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Today, North Korea; Tomorrow, Iran - Nuclear Weapons
By Paul Greenberg

North Korea has been playing around with nuclear weapons again, this time setting off an even bigger underground explosion. To which the five veto-wielding powers at the United Nations have responded much as they did the first couple of times the North Korean regime defied the UN by setting off nukes: with oh-so-serious, oh-so-official statements.

Time to Test North Korea - Nuclear Weapons
Global Viewpoint

John Bolton, a leading neo-conservative official during the Bush administration, is a former U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In this interview Bolton provides his opinion on North Korea's nuclear weapons testing and what the United States and the World needs to do in response

North Korea's Nuclear Weapon Challenge
Henry A. Kissinger

The Obama administration has so far dealt publicly with the North Korean challenge in an understated, almost leisurely, manner. The challenge goes far beyond the regional security issue. For the United States, it involves relations with an emerging superpower (China); relations with a re-emerging Russia; relations with key U.S. allies (Japan and South Korea); and a major escalation in the threat of proliferation to non-state parties.

10th Seoul International Financial Forum Kicks Off

Campaigning Begins for By-elections

Large Retailers Adopt Carbon Emission Report Cards

College Entrance Exam Scores Reveal Regional Gap

Accident Insurance to Be Available for Bicycle Riders

S.Korea Ready to Launch Own Satellite

SK Telecom to Provide WiBro Service in Jordan

Korea-EU FTA an 'Opportunity to Beat Crisis'

Korean Economy Regaining Foreign Confidence

N.Korea to Be Discussed in S.Korea-Japan Meeting

Assistance Should Focus on Low-Income Earners

Feeling Guilty for Eating Rice

Unemployment Soars in March

Kim Ji-soo Promotes Ceramics Expo

Kosdaq Sees Record Trading Volume

Reduced Taxes for Apartment Buyers to Be Expanded

Fleet Sales Could Damage Hyundai in U.S.

New Iranian Proposal Aims to End Nuclear Dispute

Suicide Bomber Kills 10 in Iraq

Housing Market Sees Slight Recovery

Swiss Bank Cuts Jobs as Global Unemployment Soars

Thai Gov't Cancels Ex-Prime Minister's Passport

Survey Reveals Teens' Porn-Browsing Habits

N.Korea Celebrates Founder's Birth

Korea to Get First Domed Ballpark

U.S. Economy Shrinks a Bit More Slowly

N.Korea Expelling U.S. Monitors from Reactor Site

Will England Resort to IMF Assistance?

Asia's 'Leading Economic Indicator' in Economic Shock

To fry croquettes without breaking them

Obama Promotes Tax Policies, Thousands Protest

Rising Golf Star Danny Lee Turns Pro

U.S. Treasury Says China Not Manipulating Currency

Chewing Gum Relieves Stomach Pain

Clinton Announces U.S. Anti-Piracy Measures

White House Condemns N.Korea Over Nuclear Talks

Seoul Delays Decision on WMD Initiative

More Botox Uses 'Spell Bright Prospects for Manufacturer'

China Outpaces Its Rivals on Road to Recovery

Study: Illegal Immigrants Having More Children in U.S.

Somali Pirates Attack Another U.S. Ship

Lessons from the Roh Moo-hyun Investigation

Obamas Welcome New 'First Dog' to White House

Why Americans Respect Their Ex-Presidents

Crackdown on Neglected Cars Starts

Gyeonggi Gives Green Light to Express Train Lines

More Than 2 Million Visit Korea in Q1

Prices of Imported Raw Materials Lowest since July 2005

10 Major Industries Face Restructuring

Michelle Wie Pulls Out of Pro-Am Event

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N. Korea gives S. Korea ultimatum over industrial complex
North Korea Friday unilaterally informed South Korea that all contracts relating to a jointly-run industrial complex along their border are null and void, according to South Korean officials.

North and South Korea talks last only 22 minutes
Details emerged Wednesday from the first government-to-government talks between the two Koreas in more than a year.

S. Korea reroutes flights, cites 'threat'
South Korean commercial airlines have rerouted their planes after North Korea said it could not guarantee the safety of flights near its airspace.

Clinton in South Korea as missile controversy brews
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in South Korea on Thursday on the third leg of her four-nation tour of Asia.

N. Korea preps for satellite launch amid 'space development' claim
Denying recent intelligence suggesting it is preparing to test a long-range missile, North Korea signaled Monday it is gearing up to launch a satellite, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

N. Korea ups ante in standoff with S. Korea
North Korea said Friday it has nullified all political and military agreements with South Korea, an extreme move that could raise tensions between the neighbors and lead to a military clash, South Korean state-run media reported.

S. Korea looks to buy North's nuclear fuel
South Korea has said it will send a delegation of nuclear experts to North Korea this week to survey its unused nuclear fuel rods and possibly buy them.

SKorea: Kim Jong Il's Health Has Improved
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appears to have recovered enough from a stroke to run the country without difficulty, South Korea's spy chief told lawmakers Tuesday.

2 Koreas Hold Military Talks Amid Tension
Working-level military officers from North Korea and South Korea met Monday to discuss improving their lines of communication amid strained ties between the divided nations, officials said.

Six dead in South Korea fish knife frenzy
A financially strapped South Korean man went on an arson and stabbing rampage in Seoul on Monday, leaving six people dead and seven others wounded, police said.

South Korea Sees Nothing Unusual in North Korea
South Korea's government and private analysts questioned media reports Sunday that North Korea was poised to make an important announcement possibly concerning the health of its leader, Kim Jong Il

South Koreans Are Shaken by a Celebrity Suicide
The "Nation's Actress" is found dead in her apartment after being attacked by aggressive online rumors

Blind masseurs jump from bridge
Police in South Korea have arrested 26 blind masseurs who were threatening to jump from a bridge to protest a government decision they say will rob them of their livelihood.

Boarding house fire kills 6 in S. Korea
A fire at a boarding house early Friday killed five men and one woman, injuring 11 other people, South Korea's Yonhap news service reported.

US Allowed Korean Mass Executions
The American colonel tried to stall, but the declassified record shows he finally told his South Korean counterpart it "would be permitted" to machine-gun 3,500 political prisoners, to keep them from joining approaching enemy forces during the Korean War

Scores hurt in S. Korea beef protests
Thousands of protesters battled riot police in downtown Seoul early Sunday morning after a rally opposing South Korea's decision to import U.S. beef turned violent. More than 100 were wounded, the state news agency reported.

S. Korea to resume U.S. beef imports
South Korea's government said Wednesday it would resume imports of American beef this week, hoping to move on from a crisis that battered the pro-U.S. administration with weeks of anti-government protests over food safety.

S. Korea, US Agree on Beef Imports
All U.S. beef exported to South Korea will come from cattle less than 30 months old, officials said Saturday, in a deal made to placate South Korean protesters

S. Korean beef protests force government shake-up
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak plans to shake up his cabinet this week after massive protests, triggered by a deal his government reached to resume U.S. beef imports, the state news agency reported Monday.

South Korea backs off importing U.S. beef
No U.S. beef will exported to South Korea until the countries agree on limiting shipments to meat from cattle of a certain age, South Korea's agriculture minister said Tuesday.

South Korea to resume U.S. beef imports
South Korea will open its market to most U.S. beef, a senior government official said Thursday, according to state media.

S. Korea leader 'baffled' by mad cow fears
South Korea's president has apologized on national television for failing to take on board concerns in his country about mad cow disease.

North Korean officer defects to South Korea
A North Korean soldier defected across the demilitarized zone and sought asylum in South Korea on Sunday, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman.

South Korea to Resume U.S. Beef Imports
South Korea agreed to resume U.S. beef imports that had been halted over mad cow disease, clearing a key hurdle to a broader trade deal with Washington

Report: S. Korea, U.S. reach beef deal
Hours before a U.S.-South Korean summit, the two nations have reached an agreement that could clear the way for South Korea to resume imports of U.S. beef, a South Korean news agency reported Friday.

North Korea: South Korea driving relationship to 'catastrophe'
North Korea cut off dialogue with South Korea on Thursday, claiming the peninsula was on the brink of another war.

What is telematics?
In South Korea, telematics is big business. If it sounds like a buzzword to advertise the latest purveyor of high-tech must-have gadgets, its etymology is no less firmly rooted: "tele" means remote; "matics" means information. Cruising right alongside wireless broadband and DMB (Digital Media Broadcast) cell phones, telematics refers more specifically to automobiles receiving remote information from commercial service providers. These services could include Global Positioning System (GPS), on-demand entertainment, Internet and Web access, or weather and traffic conditions.

'Wired' South Korea is underexposed
South Korean Chang Won-kim was always a writer and a tech-head, so he quite naturally entered the blogosphere in 2005. His English-language, technology-themed, Seoul-based blog Web 2.0 Asia was inspired by both the need and the personal ambition to convey the evolving state of South Korea's all-too-domestic online industry to the rest of the world.

Can South Korea's President Deliver?
While he was mayor of Seoul, Lee Myung Bak was known for thinking big. He'll need his ambition more than ever as President

Question of the Week: Energy sources
With oil peaking at $100 a barrel, the world energy crisis continues to push countries to develop alternatives to handle depleting fossil fuel sources.

Warehouse blaze claims 40 lives
A massive fire swept through a newly constructed warehouse in Icheon, South Korea Monday, burning for several hours and setting off a series of explosions that killed 40 workers inside, fire officials have told CNN.

Internet groups forging a community of charity
South Korea has long enjoyed some of the fastest and most widely available broadband Internet access on the planet. Top online gamers are bona-fide TV celebrities, and long before MySpace, there was South Korea's Cyworld, a social networking site launched back in 1999.

Report: 14 sailors missing
Fourteen seamen were missing Tuesday after a ship carrying nitric acid sank off the coast of South Korea in rough seas, maritime police said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

South Korea straddles the politics of change
South Korea's last presidential election, in December, 2002, took place against a backdrop of escalating tension on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's nuclear program and the Bush administration's refusal to negotiate with Pyongyang.

A Win for South Korea's 'Bulldozer'
Lee Myung Bak sweeps to victory in South Korea's presidential election on promises to revitalize the economy

Koreans Struggle to Clean Oil Spill
Thousands of people used shovels and buckets in a massive operation Sunday to clean up the South Korea's largest oil spill, which blackened beaches along the country's western coast.

South Korea's Cloudy Campaign
The front-runner in the country's presidential race is cleared of fraud allegations, thus averting a setback that could have cost him the upcoming election

South Korean cinema struggles with High Definition
As South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival -- widely recognized as Asia's most important film showcase and market -- wraps up its 12th year, one thing has become apparent, at least for the domestic industry: High Definition filmmaking hasn't quite reached the omnipresent proportions many believed it would have by now.

Eye on South Korea: Your e-mails
South Korea is reputed to be the most wired country in the world. CNN has asked readers to weigh in on the topic. How is technology affecting daily life in South Korea, and influencing the rest of the world? Below is a selection of responses, some of which have been edited for length and clarity:

South Korea: CNN video coverage
South Korea is reputed to be the most wired country in the world -- broadband Internet in almost every household and every primary, junior and high school; free television broadcasts on cell phones; professional online gamers with rock-star status; humanoids replacing hosts, clerks, nannies and sentries; 17 million members on Cyworld; and a robot in every home by 2020.

Future tech and puppy love in South Korea
With its anonymous skyline and mind-numbing traffic, Seoul may not seem like a sci-fi city. And yet it's blazing one very high-tech trail.

S. Korea scandalized by fake degrees
South Korea's top universities said this week they will set up a system to detect academic fraud after a disc jockey, a revered Buddhist monk and an aging actress were swept up in a fake-degree scandal.

U.S., South Korea pledge relief to North
North Korea's neighbors and international aid agencies sought Thursday to help the impoverished country cope with floods that have decimated large swaths of farmland, endangering citizens already struggling with food shortages.

S. Korea-U.S. summit comes at critical moment
South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun sits down for a summit meeting with President George W. Bush on Thursday at a time when the security alliance between the two countries that has helped maintain stability in Northeast Asia for more than half a century faces unprecedented challenges.

S. Korea to pull troops from Iraq
South Korea -- a major supporter of President Bush's Iraq policy -- has announced plans to pull a third of its troops out of Iraq in 2006, a National Security Council spokesman said Thursday.

8 troops die in S. Korea rampage
A South Korean soldier stationed along the Korean demilitarized zone has gone on a shooting rampage, killing 8 of his colleagues, the nation's defense ministry has reported.

N. Korean ship docks near Seoul
For the first time in over two decades, a North Korean ship docked in a South Korean port Sunday, the start of a series of voyages to pick up fertilizer donated to North Korea by the South Korean government.

Cloning success hailed, feared
A breakthrough in human embryonic stem cell research by scientists in South Korea has been hailed as ground-breaking, with the potential to fight a host of ailments, but some people have raised ethical concerns.

S. Korea asks North to return boat
South Korea's military will ask North Korea to return a small boat that ignored warning shots and crossed into Northern waters.

Superstar gamers hot property
It's a cold Tuesday night in South Korea and tens of thousands of people are staying indoors to watch online gaming matches on television.

Dialing up to do business
Big money is changing hands every day in South Korea, and a large percentage of it is happening at the touch of a cellphone button.

Buck the falling dollar
In late February when South Korea's central bank said that it was planning to shift some assets out of U.S. Treasuries and into other currencies, the disclosure set off a day of panic selling in th...

U.S. helicopter down in S. Korea
A U.S. soldier died and a second was wounded when a military helicopter crashed on Saturday while conducting a training exercise in South Korea, officials said.

Dollar tumbles, bonds slide
News that a number of central banks indicated they would diversify their reserves out of Treasuries and into other investments such as the euro sent the dollar tumbling Tuesday, and pressured bonds as well.

S. Korea selects new capital site
South Korea has confirmed it will move its future seat of government to a rural site south of its capital Seoul.

Mystery as more defectors land
A second wave of defectors believed to be North Koreans has arrived in the South in a secretive mass defection that has seen the refugees flown in from an unidentified Southeast Asian nation.

S. Korea: No changes to troop plan
South Korea says it will go ahead with its plan to deploy thousands of troops to Iraq despite a televised threat from militants to kill a South Korean hostage.

S. Korea outlines Iraq dispatch
South Korea will begin deploying more than 3,600 troops to the Erbil region of northern Iraq in August.

Koreas agree to military hotline
North and South Korea have agreed to set up a military hotline in a step towards easing tensions along their heavily fortified border.

U.S. confirms S. Korea troop cut
The United States has notified South Korea and Japan it plans to move about 3,600 troops from South Korea to Iraq, senior Pentagon officials confirmed to CNN.

S. Korea eyes political stability
South Korea's government has pledged economic and political stability Friday, a day after parliamentary elections which saw the pro-government Uri Party win a slim majority.

S. Korea backs pro-president party
South Korea's main opposition Grand National Party conceded defeat in the country's parliamentary election Thursday to the pro-government Uri Party, which is allied with impeached President Roh Moo-hyun.

Koreas cancel economic talks
The impeachment of South Korea's president has prompted the cancellation of economic talks planned Monday, after South Korea refused a request by North Korea to hold them in Pyongyang.

Roh prepares defense amid protests
South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun has began forming his legal defense team amid huge protests against his impeachment.

Korea's interim leader urges calm
South Korea's Prime Minister Goh Kun has urged citizens to remain calm after taking over as interim head of state following an unprecedented impeachment vote against President Roh Moo-hyun.

S. Korea votes to impeach Roh
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's National Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun by 193-2, amid dramatic scenes as rival politicians physically battled on the floor of parliament.

Two Koreas talk to 'ease tension'
North and South Korea have agreed to hold high-level military talks on the North's nuclear weapons program and "ease" military tension.

S. Korea FM quits amid policy flap
South Korea's Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan has resigned from his post amid a flap over President Roh Moo-hyun's foreign policy.

SAUDIS TO CUT OUT MIDDLEMEN
^ With Saddam Hussein to worry about, you might expect the Saudis to shelve any foreign forays of their own. Not a bit. State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil has announced a $1.4 billion joint venture that...

PERILS OF GETTING TOUGH ON KOREA They really have opened markets more than most Americans think. Heavy U.S. pressure now could t
''To use a crass analogy, we're saying to the South Koreans: 'If you settle out of court with us, you can plea-bargain for a lesser term, but if you take us to court, just remember that we'll be th...

MONEY magazine contents page September 1988 Volume 17 Number 9
MONEY FLASH

NEWS ABOUT YOU AND YOUR MONEY Going for the gold
South Korea is proving to be a canny marketer of gold coins. The first edition of its minting for the 1988 Summer Olympics, to be held in Seoul, was introduced in March and has already drawn strong...

LET DOWN BY THE DROOPING DOLLAR U.S. industrialists haven't found paradise in the plunge they sought. Some companies have regain
THE DOLLAR'S steeper-than-expected drop should be eliciting hallelujahs in American boardrooms. Instead it is barely evoking sighs of relief. True, many U.S. companies are seeing their foreign subs...

South Korea: News & Videos about South Korea - CNN.com
Find stories, videos, and photos about South Korea from CNN.com.

Rural South Koreans’ Global Links Grow, Nourished by a Satellite Crop
Lee Si-kap's enthusiasm for satellite dishes has helped to provide a valuable link between the community of foreign brides in South Korea and their homelands.

More Joint Action Needed to Heal World Economy
The response to the global crisis has been largely successful, but the battle is not over, according to Prime Minister Han Seung-soo of South Korea.

North Koreans Condemn U.S. and Sanctions at Huge Rally
North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang on Thursday, according to state media, as the regime threatened a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” against the United States and its ally South Korea.

E.U. Trade Deal Is Close, South Korean Leader Says
Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, in Paris, said remaining problems could be "resolved amicably.''

In Clash Between Koreas, Fishermen Feel First Bite
For the residents of South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island, which sits off the coast of a hostile North Korea, daily life requires living with fear.

Koreas Advance Together, but Not in Unity
North and South Korea, divided by ideology and the fear inspired by the North’s development of nuclear weapons, have, for the first time, both qualified for the same World Cup tournament.

Mother's Love Becomes Obsession for Some South Koreans
Following the example of a champion figure skater's mother, some South Korean parents focus completely on their children's careers.

Seoul Imposes Sanctions on N. Korea
The action could anger the Communist regime while bolstering a joint front with the U.S. as the allies seek to punish the North for its recent nuclear test.

South Koreans Should Be Worried
North Korea is more unstable and dangerous than people in the South realize. It is perhaps time for southerners to focus on their belligerent neighbors.

At Border, S. Koreans Heed a Blustery Neighbor
A few points near the demilitarized zone, a ribbon of tank traps and minefields, have been opened to tourists.

North Korean Leader Is Said to Pick a Son as Heir
Kim Jong-il has apparently chosen Kim Jong-un, his youngest son, to succeed him as North Korea’s leader, South Korea’s main intelligence agency said.

Tech Company Helps South Korean Students Ace Entrance Tests
Megastudy.net, an online tutoring service, may be the perfect convergence of South Koreans’ dual obsessions with educational credentials and the Internet.

Modifying Conciliatory Stance, South Korea Pushes Back Against the North
South Korea’s reluctance to challenge threats from its neighbor made it difficult in the past to enact or enforce tough sanctions on North Korea.

South Koreans Mourn a Former President and Rebuke the Current One
South Koreans lined the streets many of them weeping as they bid farewell to their former president, Roh Moo-hyun, who committed suicide last week.

Gates Reassures Allies Over North Korea
The U.S. defense secretary said he saw no unusual moves by North Korea, which reportedly fired another missile.

NYT > South Korea
BY SU-HYUN LEE and SANG-HUN CHOE | Updated: June 1, 2009

Korea's old name, Chosun, means "the land of morning calm." But the nation itself has gone through a turbulent modern history. After 35 years of Japanese colonial rule, it was liberated by the Allied forces at the end of World War II -- only to be divided into the Communist North and the pro-Western South. The two sides, the North aided by the Chinese and the South by the Americans, fought the Korean War from 1950 to 53. The war ended in a cease-fire, not with a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically still in a state of war.

Today, the inter-Korean border remains the world's most heavily fortified frontier, guided on both sides by nearly two million battle-ready troops. To the north, North Koreans live under a totalitarian dictatorship that keeps its people in isolation and hunger. To the south, people live in the affluence and freedom of the world's 12th largest economy. In South Korea, most households are fitted with high-speed Internet. Players at the "e-sport" professional leagues -- dragon slayers in cyber space -- have a bigger fan club than traditional pop stars. Cell phone text- and image-messaging has replaced voice calls and e-mails as the primacy tool of communication among the nation's youngsters.

Unlike many other dictators in the third world, the military leaders of South Korea, ruling over a country devastated by the war, had a vision for economic development. They marshaled the country into rapid industrialization. But people wanted more. When people rose up in the southern city of Kwangju in 1980 to demand democracy, the junta dispatched paratroops and tanks to kill hundreds. Student and labor movements rocked campuses and factories throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. In 1993, military generals relinquished power to Kim Young Sam, the nation's first civilian leader in three decades. One thing that didn't change was a prevalent anti-communist sentiment in South Korea.

Politics in the Modern Era

South Koreans were shocked and humiliated when their country had to beg a $45 billion international bailout amid the region-wide financial meltdown in the late 1990s. They elected Kim Dae Jung, a long-time opposition leader, as president in 1998. He flung the door open for foreign investors, who bought distressed South Korean firms at fire-sale prices, restructured them and exited, often with staggering profits. Many of the people who had rolled out the red carpet for foreign capital felt bitter. The most controversial among these foreign investors is Lone Star, a Texas-based fund whose officials now stand trial on charges of stock price manipulations in South Korea.

Mr. Kim's election brought long-persecuted liberal forces into power. They focused on engaging North Korea -- an approach that resulted in the first-ever summit meeting between the two Koreas in 2000 -- and attempted to reshape South Korea's alliance with the United States. Friction with Washington over how to deal with North Korea -- with sticks or with carrots -- increased under Mr. Kim's liberal successor, Roh Moo Hyun. Mr. Roh came to power in 2003, vowing not to "kowtow to the Americans" -- an election-year slogan hugely popular among the postwar generations of nationalistic and often anti-American South Koreans. But in the second half of his term, Mr. Roh also took major steps toward expanding the Korea-U.S. alliance by completing a free trade agreement with the United States; he also dispatched non-combat troops to Iraq as a partner in the American-led coalition forces.

After a decade of liberal rule, however, South Koreans grew concerned about what many perceived as a growing rift between Seoul and Washington. They also felt "sandwiched" between high-tech Japan and low-cost China. They worried about rising housing prices and unemployment among the young. They thought Mr. Roh was bungling the economy.

The sentiments translated into a landslide victory for Lee Myung Bak in the presidential election in 2007. Mr. Lee's election put conservatives back in power. He promised to strengthen ties with Washington and run the country like an efficient business. A former construction C.E.O., Mr. Lee is South Korea's first president with a business background.

Former President Roh Moo-hyun jumped off a cliff on May 23, 2009 as prosecutors were aggressively pursuing allegations of corruption against him and his family. Mr. Roh had long insisted that in a country where all the recent presidents were touched by scandal, his government was clean. His death set off a weeklong period of grief and mourning unrivaled in recent South Korean history.

Mr. Lee, a conservative, has upended many of the policies of Mr. Roh, a liberal who had focused on developing ties with North Korea and sent it significant amounts of aid. Mr. Lee has taken a much tougher stance toward the North, pushing hard for it to give up its nuclear program. Although many are angry with Mr. Lee over Mr. Roh's suicide, many South Koreans had also expressed frustration with the North even before its latest nuclear test on May 25, 2009.

A Changing Society

Korean society is changing rapidly in other ways. Learning English is a national obsession. South Koreans supply the third largest group of foreign students in the United States after the Indians and the Chinese. They were immensely proud when their former foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, became the Secretary-General of the United Nations last year.

Dynamic, emotionally rich and descriptive of modernized yet deeply Asian ways, South Korean pop culture -- or "K-pop" -- has proved widely popular in the rest of Asia in recent years. From Japan to Myanmar, people tune into South Korea drama shows and movies. Thanks partly the "Korean wave," foreign brides from poorer Asian countries like Vietnam flock to marry Korean men in the countryside, where young woman of marriageable age are in a shortage. Asian migrant workers toil in farms and factories in South Korea, doing the menial work South Koreans shun. Only a few years ago, school textbooks used to declare proudly that Korea is a "homogeneous nation." No more. The country is rapidly turning into a multiethnic society.

Defying U.S., North Korea Fires Barrage of Missiles
Seven missiles were fired into the sea between North Korea and Japan, flouting a United Nations resolution.

North Korea Test-Fires 4 Short-Range Missiles
The launchings had been expected, as North Korea declared a no-sail zone last month in waters off its east coast through July 10.

Report of North Korea Firing Two Missiles
The launches Saturday appeared to be of Scud missiles, according to the news report.

Second Thoughts on North Korea’s Inscrutable Ship
White House officials are starting to wonder if North Korea’s leader has sent them on a fishing expedition as they track a ship with a history of arms shipments.

U.S. Pursues Firms With Ties to North Korea
Companies involved with the North’s missile program risk having any American assets frozen and being barred from dealings with businesses in the United States.

Photo Stirs Speculation on North Korean Leader
An image of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, shown recently on government-run television appears to be a doctored version of an earlier photo.

Envoy to Coordinate North Korea Sanctions
The United States will try to win cooperation from China and other neighbors of North Korea for enforcement of sanctions that concentrate on financial dealings.

U.S.-China Military Talks Resume
In their first talk since December, Chinese and American officials discussed the growing nuclear threat in North Korea.

Hide and Seek
Arms inspections have their uses, but they cannot be a goal in themselves, as we learned in Iraq.

Hawaiians Shrug Off Missile Threat
The threat of North Korean missiles is being taken in stride by residents accustomed to a sense of vulnerability.

Test Looms as U.S. Tracks North Korean Ship
A cargo ship reportedly steaming toward Myanmar poses the first test of how far the U.S. and its allies will go to stop the North’s suspected arms trade.

U.S. to Confront, Not Board, North Korean Ships
The new effort to intercept North Korean ships is part of what officials described as “vigorous enforcement.”

NYT > North Korea
Updated: June 16, 2009

OVERVIEW

North Korea is the last Stalinist state on earth, and in October 2006 it became the latest country to join the nuclear club. Over the past two decades it has swung between confrontation and inch-by-inch conciliation with its neighbors and the United States, in an oscillation that seems to be driven both by its hard-to-fathom internal political strains and by an apparent belief in brinksmanship as the most effective form of diplomacy.

After setting off its first atomic device, the secretive, isolated, heavily militarized and desperately poor country slowly moved away from confrontation. In February 2007 it agreed to eventually dismantle its nuclear program. In June 2008, the Bush administration removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after Pyongyang submitted a 60-page report on its nuclear program. But the progress collapsed in December of that year when Pyongyang refused to accept terms proposed by the United States for verification.

In April 2009 North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile despite widespread international opposition, and reacted to a tightening of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council by expelling international nuclear inspectors and declaring its intention to revive its atomic weapons program.

On May 25, 2009, North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, again defying international warnings. The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on June 12 to tighten sanctions targeting North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs, including encouraging United Nations members to inspect cargo vessels and airplanes suspected of carrying weapons and other military materiel. The United States and allies like Japan and South Korea have brought back measures, such as freezing Pyongyang's overseas bank accounts, that seemed most painful to the regime in the past.

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Of course, there have been similar cycles before. North Korea took steps in the 1990s toward warmer relations with South Korea, before questions about its nuclear ambitions plunged it back into isolation in 2002. But more broadly, North Korea has taken a consistent anti-Washington line since its creation in 1948, denouncing both the United States and South Korea as a puppet of the U.S. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953 the North has not attacked its neighbor, but to this day keeps large concentrations of troops and artillery focused on Seoul, and has regularly engaged in provocations like kidnappings, submarine incursions and missile tests over the Sea of Japan.

The country's founder, the so-called Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, was succeeded at his death in 1994 by his son, the "Dear Leader," Kim Jong-il, an eccentric playboy invariably seen (in his few public appearances) in platform shoes and a khaki jumpsuit. In 2008, Mr. Kim disappeared from sight for several months, and it was later revealed that he had suffered a stroke. American diplomats and intelligence officials have attributed the swing back to a harder line as evidence both of Mr. Kim's need to assert control over the military that is the heart of the state and a calculation that provocation might lead to concessions from the Obama administration.

A HISTORY OF BRINKMANSHIP

The United States came close to military action against North Korea in 1994, as President Clinton weighed the idea of air strikes against its nuclear sites. Instead, in a last-minute deal, North Korea agreed to shelve its nuclear program. In 2002, President Bush included Pyongyang in the "axis of evil," and American officials charged later that year that North Korea had violated the earlier agreement. Pyongyang declared the agreement void and expelled international nuclear inspectors. China joined with the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia for what became known as the six-party talks. In 2005, an agreement was reached and then scuttled by North Korea, angered by an American-led crackdown on banks doing business with it.

On Oct. 9, 2006, North Korea set off a nuclear device -- a small one, which apparently did not detonate completely, according to experts on seismic recordings. Governments around the world condemned the blast, including China, which has been Pyongyang's chief protector for decades. In a policy shift, American officials agreed to meet with North Korea for one-on-one talks concerning the financial crackdown.

In February 2007, an agreement was reached under which North Korea would shut down its plant at Yongbyon, at which it had manufactured nuclear bomb fuel, in return for shipments of fuel oil. Early deadlines for action under the agreement came and went, with North Korea charging that funds from frozen bank accounts had not been returned. But after the funds made their way back to Pyongyang after a complicated series of transactions, the government announced in June 2007 that it was allowing international inspectors to return.

In the fall of 2007 North Korea missed another series of deadlines under the agreement, but still seemed to be following a path of relative openness, announcing plans for a visit by the New York Philharmonic in early 2008.

The report released in June 2008 left many questions unanswered about North Korea's nuclear program, like the extent of North Korea's nuclear proliferation activities around the globe and its suspected efforts to enrich uranium. But it was hailed by President Bush as worth rewarding by dropping the designation of Pyongyang as a sponsor of terrorism.

THE SECOND NUCLEAR TEST

On April 5, 2009, North Korea failed in a highly vaunted effort to fire a satellite into orbit, military and private experts said after reviewing detailed tracking data that showed the missile and payload fell into the sea. Some said the failure undercut the North Korean campaign to come across as a fearsome adversary able to hurl deadly warheads halfway around the globe.

Defying world opinion, the country in previous weeks had moved steadily and fairly openly toward launching a long-range rocket that Western experts saw as a major step toward a military weapon. The launching itself of the three-stage rocket, which the North Korean government portrayed as a success -- even bragging that the supposed satellite payload was broadcasting patriotic tunes from space -- outraged Japan and South Korea, led to widespread rebuke by President Obama and other leaders, and prompted the United Nations Security Council to go into an emergency session. The council voted to tighten economic sanctions on Pyongyang, though China and Russia blocked tougher measures sought by the United States.

Officials and analysts in Seoul said the North's rocket, identified by American officials as a Taepodong-2, flew at least 2,000 miles, doubling the range of an earlier rocket it tested in 1998 and boosting its potential to fire a long-range missile. When North Korea first flight-tested the Taepodong-2, in July 2006, it blew apart 40 seconds after take-off. The rocket is designed to fly at least 6,700 kilometers, or 4,200 miles, according the South Korean Defense Ministry.

The impoverished country may be years away from building a truly intercontinental ballistic missile and tipping it with a nuclear warhead. But to governments grown increasingly concerned by the North's military might, the launch was a sign that it was doggedly moving in that direction.

Initial seismic readings of the May 25 blast in the mountains of Kilju, not far from the Chinese border - exactly where North Korea conducted its 2006 test - was "a several kiloton event," according to one senior Obama administration official. If that judgment is correct, the test yielded a somewhat bigger explosion than the 2006 test, which was later judged a partial fizzle.

THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

Facing the first direct challenge to his administration by an emerging nuclear weapons state, President Obama declared on May 25 that the United States and its allies would "stand up" to North Korea.

Acutely aware that their response to the explosion would be seen as an early test of a new administration, Mr. Obama's aides said they were determined to organize a significantly stronger response than the Bush administration had managed after the North's first nuclear test, in October 2006. Speaking in the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama vowed to "take action" in response to what he called "a blatant violation of international law" and the North's declaration that it was repudiating past commitments to dismantle its nuclear program.

North Korea's renewed nuclear challenges to the West are seen by many observers as the result of an internal struggle to replace Mr. Kim, who had only recently began appearing in public again after recuperating from what South Korean and Western intelligence officials have said was a stroke.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the Obama administration considered the latest tests aggressive but not a crisis. Nonetheless, he echoed other senior officials by saying that North Korea's export of its nuclear technology to other countries was a major concern.

The Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on June 12 to tighten sanctions targeting North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs, including encouraging United Nations members to inspect cargo vessels and airplanes suspected of carrying weapons and other military materiel. The Obama administration said it will order the Navy to hail and request permission to inspect such ships, but will not board them by force, stopping just short of what North Korea has said it would regard as an act of war.

China and Russia, key North Korean allies, were heavily involved in drafting the resolution during the nearly three weeks since the second nuclear test, but they resisted making the inspections and some other measures mandatory, so it remains unclear what impact the sanctions will have.

Pyongyang has shown itself able to withstand the pressure of sanctions in the past. But in trying to cut off all financial transactions related to the military, as well as imposing a complete arms export ban and almost total import ban, the Council is hoping to push North Korea to return to talks about dismantling its nuclear and missile development programs.

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