A North Korean diplomat confirmed on Sunday that his country had shut down its sole operating nuclear reactor after receiving an initial shipment of oil aid and said that United Nations inspectors would start to verify the closure later in the day. Kim Myong Gil also raised hope for further progress on disarmament.
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/ 23 December 2005
While South Korea’s most famous scientist was resigning on Friday in scandal after his university said key research was faked, one of his greatest purported breakthroughs — Snuppy, an Afghan hound that researcher Hwang Woo-suk said he cloned — was cavorting in the snow on the grounds of Seoul National University’s animal hospital, where the dog is now kept.
North Korea called United States Vice-President Dick Cheney a ”bloodthirsty beast” and said on Thursday his recent remarks labelling its ruler Kim Jong Il irresponsible are another reason for it to stay away from six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. Nearly a year since the last session of the talks, North Korea has refused to return to the table.
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/ 16 February 2005
North Korea marked the 63rd birthday of leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday with feasts of pheasant and venison for the capital’s elite — and a healthy side order of propaganda — amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula over the communist state’s nuclear weapons programme.