SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has resumed construction work on an experimental light water reactor (ELWR) in a move that could extend its capacity to produce more material for nuclear weapons, website 38North reported on Thursday.

Based on April 30 satellite images, work halted in December at the reactor had now re-started, said the website (38north.org), run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University and former U.S. State Department official Joel Wit.

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) – Smarting from a failed rocket
launch, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has little choice but
to stick to his father’s playbook of milking an impoverished
country to develop weapons and blackmail the international
community for aid and recognition.

Far from fearing a coup or instability after Friday’s public
fiasco, the third of his line to rule North Korea will lead
celebrations on Sunday to mark the centenary of the birth of his
grandfather, the founder of the world’s only Stalinist monarchy,
“Eternal President” Kim Il-sung.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea lauded the military might built up by deceased leader Kim Jong-il on Thursday, likely tying his young successor to the same policies that have set Northeast Asia on edge as the impoverished state inches closer to nuclear weapons capability.

A gathering of 100,000, soldiers in uniform and bare-headed civilians, gathered in silence in wintry sunlight in the capital Pyongyang to mourn the passing of the man who had led the country for 17 years until his death on December 17.

SEOUL (Reuters) – The world watched anxiously on Wednesday as North Korea staged a huge funeral in the capital, Pyongyang, for former leader Kim Jong-il, searching for signs of what to expect from the isolated nation that may be close to attaining nuclear weapons capacity.

Bleak pictures from state television showed a funeral cortege led by a limousine carrying a huge picture of the 69-year-old, who died on December 17, passing serried ranks of olive green-clad soldiers whose bare heads were bowed in homage in the main square of the snow-covered capital.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea’s military staged a huge funeral procession on Wednesday in the snowy streets of the capital Pyongyang for its deceased “dear leader,” Kim Jong-il, readying a transition to his son, Kim Jong-un.

Pictures from state television showed a funeral cortege led by a limousine carrying a huge picture of the 69-year old, who died on December 17, passing serried ranks of olive green-clad soldiers whose heads were bowed.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea will hold a funeral procession on Wednesday for its deceased “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il, making way for his son, Kim Jong-un, to become the third member of the family to run the isolated and unpredictable Asian country.

The coming year was supposed to mark North Korea’s self-proclaimed transformation into a “strong and prosperous” nation, but it faces a dangerous transition to a young, untested leader at a time when dictatorships across the world have tumbled.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Koreans poured into the streets on Monday to mourn the death of leader Kim Jong-il and state media hailed his untested son as the “Great Successor” of the reclusive state whose atomic weapons ambitions are a major threat to the region.

Earlier, a tearful North Korean television announcer, dressed in black and her voice quavering, said the 69-year old ruler died on Saturday of “physical and mental over-work” on a train on his way to give “field guidance” — advice dispensed by the “Dear Leader” on trips to factories, farms and the military.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack while on a train trip, state media reported on Monday, sparking immediate concern over who is in control of the reclusive state and its nuclear program.

A tearful television announcer dressed in black said the 69-year old had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work on his way to give “field guidance.”

SEOUL, Nov 15 (Reuters) – South Korea’s president made
a rare trip to parliament on Tuesday to urge legislators to vote
through a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States
which critics say could threaten South Korea’s national
interests.

The FTA, which some studies say could boost the $67 billion
two-way trade between the allies by as much as a quarter, was
approved by the U.S. Congress last month and signed into law by
President Barack Obama.

SEOUL (Reuters) – A 59-year old woman who once dubbed her tough economic policies “Korean Thatcherism” is now sketching out a vision of a more caring society as she aims to take the South Korean presidency her father held for 18 years until he was assassinated.

Park Geun-hye, the daughter of Park Chung-hee, an iron-fisted ruler often called the founder of modern South Korea, once said she might “choose death over a life like this again” after first her mother and then her father were gunned down.