SEOUL

North Korea has developed a long-range missile capable of targeting all of Japan and the United States territory of Guam, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday on the eve of the communist state’s 55th anniversary. The report comes amid speculation that North Korea could carry out a nuclear test on Tuesday.

North Korea’s rubber-stamp Parliament endorsed on Wednesday a government decision to boost the Stalinist state’s nuclear weapons drive, the Korean Central News Agency said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-Kwan warned North Korea on Sunday not to follow through on threats to build up its nuclear programme, saying such a move would only increase the North’s isolation.

The North Korean military threatened immediate retaliation on Tuesday if the United States imposes sanctions or sea or air blockades against the communist state.

North Korea threatened on Monday to scuttle all nuclear talks unless the United States responds positively to the North’s offer to dismantle it nuclear programme in exchange for economic and diplomatic payoffs.

Fifty years after the death of Joseph Stalin, the former Soviet dictator, North Korea remains the world’s only country routinely referred to as Stalinist.

A North Korean Mig-19 fighter jet violated South Korean air space on Thursday, prompting South Korean fighters to scramble, military officials said.

North Korea on Wednesday described the UN’s atomic watchdog as a ”henchman” of the United States, accusing it of applying double standards to the Stalinist state in the ongoing nuclear standoff.

North Korea denied on Thursday that it was planning to develop nuclear weapons by moving to reactivate a power plant that it froze under a 1994 deal with the United States.

North Korea has threatened to reactivate its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in retaliation for what it sees as a breach of trust by the United States, South Korea and Japan. The decision renews tension of early 90s when the nuclear plant took the world to the brink of war.

World Cup football fans in Korea are to be served free samples of cooked dog to convince them of its nutritional value and help overcome any cultural prejudices they may have over eating the animal.

North Korea said Friday the United States must first sign a peace pact with Pyongyang and meet other demands in negotiations in order to resolve a crisis over the Stalinist state’s nuclear weapons.

North Korea has said the United States was to blame for the weekend naval clash with South Korea and that Washington was seeking to ”drive a wedge” between the two Koreas.

A North Korean reporter figured he could write about a pepper bush plantation from the comfort of his office. But leader Kim Jong Il, the story goes, insisted on driving with him to a rugged ravine and crossing a flooded river to personally count the bushes.

Stalinist North Korea, which has reportedly stockpiled up to 5 000 tons of chemical weapons, is believed to be capable of nearly doubling its stocks in one year, South Korea’s defense ministry said on Monday.

New attempts to underpin roller-coaster relations between the two Koreas will start on Monday when they hold their first ministerial meeting since a deadly sea battle in June.

A knife-wielding man went on a rampage and slashed 10 children on Wednesday in a day care centre operated by a Christian church in the South Korean capital, witnesses and police said.

North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il will visit Russia this month, the North announced on Thursday in a sign of the communist state making a new push to end its isolation.

Dogburgers will be on the menu for fans during the World Cup in South Korea.

A top US arms control official said on Thursday North Korea was an evil regime which had repeatedly ignored US warnings to stop proliferating weapons of mass destruction.

The youngest son of South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung has denied corruption charges when he appeared in court at the start of his trial.

Thousands of South Korean veterans marched on Thursday in downtown Seoul, burning North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in effigy and calling for ”sticks and no more carrots”.