible. Well, here is one video featuring North Korean exercises and Kim Jong-Un holding a gun, and we'll say this: they certainly get points for presentation. 

Comments | 90,458 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 5, 2013

Is South Korea Handling North Korea All Wrong?

Every day, and especially of late, it seems we get new word of North Korea's latest provocation, but little is said about South Korea's role in this international standoff. Is is possible the neighboring nation (and United States) is deliberately pushing Kim Jong-un's buttons?

Comments | 14,120 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 5, 2013

North Korea Sure Is Acting Like It Wants to Start a War

The situation on the Korean peninsula is not getting any better today, as the North continues to posture as though it's ready to start a war.

Comments | 33,554 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 4, 2013

With Apologies to North Korea, Bomb Shelter Sales Are Not Rising in the U.S.

Despite the threats of a nuclear-armed dictator, it doesn't appear that America is ready for a new Cold War. At least, not if bomb shelter sales are any indicator.

Comments | 5,354 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 4, 2013

Senator Inhofe and an NFL Receiver Are Stooping to Kim Jong-un's Threat Level

Let no one ever intimate that we Americans can't be as flippant about threats to bomb things as Kim Jong-un. Senator Jim Inhofe and the Buffalo Bills' Stevie Johnson have gotten in on the act.

Comments | 357 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 4, 2013

Today's North Korean Missile Threat Might Actually Be Scary

It's easy to take North Korea's constant proclamations of war with a grain or heap or silo of salt. But when intercepted internal communications reveal that they're planning to launch a mobile ballistic missile? Well, maybe we should take that a little more seriously.

Comments | 10,887 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 4, 2013

Anonymous Can't Stop North Korea, but They Can Turn Kim Jong-un into a Pig

As they say, one small step for world peace, one giant leap for Photoshop.

Comments | 14,424 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 3, 2013

North Korea Reportedly Just Moved Its Missiles a Little Closer to the U.S.

A number of sources have told South Korea's Yonhap news agency that North Korea just moved its  mid-range Musudan missile to the east coast of the country. That's towards the United States.

Comments | 7,108 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 3, 2013

How Do You Solve a Problem Like North Korea?

The U.S. is deploying a new missile defense system in Guam to protect American forces from any potential North Korean attacks. It's the latest move in the ongoing chess battle between the Western powers and North Korea, and Chuck Hagel promises he's takings "seriously." But is he, really? 

Comments | 5,877 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 3, 2013

North Korea Blocks Southern Workers From Crossing the Border

Every day hundreds of South Korean workers make their way across a special border crossing to work at a North Korean industrial complex that is jointly run by both nations. But not today. 

Comments | 1,245 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 2, 2013

North Korea Says It Wants More Nuclear Weapons

In the latest round of back-and-forth provocations, North Korea announced today it would restart its nuclear program and will no longer hide the fact that its planning to use it to make bombs.

Comments | 1,599 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 31, 2013

As Kim Jong-Un Likens Nukes to 'Treasure,' U.S. Sends More Fighter Jets

North Korea ratcheted up its vague but unending threats against the United States, South Korea and other Western nations with another twist as when Kim Jong-Un called a rare party meeting. Apparently in response, the U.S. Air Force sent a fresh batch of the radar-dodging F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets.

Comments | 5,307 Views

By Connor Simpson

Mar 30, 2013

How Seriously Should We Take North Korea's Latest Threat?

Administration officials don't seem to be sweating North Korea's boldest, blustering statement that came out Friday evening announcing something about entering a "state of war" with South Korea.

Comments | 9,910 Views

By Sara Morrison

Mar 29, 2013

North Korea Has Issued Its Ultimate Definite Last Totally 'Final Warning'

North Korea greeted the weekend by stating through its KCNA news agency that it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea. This seems like much more serious news than an earlier KCNA story about using nutritious leeks in seasonal dishes, but there's reason to be skeptical that NoKo's latest declaration means anything at all.

Comments | 12,949 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 29, 2013

North Korea's Picture-Perfect Fury at the United States

Propaganda wars aren't new. But with the thoroughness of a first-time B-movie director, Kim Jong-un has assembled the perfect image of a rogue state foil to the U.S. The JPEG War has begun.

Comments | 9,202 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 28, 2013

North Korea Just Aimed Its Rockets at U.S. Bases

Hours after the chest-thumping Air Force leaders flew stealth bombers over South Korea, Kim Jong-Un has ordered North Korea's rocket units to be prepare for an attack on American bases.

Comments | 11,467 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Mar 28, 2013

The U.S. Flew a Couple B-2 Bombers Over Korea Because It Can

So we know North Korea has a habit of puffing its chest and it feels like Kim Jong-Un's country declares the annihilation of its enemies seemingly every other day now. But with the U.S. announcing that they're practicing stealth bombing runs over the Korean peninsula, it's a sign that the U.S. is taking those threats seriously.

Comments | 8,480 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 27, 2013

North Korea: 'War May Break Out Any Moment'

We didn't think it was possible, but the North Koreans found a completely new way to threaten the South—but this one might actually affect the lives of some people who live below the DMZ.

Comments | 4,199 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 26, 2013

Constant Threats to Destroy the World Keep North Korea's PR Man Busy

Just in case no one understood them after all those other threats, the North Koreans announced today that their army is now on "combat duty posture No. 1." And the Spaniard behind the world's most ubiquitous propaganda machine is ready to explain.

Comments | 2,266 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Mar 22, 2013

North Korea Says North Korea Is a Great Place for Human Rights

North Korean citizens are apparently "happy with pride and honor that they have one of the best systems for promotion and protection of human rights in the world," according to the country's envoy to the U.N. That, apparently, was not enough to convince the U.N., which wants to establish a commission to look into the way the country treats its people.

Comments | 207,119 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 21, 2013

What Did North Korea Threaten to Blow Up Today?

It seems like every day now that North Korea has some sort of threat, warning, accusation, or other message to send about the "flames of justice" they are ready to hand out to anyone who messes with them. Today brings two potential targets.

Comments | 5,309 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 20, 2013

South Korean Websites Taken Down In Possible Cyberattack From the North

The web servers of three television networks and three major banks in South Korea were brought down by cyber attacks earlier today and, naturally, the first suspected culprit is North Korean hackers.

Comments | 690 Views

By Sara Morrison

Mar 15, 2013

Alaska Will Guard Us Against North Korea

The land once governed by Sarah Palin may yet yield more riches: protection from North Korea's likely nonexistent nuclear missiles. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Friday that the Pentagon is adding 14 missile-interceptors to Alaska's Fort Greely base at the cost of about $1 billion, pending Congressional approval.

Comments | 1,724 Views

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