Kim Jong Il

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North Korea Threatens 'Strong Steps' if Punished

(Newser) - North Korea says it will view any punishment for its recent rocket launch as a threat to its very sovereignty and will take "necessary and strong steps" in response, the BBC reports. It did not specify what those steps might be. "Every country has the inalienable right to...

Korea Launch Signals Troubling Progress

Experts believe 'satellite' failure was moderately successful missile test

(Newser) - North Korea's weekend rocket launch failed in the third stage, and its payload—be it friendly satellite or naked nuclear ambition—lies at the bottom of the Pacific, but the test shows alarming progress, experts tell the Los Angeles Times. Analysts dismiss North Korea's claims that a satellite made it...

North Korea Makes Threat Over Missile Launch

Vows to restart nuclear plants if sanctioned

(Newser) - North Korea said today it would reopen its nuclear facilities if the UN Security Council takes action over a planned missile launch, Reuters reports. If the UN adds sanctions against North Korea, Pyongyang said it would reverse the closing of both a nuclear reactor and its Yongbyon atomic plant, which...

N. Korea Readies Missile for Launch

UN sanctions will derail disarmament talks: Pyongyang

(Newser) - As the date of a promised “satellite launch” nears, North Korea has placed a long-range ballistic missile on the launch pad used for earlier test firings, Reuters reports. South Korea, Japan, and the US plan to seek UN sanctions if the nuclear power goes forward with what analysts believe...

North Koreans Eat Pizza—After 10 Years' Wait

Kim Jong-Il wanted perfect recipe before authorizing restaurant

(Newser) - Millions of North Koreans suffer from undernourishment, but in Pyongyang, the ruling elite have a new dining option: the country's first pizzeria. It opened last December, more than a decade after Kim Jong-Il, reportedly a serious gourmand, brought a stable of Italian pizza chefs to teach army officers how to...

North Korean Troops on War Alert
North Korean Troops
on War Alert
Mar 9, 2009 1:53 AM CDT

North Korean Troops on War Alert

Nuclear state prepares 'satellite' launch that US fears is missile test

(Newser) - North Korea is warning that troops are on full combat alert as its southern neighbor preps for an annual military exercise with the US, BBC reports. The nuclear nation also threatened war if a "satellite" it plans to deploy soon is disturbed. South Korea and the US believe that...

Desperate Hunger Plagues N. Korea, Forces Change

Rampant malnutrition fuels capitalist markets

(Newser) - North Korea has, in its words, an “eating problem”: unable to feed its residents, it has become the world’s first nuclear-armed “beggar,” the Washington Post reports. Malnutrition has led to a spate of mental and physical disabilities—a quarter of potential troops will be disqualified because...

North Korea Threatens Civilian Flights

South Korean-US military exercise rattles Pyongyang

(Newser) - North Korea said it could not guarantee the safety of civilian flights near its airspace in light of a joint US-South Korean military exercise, the Telegraph reports. The annual exercise, which South Korea and the US say is purely defensive, is for next week. Pyongyang warned that it could not...

Stroke Survivor Kim Puffs Away
 Stroke Survivor Kim Puffs Away 
Feb 26, 2009 7:33 AM CST

Stroke Survivor Kim Puffs Away

Despite strict anti-smoking laws, North Korean leader takes a drag

(Newser) - President Obama isn't the only world leader with a less-than-consistent message about smoking. Despite his reported stroke last August, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was recently photographed puffing on a cigarette during a recent tour of a tobacco factory, reports the AP. One photo shown on North Korean state television...

Clinton Warns North Korea, Names Special Envoy

Special envoy for North Korea named

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton warned an increasingly belligerent North Korea to cease its "provocative and unhelpful" threats toward the South today, the AP reports. In a Seoul press conference, the secretary of state named former US ambassador to South Korea Stephen Bosworth as special envoy for North Korea and said he...

Earth, Sky Celebrate Kim Jong-Il's B-day

Leader's upcoming birthday has improved weather: state agency

(Newser) - Temperatures in North Korea are warmer than normal, willow catkins are in bloom, and the moon is sporting a halo—all thanks to Kim Jong-Il. A Korean news agency says “that even the nature and the sky unfolded such mysterious ecstasy in celebration of the birthday” of the North...

Post-Stroke Kim Jong-il Meets Chinese Official

Visit marks first appearance with foreigners since illness

(Newser) - Kim Jong-il, the North Korean supreme leader, met a senior official from China's Communist Party today—in his first known meeting with a foreigner since suffering a stroke in August. The meeting was seen as an attempt to show that Kim remains in charge of North Korea, which has strongly...

Kim Jong-Il Names Youngest Son as Successor: Reports

Swiss-educated Jong-Un, about 25, said to be thoughtful, intelligent

(Newser) - Kim Jong-Il has picked his third—and, at about 25, thought to be his youngest—son, Jong-Un, as his successor in North Korea, Reuters reports. Though it has yet to be confirmed, officials said they have been instructed to spread the message, possibly to quell anxiety over who would lead...

Kim Jong-Il Cheered at Concert
 Kim Jong-Il Cheered at Concert 
Dec 29, 2008 5:41 AM CST

Kim Jong-Il Cheered at Concert

First major public appearance since stroke

(Newser) - A wildly cheering orchestra audience greeted North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il at his first major public appearance since his suspected stroke in August, reports Reuters. Western intelligence experts began speculating in September that Kim was seriously ill—or dying—when he failed to appear at an important military parade at...

Kim Jong-Il Back in Public After Stroke

North Korean leader appears recovered

(Newser) - US intelligence officials believe North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has recovered from a stroke he suffered last August, and has been making public appearances, Reuters reports. The 66-year-old dictator recently inspected army units and a ceramics factory, according to North Korea's state-controlled media. One appearance is believed to have taken...

N. Korea Clamps Down on Border

Major setback to years of economic, tourist ties between Koreas

(Newser) - North Korea today made good on its threat to restrict border crossings from South Korea, severely hampering trade and ending tourism with its neighbor. The move, blocking large numbers of South Koreans and reducing border-crossing hours, is a protest against South Korea's new hardline president that negates years of hard-fought...

Kim Jong-Il Had a 2nd Stroke: Japanese TV

Report suggests that North Korea leader could be incapacitated

(Newser) - Uncertainty grew this morning about the health of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il after a Japanese television station reported that he has suffered a second stroke, Reuters reports. The claim came from a source connected to an American intelligence agency, but South Korean officials rejected the assertion. North Korea...

Brother-in-Law Pilots N. Korea for Ailing Kim

Head of secret police fills in as dictator heals from stroke: analysts

(Newser) - Kim Jong-Il’s brother-in-law is running North Korea as the dictator recovers from a stroke, experts tell the Times of London. South Korean analysts say that while Kim is conscious and probably mobile, he remains weak. But Pyongyang appears to be functioning normally in the hands of Chang Sung Taek,...

Efforts to Show Off Kim's Health Raise More Eyebrows

Observers can't tell whether recently released photos are legit

(Newser) - Recently released photos of Kim Jong-il are baffling observers, who still speculate the North Korean leader may have suffered a stroke despite officials’ insistence otherwise, the New York Times reports. One photo has green foliage, although North Korea’s trees are now sporting autumn colors; in another, Kim’s left...

Kim Calls Shots from Hospital: Japan

Leader is sick, but able to run the country

(Newser) - Kim Jong-Il is probably in the hospital but still calling the shots, Japanese PM Taro Aso says, citing intelligence reports and adding that if the North Korean leader were incoherent, "we would be seeing different developments." A Japanese professor returning from Pyongyang says North Koreans are calm, a...

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