North Korea stepped up its bellicose rhetoric threatening to go beyond carrying out a promised third nuclear test in response to what it believes are "hostile" sanctions imposed after a December rocket launch.
The UN Security Council today unanimously condemned North Korea's December rocket launch and expanded existing UN sanctions thanks to a deal secured by the United States and Pyongyang's ally China.
North Korea said today it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy".
The UN Security Council is united on North Korea's nuclear arms program and will undoubtedly approve tough measures against Pyongyang if it carries out a new atomic test as expected, South Korean UN Ambassador Kim Sook said today.
China on Saturday urged North and South Korea to exercise restraint and safeguard peace on the peninsula, after the communist north threatened to fire on the south.
North Korea is to carry out its second rocket launch of 2012 as its youthful leader Kim Jong-un flexes his muscles a year after his father's death, in a move that will likely heighten diplomatic tensions and draw criticism from Washington.
This month's rocket launch by reclusive North Korea shows it has likely developed the technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 km, South Korean officials said, putting the US West Coast in range.
Isolated North Korea stepped up its war of words against the United States, vowing to boost its nuclear deterrent after Washington warned Pyongyang of further sanctions if it did not abandon its atomic programme.
Severe flooding across North Korea has killed 88 people and left tens of thousands homeless, state media reported late, threatening to make the poverty-stricken country's already chronic food shortage still worse.
Impoverished North Korea threatened today to open fire on South Korea if it allows activists to go ahead with plans to drop anti-North leaflets on its territory, its most strident warning against its long-time foe in months.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said North Korea's long-range rocket test today was deplorable, in direct violation of U Security Council Resolution 1874, and threatened regional stability.
The UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea's rocket launch, urged tightening of existing UN sanctions and warned Pyongyang of further consequences if it carries out another missile launch or nuclear test.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China to help defuse tension over Iran, North Korea and other global flashpoints, seeking to salvage talks that have been overwhelmed by negotiations over a dissident.
The White House warned North Korea that its planned long-range missile launch would be a flagrant breach of the impoverished country's international obligations and would jeopardize food aid from Washington.
Impoverished North Korea rejected international protests over its planned long-range rocket launch and said today that it was injecting fuel "as we speak", meaning it could blast off as early as tomorrow.
North Korea's much hyped long-range rocket apparently crashed into the sea a few minutes after launch, South Korean and other officials said, dealing a blow to the prestige of the reclusive and impoverished state.
North Korea said it will hold a special parliamentary session next month during which the reclusive country's new young leader, Kim Jong-un, is expected to be given a top title aimed at consolidating his grip on power.
US President Barack Obama vowed today to pursue further nuclear arms cuts with Russia, urged China to follow suit and issued stern warnings to North Korea and Iran in their nuclear standoffs with the West.
The United States urged North Korea not conduct a nuclear test or launch a satellite and called on China to exert its influence over its neighbour to try to ward off such "provocative actions."
North Korea has agreed to a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and enrichment of uranium at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, the North's KCNA news agency said today.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that North Korea's nuclear moratorium is a "modest first step in the right direction" onto the path of peace.
The UN nuclear watchdog stands ready to return to North Korea, its chief said, after the reclusive state agreed to stop nuclear tests and uranium enrichment and let inspectors visit its Yongbyon site to verify the moratorium.
The North Korean television showed the body of late leader Kim Jong-Il lying in state in a glass coffin as his son and successor Kim Jong-Un and other senior officials paid their respects.
After the reclusive state emerges from a period of mourning on Thursday, Kim Jong-un, vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Military Commission, is expected quickly to take on additional titles to cement his place at the top.
North Korea sounded a bellicose note in its first communication with the outside world since the death of leader Kim Jong-il, saying its confrontational stance against South Korea would not change and labeling its opponents "foolish."
The United States is in no rush to resume nuclear talks with North Korea even though Washington has invited a senior diplomat to New York this week, US officials said.
North Korea agreed today to a third round of talks with South Korea aimed at resolving a long-running row over a shuttered joint tourist resort in the North. A rush of diplomatic contacts between the two Koreas and the United States, plus a shipment of food aid from the South today, raised hopes for a resumption of long-delayed aid-for-denuclearization talks.
North Korea may be considering additional attacks and provocations, a top US general told Congress, adding Washington needed to be prepared to respond appropriately if necessary.
Reclusive North Korea has agreed to hold a second round of talks with South Korea this week to try to resolve a row over Pyongyang's decision to seize a South Korean company's assets at a jointly run resort, an official said.
South and North Korea held high-level talks for the first time in two years in Indonesia and said they would work to resume the stalled six-party dialogue for nuclear disarmament on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea said it would strike again at the South if a live-firing drill by Seoul on a disputed island went ahead, with an even stronger response than last month's shelling that killed four people.
South Korea has dismissed a North Korean call for unconditional talks to ease tensions, saying the offer was "propaganda" it does not take seriously.
The United States warned China that it would redeploy forces in Asia if it failed to rein in its ally North Korea, the New York Times reported, as Pyongyang bowed to Seoul's demands for crisis talks.
Argentina and Mexico qualified for the pre-quarter finals of the U20 World Cup held in Colombia. Perazzo’s team clashed North Korea, while the Mexican team drew without goals against England in the last Group F round.
North Korea women's football team delayed the beginning of the match against Colombia after the South Korean flag was incorrectly displayed on a giant screen before kickoff at Glasgow's Hampden Park stadium.
A diplomatic incident when the North Korea Olympic women's football team walked off the field after the South Korea flag had been displayed was a "simple human mistake", International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said.