Pyongyang North Korea

The United States on Friday urged North Korea to abandon its "bellicose rhetoric" in the wake of a naval clash with South Korea just days before President Barack Obama's ongoing trip to Asia. "We would (urge North Korea) to refrain... from that kind of bellicose rhetoric and, in general, avoid any kind of provocative actions that would further inflame the tension in the region," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly. Pyongyang's army earlier said in a message to the South's forces that it would employ "merciless military measures" to protect its border. A scrappy naval confrontation on Tuesday, shortly before Obama's visit to Seoul ... Read Full Story

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday North Korea had become a more deadly threat to the region and Washington would never tolerate a nuclear-armed Pyongyang. North Korea in recent weeks has indicated it could return to dormant international talks on ending its nuclear arms program after raising alarm in the economically vital North Asian region with an atomic test in May and threats to attack the South. "America's long-term military commitment here recognizes that the peril posed by the North Korean regime remains, and in many ways has become even more lethal and destabilizing," Gates told U.S. and South ... Read Full Story

You want more fries with that, Mr. Kim? How about a hotdog, Miss Park? Once condemned as evil "US imperialist" fare, western-style fast food is now available in North Korea thanks to a Singaporean entrepreneur who is already drawing up expansion plans just months after opening his first outlet. "There is a potential to develop this business over there," said Patrick Soh, who is bullish on the prospects of fast food in the isolated Stalinist state better known for famines than deep-fried delights. Soh, 56, holds the franchise in several Asian countries for Waffletown USA, a relatively obscure brand in the region compared to ... Read Full Story

North Korea and Diplomacy A time-line of Bush futility holds lessons for Obama. Right after North Korea's first nuclear test, in October 2006, Senator Bob Menendez explained that the event "illustrates just how much the Bush Administration's incompetence has endangered our nation." The New Jersey Democrat hasn't said what he thinks North Korea's second test says about the current Administration, so allow us to connect the diplomatic dots. AP At the time of the first test, the common liberal lament was that Kim Jong Il was belligerent only because President Bush had eschewed diplomacy in favor of tough rhetoric, like naming Pyongyang to the ... Read Full Story

North Korean officials quietly visited Los Angeles last week to talk about resuming food aid, which the impoverished state cut off five months ago during a standoff, participants have said. The move comes as tensions gradually ease with North Korea, which stunned the world by conducting a nuclear test earlier this year but in recent weeks has made overtures for dialogue. Five North Korean officials received special US permission to visit Los Angeles where they met representatives of non-governmental organizations that provide relief worldwide, according to the groups. Richard Walden, president of Operation USA, said the charity picked up the North Koreans at the ... Read Full Story