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/ 22 December 2006
A week of diplomatic negotiations aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons ended with no progress on Friday, with envoys failing even to set a firm date to meet again. The six parties agreed only to report to their capitals and ”reconvene at the earliest opportunity”, said a statement read by chief Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei.
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/ 15 November 2006
South Korean engraver Kim Young-sik looks in the mirror every morning and sees the reflection of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. As his bouffant-combed hairline recedes, the 56-year-old resident of Seoul is a dead ringer for the rarely seen North Korean of big hair, spectacles and platform shoes fame.
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/ 17 October 2006
North Korea denounced United Nations sanctions on Tuesday as a declaration of war, while across the border in Seoul an official said there were signs the reclusive Communist state may be preparing for a second nuclear test. Pyongyang said it had withstood international pressure before and so was hardly likely to yield now that it had become ”a nuclear weapons state”.
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/ 17 October 2006
United States spy satellites have detected suspicious activity near North Korea’s nuclear test site that may signal preparations for another detonation, US television networks have reported. US officials said they could not be certain what the North Koreans were doing, but the activity could be preparations for a second nuclear blast.
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/ 13 October 2006
World powers moved closer on Friday to a response to North Korea’s nuclear test, with a United Nations draft resolution that retains economic and weapons sanctions but specifically rules out military force. North Korea has said it would consider tough UN measures as tantamount to a declaration of war and would respond in kind.
Major world powers condemned North Korea after it said it successfully conducted a nuclear test on Monday, and called for United Nations-sponsored sanctions that could further impoverish the isolated communist state. Pyongyang’s chief ally China denounced the test as ”brazen” and urged it to avoid action that could worsen the situation.
North Korea said on Monday it had safely and successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, flying in the face of a warning from the United Nations Security Council and opening its crippled economy to the risk of fresh sanctions. Pyongyang’s move, which came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived for a visit to Seoul, could heighten regional tensions.