Full Coverage: Tensions with N. Korea

November 25, 2009

Aiding North Korea defectors: A high-stakes spy mission

As he cased the security at the foreign embassies in Hanoi, the 78-year-old retiree was seized with sudden self-doubt. He was certainly no John le Carre. Who was he to play spy?

November 22, 2009

For the record

North Korea

North Korea: An article last week about visiting North Korea, where tourism is highly controlled, contained incorrect contact information for an agency that arranges trips to the country. The correct telephone number for Koryo Tours, based in Beijing, is 011-86-10-6416-7544, and the e-mail address is info@koryogroup

November 15, 2009

NORTH KOREA

A trip to North Korea offers curious sites

Visiting North Korea is like peering in the window of a store that closed long ago but where old merchandise mysteriously remains. I walk through the aisles feeling privileged, fascinated and curious, a little nervous, but not scared.

November 15, 2009

If you go to North Korea

If you go

About 300 U.S. tourists travel to North Korea annually between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31, the period coinciding with the Arirang Festival (commonly called "mass games") in the capital city of Pyongyang. This is the only time American tourists are allowed, according to Walter Keats, president of Asia-Pacific Travel in Kenilworth, Ill. Truly independent travel is not permitted; visitors are required to have government "escorts," who are with you whenever you leave your hotel.

10:59 PM PST, November 9, 2009

North and South Korean ships exchange fire

A North Korean naval ship suffered heavy damage Tuesday during an exchange of gunfire between the two Koreas along a disputed sea border off their western coasts, officials said.

November 9, 2009

Obama faces a tall agenda on Asia trip

With unemployment topping 10% and his healthcare plan still facing Senate action, President Obama has plenty to keep him busy at home. But on Thursday, he will head to Asia for more than a week, a trip that underscores the White House's conviction that a close partnership with China and other Pacific Rim nations is crucial to American interests.

November 1, 2009

OBITUARY

Lee Hu-rak dies at 85; former South Korean spy chief

Former South Korean spy chief Lee Hu-rak, who brokered the signing of a historic 1972 peace document with North Korea after a secret trip to Pyongyang, died Saturday. He was 85.

October 10, 2009

Japanese, South Korean leaders skeptical of North Korea's offer

Japan and South Korea said Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il must put actions ahead of words before his blacklisted nation can receive desperately needed financial and food aid.

September 25, 2009

North Korea revealed by those who know it

Editor Jiro Ishimaru dimmed the lights and started the shaky video clip before a roomful of North Korea experts.

August 29, 2009

United Arab Emirates seized Iran-bound ship with North Korean arms

The United Arab Emirates this month seized a cargo ship bound for Iran with a cache of banned arms from North Korea, the first such seizure since sanctions against North Korea were ramped up, diplomats and officials said Friday.

August 24, 2009

Kim Dae-jung funeral brings Koreas together

As tens of thousands gathered here Sunday to mourn the death of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his bid to reconcile relations with North Korea, Seoul's conservative government took a page from his diplomatic playbook, meeting face to face with envoys from its communist counterpart.

August 19, 2009

Kim Dae-jung dies at 85; former South Korean president and Nobel laureate

Kim Dae-jung, a former dissident who survived three assassination attempts, one death sentence and six years in prison to become South Korea's president and its first Nobel laureate, died Tuesday in Seoul after a long bout of pneumonia. He was 85.