"Tensions are growing:" North Korean missiles add urgency to Hiroshima A-bomb appeals
NORTH KOREA -- Hiroshima's appeal of "never again" on the 72nd anniversary Sunday of the world's first atomic bomb attack has gained urgency as North Korea accelerates work on its nuclear weapons program, showing its growing prowess with increasingly frequent missile launches.When the U.S. dropped the bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, Toshiki Fujimori and his mother, carrying him piggyback, were both thrown to the ground by the impact."Obviously tensions are growing as North Korea has been pushing ahead with nuclear tests and development," said Fujimori, now 73 and a leader of the Hidankyo, a major group of atomic bomb survivors. "Nuclear weapons just are unacceptable for mankind."Many Japanese and others in North Asia seem resigned to North Korea's apparent newfound capacity to launch missiles capable of reaching much of the continental United States.
UN Security Council imposes new sanctions on North Korea
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The United Nations Security Council on Saturday, August 5th passed a resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea for its continued intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing and violations of UN resolutions.US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, speaking at the Security Council meeting where the vote took place, said, "Monday, we said that the time for talking was over and that it was time for action.
US bombers fly over South Korea after North's 2nd ICBM test: "Continued provocations are unacceptable"
SEOUL, South Korea — The United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force against North Korea following the country's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test.
Hawaii prepares for 'unlikely' North Korea missile threat
HONOLULU — Hawaii is the first state to prepare the public for the possibility of a ballistic missile strike from North Korea.The state's Emergency Management Agency on Friday announced a public education campaign about what to do.
US to ban Americans from traveling to North Korea
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will ban American citizens from traveling to North Korea, U.S. officials said Friday, following the death of university student Otto Warmbier who died in June after falling into a coma in a North Korean prison.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had decided to impose "geographic travel restriction" for North Korea, the officials said, which would make it illegal to use U.S. passports to enter the country.
S. Korea fires missiles in drills amid standoff with North
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean jets and navy ships fired a barrage of guided-missiles into the ocean during drills Thursday, a display of military power two days after North Korea test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile.The North's ICBM launch, its most successful missile test to date, has stoked security worries in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo as it showed the country could eventually perfect a reliable nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States.
Pre-emptive US strike on North Korea could be 'catastrophic'
WASHINGTON — A pre-emptive military strike may be among the "pretty severe things" President Donald Trump says he is considering for North Korea, but it's a step so fraught with risk that it ranks as among the unlikeliest options.Even a so-called surgical strike aimed at the North's partially hidden nuclear and missile force is unlikely to destroy the arsenal or stop its leader, Kim Jong Un, from swiftly retaliating with long-range artillery that could kill stunning numbers in South Korea within minutes.An all-out conflict could then ensue.
US warns North Korea that diplomatic window is closing
WASHINGTON — The United States warned Wednesday, July 5th that North Korea was "quickly closing off" the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to its provocations, as the Trump administration launched a government-wide effort to identify options for confronting Pyongyang following its unprecedented intercontinental ballistic missile launch.President Donald Trump and other senior officials dangled the prospect of punishing countries that trade with North Korea — a threat aimed directly at China, Pyongyang's biggest benefactor.
"New escalation of the threat:" U.S. asserts North Korea launch was intercontinental ballistic missile
WASHINGTON — The United States asserted Tuesday, July 4th that North Korea's latest missile launch was indeed an intercontinental ballistic missile, as the North had boasted and the U.S. and South Korea had feared.
North Korea denies torturing American detainee Otto Warmbier
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday called itself the "biggest victim" in the death of an American student who was detained for more than a year and died days after being released in a coma.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency denied that North Korea cruelly treated or tortured Otto Warmbier and accused the United States and South Korea of a smear campaign that insulted what it called its "humanitarian" treatment of him.The comments published by the agency were North Korea's first reaction to Otto Warmbier's death in a U.S. hospital Monday after it released him for what it called humanitarian reasons.Doctors at the hospital said Warmbier had suffered a severe neurological injury from an unknown cause.
After Otto Warmbier's death, US weighs travel ban on North Korea
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's administration is considering banning travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea, officials said Tuesday, June 20th as outrage grew over the death of American student Otto Warmbier and President Trump declared it a "total disgrace."Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has the authority to cut off travel to North Korea with the stroke of the pen, has been weighing such a move since late April, when American teacher Tony Kim was detained in Pyongyang, a senior State Department official said.
US coroner investigating death of student freed from North Korea
CINCINNATI — A coroner's office in Ohio is investigating the death of a 22-year-old college student who died shortly after his return to the U.S. after nearly a year and a half in North Korean detention, a spokesman said Tuesday.The spokesman for Hamilton County Coroner Dr.
US sends supersonic bombers in show of force against North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — The United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday in a show of force against North Korea, South Korean officials said.The U.S. often sends powerful warplanes in times of heightened animosities with North Korea, and flew B-1B bombers several times this year as the North conducted a series of banned ballistic missile tests.Tuesday's flights by B-1Bs came shortly after the death of a U.S. college student who was recently released by North Korea in a coma following more than 17 months of captivity.Seoul's Defense Ministry said the bombers engaged in routine exercises with South Korean fighter jets aimed at showing deterrence against North Korea.The U.S. military said the bombers conducted two separate drills with the Japanese and South Korean air forces.
Otto Warmbier, American student released by North Korea, is in a coma
WASHINGTON — American college student Otto Warmbier, who was released after more than 17 months in detention in North Korea, is expected to arrive at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center late Tuesday evening, a hospital spokeswoman said.Warmbier has been in a coma for over a year, according to his parents.
Tillerson: North Korea releases US citizen Otto Warmbier
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, an American serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts.Tillerson says that Warmbier is on his way back to the U.S. to be re-united with his family.
South Korea military: North Korea fires unidentified projectile
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's military says rival North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile off its east coast.The statement by the Joint Chiefs of Staff early Monday morning, May 29th didn't say what type of projectile was fired or if it was successful.North Korea has increased its test-firing of ballistic missiles over recent months as it seeks to build nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland.
North Korea says ready to deploy, mass-produce new missile
TOKYO — North Korea said Monday it is ready to start mass-producing a new medium-range missile after a weekend test-launch confirmed its combat readiness.
N. Korea test-fires missile, challenging new leader in South
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Sunday test-launched a ballistic missile that flew as far as 800 kilometers (500 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan, the South Korean, Japanese and U.S. militaries said.
Australia warns North Korea against 'reckless, dangerous threats'
BRISBANE, Australia — Australia's prime minister used a commemoration of a World War II naval battle on Monday to warn that his country and the United States would not tolerate North Korea's "reckless, dangerous threats" to regional peace.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke at a dawn service in the northeastern city of Townsville where Australians and Americans gathered to remember the pivotal Battle of Coral Sea, which was fought from May 4 to 8, 1942 in waters about 800 kilometers (500 miles) away.U.S. aircraft carriers supported by Australian cruisers stopped a Japanese naval invasion of the Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby that would have cut communications between Australia and the United States had the Japanese forces prevailed."Today Australia and the United States continue to work with our allies to address new security threats around the world," Turnbull said."Together, we're taking a strong message to North Korea that we will not tolerate reckless, dangerous threats to the peace and stability of our region and we are united in our efforts to defeat the terrorists in the Middle East and Afghanistan," he added.Turnbull will meet President Donald Trump for the first time on Thursday in New York aboard the WWII aircraft carrier USS Intrepid to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the start of the battle in which an American carrier was sunk and another American carrier plus two Japanese carriers were badly damaged.Trump said in a taped interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that North Korea will eventually develop better missiles, and "we can't allow it to happen."
Seoul: North Korea fails in missile test-fire near its capital
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea test-fired a mid-range ballistic missile from the western part of its country Saturday, but the launch apparently failed, South Korea and the United States said Saturday.The test will be condemned by outsiders as yet another step in the North's push for a nuclear-tipped missile that can strike the U.S. mainland.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the North fired the unidentified missile from around Pukchang, which is near the capital Pyongyang, but provided no other details.A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the missile was likely a medium-range KN-17 ballistic missile.