BELFAST (Reuters) - The United States will continue working for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula regardless of reports that North Korea launched missiles on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. The United States and its allies were trying to demonstrate to North Korea that the international community would not accept its continuing nuclear program, she said. "Our goals remain the same. We intend to work toward a nuclear free Korean peninsula," Clinton told a news conference in... Read Full Story
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China says it is committed to enforcing U.N. sanctions against North Korean companies and individuals linked to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, U.S. coordinator for implementation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea, told reporters that U.N. member states have voiced "a unity of view, a singleness of purpose in implementing these (sanctions) resolutions." "That's the case, certainly, with our... Read Full Story
The United States is sending a top diplomatic official on North Korea's nuclear program to Asia next week to discuss the isolated regime with US regional allies. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the US coordinator for the implementation of recent United Nations sanctions against North Korea, told reporters he will travel to Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan. He will be accompanied by officials from the Pentagon, Treasury Department and National Security Council. "After the discussion at... Read Full Story
The US chief of naval operations on Monday denounced North Korea's weekend ballistic missile launches and vowed to keep tracking its ships if they are suspected of carrying banned weapons. "I think they were very unhelpful, and clearly counter to the desires of the international community for a peaceful and stable region," Admiral Gary Roughead told reporters after talks with South Korean military officials. He said the US Navy would keep tracking North Korean ships suspected of carrying... Read Full Story
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council committee on sanctions against North Korea has agreed on a list of companies, individuals and goods to be targeted, a diplomat present at the meeting said on Thursday. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was still in progress, said the sanctions targeted five North Korean companies, five North Korean individuals and two weapons-related items. The measure would prohibit companies and nations from doing... Read Full Story
New UN sanctions intended to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear program will have an "impact" when they take full force, the top US envoy to the United Nations has said. Susan Rice also said the United States was closely monitoring a North Korean ship that Washington suspects of transporting weapons and nuclear know-how in what would be a violation of a UN embargo on Pyongyang's arms sales. "We're pursuing and following the progress of that ship very closely," Rice told CBS television... Read Full Story
Morality Update: 5:00 PM ESPN Around The Horn Maybe a little early in the day and on a program watched by kids. Right or wrong? North Korean Planned Rocket Launch As discussed yesterday, North Korea is moving ahead with it's plans to launch what they say is merely a rocket designed to put a satellite into orbit. The suspicion is that this will serve as a test for a rocket that would be used to power a long-range missile that would be capable of reaching Alaska. There is also speculation that... Read Full Story
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday it has targeted an Iranian-based firm for its ties to North Korea's missile proliferation network, a move that bans U.S. companies from dealing with it. Hong Kong Electronics, located in Kish Island, Iran, has been named for transferring millions of dollars of proliferation-related funds to North Korea from Iran. "North Korea uses front companies like Hong Kong Electronics and a range of other deceptive practices to obscure the true... Read Full Story
WASHINGTON -— Two high-ranking U.S. military commanders say U.S. forces are prepared to shoot down any North Korean missile following a planned rocket launch in April. "We'll be prepared to respond," the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, Adm. Timothy Keating, told a Senate panel. He cited a "high probability'' that the United States could shoot down a North Korean missile. Gen. Walter Sharp, the U.S. commander in South Korea, urged North Korea not to behave in what he called a "provocative... Read Full Story
US President Barack Obama and South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak on Thursday promised a firm and "stern" response to any North Korean rocket launch after a fresh fiery outburst from Pyongyang. Lee and Obama met on the sidelines of the G20 economic crisis summit in London, after North Korea raised the stakes in Northeast Asia by saying it would attack "major targets" in Japan if Tokyo tried to shoot down the rocket. "The presidents said the international community needs to take stern... Read Full Story
