North Korea Nuclear Arms

South Korea imposed fresh sanctions on 10 individuals and two entities in relation to North Korea's nuclear program and weapons trade with three countries, including Russia, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrived in South Korea on Monday, only days after the first U.S. nuclear armed submarine made port in the country in four decades, as the two allies seek to boost American strategic assets to deter North Korea.

North Korea fired cruise missiles toward the western waters on Saturday following an earlier threat to use nuclear arms over the arrival of a US nuclear-capable submarine in South Korea.

North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for what it said was the collapse of international arms control systems and said Pyongyang's nuclear weapons were a just response to ensure the balance of power in the region.

North Korea has passed a law allowing it to carry out a preventive nuclear strike and declaring its status as a nuclear-armed state "irreversible", state media said Friday.

North Korea may have spent as much as $642 million on its nuclear programme last year, according to anti-nuclear activists, as the impoverished country appears ready to test a new weapon despite battling a COVID-19 outbreak and economic crisis.

North Korea faked a "successful" launch of its most powerful long-range missile to shore up domestic support for Kim Jong Un's regime after the real test ended in failure, analysts say.

North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday said a new US alliance in the Indo-Pacific and recent US submarine contract with Australia could trigger a "nuclear arms race" in the region.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the US secretary of state he did not want his children to live with the burden of nuclear weapons, a former CIA officer involved in high-level diplomacy over the North's weapons was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it expects Pyongyang to keep its commitment made at a June leaders' summit to give up its nuclear arms and would press southeast Asian nations during meetings this week to maintain sanctions against North Korea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol enter a second day of meetings in New York on Thursday as they try to settle nuclear weapons disagreements and set the stage for an historic summit between their two leaders.

A top UN official on Monday denounced growing rhetoric claiming that nuclear arms are necessary and warned that the risk of such weapons being used was on the rise.

President Donald Trump expressed optimism Monday about his proposed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which he said will take place in late May or early June, the most specific time frame the White House has yet offered.

North Korea said on Tuesday it would not discuss its nuclear weapons in coming talks with Seoul because they were aimed only at the United States, not its "brethren" in South Korea.

The US cannot tolerate a nuclear armed North Korea, America's national security advisor said today, asserting that such a development would pose a grave security threat to the countries in the region and the world.

South Korea imposed fresh sanctions on 10 individuals and two entities in relation to North Korea's nuclear program and weapons trade with three countries, including Russia, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrived in South Korea on Monday, only days after the first U.S. nuclear armed submarine made port in the country in four decades, as the two allies seek to boost American strategic assets to deter North Korea.

North Korea fired cruise missiles toward the western waters on Saturday following an earlier threat to use nuclear arms over the arrival of a US nuclear-capable submarine in South Korea.

North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for what it said was the collapse of international arms control systems and said Pyongyang's nuclear weapons were a just response to ensure the balance of power in the region.

North Korea has passed a law allowing it to carry out a preventive nuclear strike and declaring its status as a nuclear-armed state "irreversible", state media said Friday.

North Korea may have spent as much as $642 million on its nuclear programme last year, according to anti-nuclear activists, as the impoverished country appears ready to test a new weapon despite battling a COVID-19 outbreak and economic crisis.

North Korea faked a "successful" launch of its most powerful long-range missile to shore up domestic support for Kim Jong Un's regime after the real test ended in failure, analysts say.

North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday said a new US alliance in the Indo-Pacific and recent US submarine contract with Australia could trigger a "nuclear arms race" in the region.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the US secretary of state he did not want his children to live with the burden of nuclear weapons, a former CIA officer involved in high-level diplomacy over the North's weapons was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it expects Pyongyang to keep its commitment made at a June leaders' summit to give up its nuclear arms and would press southeast Asian nations during meetings this week to maintain sanctions against North Korea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol enter a second day of meetings in New York on Thursday as they try to settle nuclear weapons disagreements and set the stage for an historic summit between their two leaders.

A top UN official on Monday denounced growing rhetoric claiming that nuclear arms are necessary and warned that the risk of such weapons being used was on the rise.

President Donald Trump expressed optimism Monday about his proposed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which he said will take place in late May or early June, the most specific time frame the White House has yet offered.

North Korea said on Tuesday it would not discuss its nuclear weapons in coming talks with Seoul because they were aimed only at the United States, not its "brethren" in South Korea.

The US cannot tolerate a nuclear armed North Korea, America's national security advisor said today, asserting that such a development would pose a grave security threat to the countries in the region and the world.