North Korea Tensions

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  US, South Korea Scale Down Joint Military Drills As China Prepares Trump Trip

  The US and South Korea reduced the scale of annual springtime joint military drills long denounced by North Korea, as Seoul attempts to ease tensions with Pyongyang ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to the region.

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  US Urges North Korea To Curb Actions That Raise Tensions In Northeast Asia

  The United States on Tuesday condemned an attempted missile launch by North Korea and urged Pyongyang to refrain from actions that create tensions in northeastern Asia.

• The days when North Korea could create a crisis and elicit concessions are over: Barack Obama

  President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that North Korea can no longer create an international crisis with nuclear provocations, asserting the United States and South Korea are fully capable of defending themselves.

• North Korea suspends joint projects, Vladimir Putin cites fear of Korea becoming another Chernobyl

  North Korea, after weeks of threats against the United States and South Korea, suspended its sole remaining major project with the South on Monday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said any nuclear conflict may make Chernobyl look like a fairy tale.

• South Korea: North Korea may be preparing to test missile

  A top South Korean national security official said on Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul.

• Fidel Castro advises friend North Korea against war

  Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned ally North Korea against war on Friday and described the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula as one of the "gravest risks" for nuclear holocaust since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

• North Korea warns it cannot protect embassies after April 10

  North Korea has said it cannot assure the safety of embassies in Pyongyang after April 10, and has urged Britain, Russia and other European nations to evacuate diplomatic staff amid soaring nuclear tensions.

• As Koreas face off, risk of accidental war grows

  At the North Korean embassy in London, they are answering the phone but saying little. "As far as we know, we are not giving any statements," a North Korean official told Reuters, declining to give his name and saying all necessary information was already available on the website of the North Korean state news agency KCNA.

• North Korea tells Russia to consider evacuating embassy staff

  North Korea has suggested to Russia that it should consider evacuating its embassy in Pyongyang due to the upsurge of tensions on the Korean peninsula, a Russian diplomat said on Friday.

• North Korea threats pose 'real and clear danger': Chuck Hagel

  North Korea's threats and recent actions represent a "real and clear danger" to the United States as well as its allies South Korea and Japan, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday.

• North Korea bars South's entry to joint factory

  North Korea on Wednesday barred South Korean workers from entering a jointly run factory park just over the heavily armed border in the North in the latest sign that Pyongyang's warlike stance toward South Korea and the United States is moving from words to action.

• North Korea vows to restart nuclear facilities

  North Korea has vowed to restart all mothballed facilities at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex. They were closed in 2007 as part of an international nuclear disarmament deal.

• North Korean leader dials down hostile rhetoric

  North Korea's leader appeared to tamp down hostile rhetoric that had threatened impending war with the United States and South Korea in a key speech published on Tuesday that implied the isolated country was shifting its focus to development.

• US deploys warship off South Korea amid soaring tensions

  The United States has positioned a warship off the Korean coast as a shield against ballistic missile attack as South Korea's new president vowed swift retaliation against a North Korean strike amid soaring tensions on the peninsula.

• US takes North Korea threats 'very seriously': Pentagon

  The United States takes North Korea's latest threats to strike targets on the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam "very seriously," Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Tuesday.