North Korean nuclear program causes new tensions with US

The Biden administration has finally announced its North Korea policy after having completed a three-month long policy review. And the policy it has decided on is a bit of a surprise.

That’s because its stated end goal is apparently the same as Pyongyang’s: “The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

North Korea’s second missile test in a week is increasing the pressure on President Joe Biden to respond, inching the nuclear-armed state further up the administration’s long list of global challenges to address.

Officials in the US, South Korea, and Japan announced that North Korea had launched two short-range ballistic missiles at around 7 am local time Thursday (Wednesday evening in America). The missiles flew nearly 40 miles high and traveled around 280 miles, landing harmlessly in the Sea of Japan, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, which is considered an extension of the country’s sovereignty out into the waters.

North Korea tested its first missiles since President Joe Biden took office, launching two short-range projectiles last weekend off the country’s west coast and into the adjoining Yellow Sea.

But you won’t find the Biden administration threatening “fire and fury” any time soon. In fact, two senior US officials waved off suggestions that the test was a big deal or that it was meant as a direct challenge to the new US president.

North Korea’s display of new, dangerous weapons on Saturday made one thing perfectly clear: Over the last four years, President Donald Trump has failed to curb the nuclear threat from Pyongyang.

Trump made a big bet that meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times and sending him flattering letters might convince Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear and missile arsenals once and for all. But during the country’s 75th annual military parade celebrating the founding of its ruling party, Kim made sure to signal to the entire world that Trump has made no progress on that front. In fact, matters have only gotten worse.

President Donald Trump likes to brag that he “largely solved” the problem of a nuclearized North Korea. But it turns out many Americans disagree with him.

A new poll shows that only 31 percent of Americans approve of the Trump administration’s handling of US-North Korea relations, with another 39 percent disapproving (and 30 percent “not sure” what to think).

Well, it looks like North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un isn’t dead after all.

In fact, he’s, uh, at a fertilizer factory.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has become a visible global presence over the last few years. But in the last week, he’s completely disappeared from public view — and rumors have started to swirl that he may be seriously ill, or even dead.

On April 15, Kim didn’t appear at a celebration commemorating North Korea’s most important holiday, which honors the founder of the country, Kim’s late grandfather Kim Il Sung. State-run media oddly hasn’t published any photos of a recent weapons test, which typically show the leader watching in approval. And official statements from the country have curiously lacked any direct comments from Kim himself.

Long before President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man” or met him in person, Trump had an idea to safeguard millions of South Koreans from the dictator’s wrath: Move them. Move them all.

According to an excerpt from Peter Bergen’s new book Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos, posted by Time on Thursday morning, the president made a startling comment during a mid-April 2017 briefing on North Korea.

North Korea has released a series of photos of leader Kim Jong Un riding a majestic white horse atop a snowy mountain — and they’re as gloriously hilarious as you’d think.

One should typically be cautious when disseminating propaganda from a brutal authoritarian regime, and the equine images released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday and Wednesday certainly fit that bill.

The United States and North Korea are about to hold working-level talks for the first time in months this weekend. To end the stalemate, the Trump administration plans to propose a deal to move forward on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program — and it’s less than the all-or-nothing approach Washington has taken so far.

Here’s the offer, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations: The United Nations would suspend sanctions on Pyongyang’s textile and coal exports for 36 months in exchange for the verifiable closure of the Yongbyon nuclear facility and another measure, most likely the end of North Korea’s uranium enrichment.

John Bolton was fired less than three weeks ago as national security adviser — and he’s already starting to fire back at President Donald Trump by blowing a hole in the administration’s North Korea policy.

In his first public remarks since his ouster, Bolton openly and repeatedly disagreed with Trump’s approach toward Pyongyang, albeit without ever mentioning the president’s name.

A top adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in says there’s more than a 70 percent chance the US and North Korea will strike an agreement either on nuclear weapons or their relationship by the year’s end.

That’s the main takeaway from my hour-long talk in Seoul last week with Moon Chung-in, who is so trusted by the South Korean leader that he was named the next ambassador to the US this year. He declined the offer, choosing instead to remain in his current post as a special aide on national security, foreign affairs, and unification.

North Korea has just conducted its sixth missile test in more than three weeks, continuing to improve its military capabilities while receiving little to no resistance from the United States.

Reports indicate that the projectiles were fired toward North Korea’s east coast. It’s too early to tell what kind of projectiles were launched, but the weapons are likely short-range ballistic missiles that Pyongyang has tested many times this year.

It’s been nearly six months since President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met for their failed summit in Vietnam, where they were unable to make progress on a nuclear deal that would have proved a legacy-defining achievement for the American leader.

But the months since have seemingly put that goal out of reach. Kim has shown off no fewer than four new, advanced weapons since the Hanoi meeting in February. In press releases and five missile tests over the past month, Kim has displayed two different short-range ballistic missiles, a multiple-rocket launcher, and a submarine that could potentially shoot nuclear missiles from hidden, underwater positions.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s North Korea’s motto these days, as it just launched its fourth set of projectiles — likely missiles — in less than two weeks.

Reports indicate that the projectiles were fired off North Korea’s west coast and then flew across the country before landing in waters off the east coast. That would differ from the previous three launches that all took off from the country’s eastern shores. It’s too early to tell what kind of projectiles were launched. The last three were either a short-range ballistic missile or rocket shot from a new launcher.

North Korea is at it again, testing a third set of missiles in just over a week. If anyone thought President Donald Trump’s personal friendship with Kim Jong Un would make these threatening moves go away, it’s officially time to think again.

The South Korean and US militaries have confirmed the newest test. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North fired an unknown, short-range projectile into the Sea of Japan from the country’s Yonghung province in the south. That adds to the rocket launches this week and a similar missile test last week. As of now, it’s unclear how far the projectiles flew or how high they went.

North Korea appears to have tested its second set of missiles in just a week — a sign that its displeasure with South Korea and the US is growing.

The South Korean military says its northern neighbor launched two short-range missiles near Wonsan, a city on the North Korea’s eastern coast, early Wednesday morning local time. They flew eastward about 155 miles and rose about 19 miles high.

In just the past week, North Korea has unveiled a brand new submarine that could potentially launch nuclear weapons and tested two short-range missiles that gravely threaten US allies South Korea and Japan.

The casual observer might understandably expect President Donald “fire and fury” Trump and his hawkish administration to respond forcefully to these new provocations. But the opposite has happened: They’re taking the barrage with a degree of calm virtually unseen before from this administration.

North Korea has just fired two unidentified projectiles — a provocative move that just so happens to come right as National Security Adviser (and longtime North Korea foe) John Bolton is visiting South Korea.

The launches, which took place early Thursday morning local time, came from the city of Wonsan on North Korea’s east coast, according to South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff. The projectiles flew approximately 265 miles and splashed down in the Sea of Japan.

North Korea has released pictures of a new submarine that it could potentially use to launch nuclear weapons. If that’s the case, the country may have gained a very dangerous, stealthy ability to threaten the US and its allies — all in defiance of President Donald Trump.

Pyongyang released three images on Monday night showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un standing in front of a massive submarine inside a shipyard. Experts say it’s large enough that it could carry missiles equipped with nuclear bombs, allowing Kim to order nuclear strikes from unknown underwater locations.

Iran has exceeded the uranium enrichment level of 3.67 percent set in the 2015 nuclear deal it made with world powers, a spokesman for Iran’s nuclear agency said, according to reports Monday.

The deal put tight restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the loosening of some international sanctions on the country. The 3.67 percent limitation on uranium enrichment purity was one of many limits in the deal meant to keep Iran from gathering enough material to build an atom bomb in a year if it chose to (Iran has never officially said it wants a nuclear weapon).

Shortly before becoming president, Donald Trump received a stark message from the man he would soon replace, Barack Obama: North Korea would be the biggest foreign policy challenge facing the new administration. Its growing nuclear and missile arsenals vexed the Democrat’s administration, and they were only likely to improve while the Republican was in office.

But two and a half years into Trump’s tenure, it appears that Pyongyang is no longer as big a problem as it was just a few years ago — because Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s relationship seems surprisingly strong.

Few figures on the world stage are more intriguing — or more terrifying — than North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

As supreme leader, his whims dictate the lives of his country’s 25 million citizens. He controls an arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that threaten the lives of millions more around the world.

A top North Korean official reportedly sent to a reeducation camp over a failed summit with President Donald Trump isn’t actually doing hard labor at all. Instead, he’s hanging out with leader Kim Jong Un at swanky concerts — although it does appear he suffered a fall from grace.

In February, Trump and Kim weren’t able to reach a nuclear agreement in Vietnam during their second summit. Kim wanted to walk away from Hanoi with nearly all sanctions removed for the closure of important nuclear sites, while Trump wanted Pyongyang to completely dismantle its nuclear arsenal before lifting any financial penalties.

South Korea’s biggest newspaper reported Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had multiple officials — including the lead negotiator in nuclear talks with the United States — executed two months ago.

If true, it’s a massive revelation showing the brutality of the North Korean regime and the very real, human stakes involved in President Donald Trump’s diplomatic effort with Kim. But it’s wise to take this information with a grain of salt — a mountain of it, really — before jumping to any serious conclusions, since it could be, well, fake news.