North Korea has fired two surface-to-air missiles off its west coast, South Korea said on Thursday, with the latest in a string of short-range firings by the North coming shortly before the U.S. defense secretary arrived in the region.
Japan will likely extend its sanctions against North Korea because of Pyongyang's delay in reporting into its abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday without citing sources.
Russia and China discussed resuming six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program this week, while a South Korean diplomat said five of the participants had agreed on conditions to present to Pyongyang for restarting the negotiations.
The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China on Saturday hold their first meeting in three years, in a bid to warm frosty ties and restore a regular three-way summit of their leaders, stalled because of tensions over history and territory.
The U.N. human rights investigator for North Korea said on Monday he would probe allegations of an estimated 20,000 North Koreans working in slave-like conditions abroad, mainly in China, Russia and the Middle East.
A United Nations human rights investigator recommended an international strategy on Monday to press North Korea to clarify the fate of hundreds of foreign nationals allegedly abducted over decades, mainly from Japan and South Korea.
Japan and North Korea could resume talks as early as this month over an investigation North Korea is conducting into the fate of Japanese citizens it kidnapped decades ago, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.
U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert underwent two-and-a-half hours of surgery after he was slashed in the face by a Korean nationalist in an attack at a forum held in Seoul on Thursday to discuss Korean reunification, officials said.
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said on Monday Iran had still not handed over key information to his staff, and his body's investigation into Tehran's atomic program could not continue indefinitely.
North Korea has banned foreign runners from participating in an international marathon scheduled to be held in the capital in April, citing fears about the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, a Beijing-based travel agency said on Monday.
North Korea said on Monday it is not worried about a threat to refer the country to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, because it is not guilty and wants to attend a U.S. meeting on its rights situation to defend itself.
North Korea has sent a note to foreign diplomats and organizations in Pyongyang warning them not to hold parties or meetings in violation of its strict quarantine against the deadly Ebola virus.
"Let the strong wind of fish farming blow across the country!" "Let the wives of officers become dependable assistants to their husbands!" "Let us turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland by the joint operation of the army and people!"
Calling the destructive cyberattack on Sony Pictures "a game changer," a top White House official on Tuesday announced a new intelligence unit to coordinate analysis of cyberthreats, modeled on similar U.S. government efforts to fight terrorism.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to the United States in September, China said on Wednesday, after both countries' leaders laid out possible areas of friction in a telephone call.
The United States said on Friday it had invited Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to pay state visits this year, in a further sign of President Barack Obama's policy emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region.
North Korea has test-fired a new anti-ship cruise missile, images released by state media on Saturday showed, demonstrating the increased capability of the secretive state's outdated navy.
North Korea said on Wednesday it sees no more need to negotiate with the United States, accusing Washington of plotting to "bring down" its regime, and threatened to strike back using all its military resources.
Russia received a positive initial signal from North Korea after President Vladimir Putin invited its leader Kim Jong Un to attend anniversary celebrations of the Soviet victory over Germany in World War Two, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
China is sending civilian militias to help secure the border it shares with North Korea, state media said, in the wake of two reported killings of Chinese citizens by North Koreans that could strain ties between Pyongyang and its sole major ally.
The Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. military command that oversees operations in the Middle East were hacked on Monday by people claiming to be sympathetic toward the Islamic State militant group being targeted in American bombing raids.
