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Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) directed President Obama to "stop protecting China" in order to more effectively respond to hostile actions from North Korea. Cruz, a presidential candidate, penned the letter to Obama Wednesday to express concern with his policy of "strategic patience" toward North Korea. Earlier, the Texas senator announced that he would vote in favor of legislation that would impose nuclear weapons-related sanctions in North Korea, which is expected to gain passage in the Senate. Cruz outlined several means of more effectively responding to aggressive actions from North Korea, which over the weekend launched a long-range rocket and...

SEOUL -- North Korea has executed its army chief of staff, Ri Yong Gil, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, which, if true, would be the latest in a series of executions, purges, and disappearances under the country's young leader. The news comes amid heightened tension surrounding the isolated North Korea after its Sunday launch of a long-range rocket, about a month after it drew international condemnation for conducting its fourth nuclear test. A source familiar with North Korean affairs also told Reuters that Ri had been executed. The source declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of...

North Korea has executed its army chief of staff, Ri Yong Gil, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, which, if true, would be the latest in a series of executions, purges and disappearances under its young leader. The news comes amid heightened tension surrounding isolated North Korea after its Sunday launch of a long-range rocket, which came about a month after it drew international condemnation for conducting its fourth nuclear test. A source familiar with North Korean affairs also told Reuters that Ri had been executed. The source declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of the matter.

Tokyo has ordered ballistic missile defense units in the Sea of Japan and onshore to shoot down any North Korean missile that would threaten its territory. Japan's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that it would destroy any North Korean missile if it threatened to fall on its territory, after Pyongyang announced it planned to launch a space rocket this month. "Today the defense minister issued an order" to destroy such a missile if it "is confirmed that it will fall on Japanese territory," the Japanese ministry said in a statement. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, who issued the order, cited the...

After delaying nearly two years, the Pentagon on Monday announced plans to deploy advanced missile defenses in South Korea as soon as possible. In early 2014 the U.S. military commander in South Korea, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, asked the Pentagon for ground-based Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (or THAAD) units to counter growing threats posed by North Korean nuclear arms and missiles. China's government, however, pressured the South Korean government of Park Geun Hye into blocking the deployment. In the interim, the Obama administration did not press Seoul to allow interceptor batteries to be fielded, according to U.S. officials. Scaparrotti repeated the...

North Korea, which in recent weeks has conducted a nuclear test and fired a long-range rocket in defiance of United Nations sanctions, has also resumed its efforts to produce weapons-grade nuclear material, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told Congress Tuesday. A North Korean uranium enrichment facility has been expanded, and a plutonium reactor, closed in 2007, is back up and running, Clapper testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee. The reactor could begin to recover plutonium "within a matter of weeks to months," he said. The dictatorship's growing menace also includes a growth in the "size and sophistication of its...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: North Korean adventurism only adds to Israel's proliferation concerns. North Korea's fourth nuclear test, the P5+1 agreement to lift Iranian sanctions, and the billions of dollars worth in deals between Tehran and Asian and European companies, together constitute a significant challenge. In addition, Jerusalem faces a difficult task of being the watchdog that monitors Iran's adherence to the nuclear deal. One of the biggest concerns is that Iran will not openly breach the P5+1 agreement, but rather cooperate with North Korea on a "Back Door" plan towards the bomb, with North Korea surreptitiously doing the dirty work...

This story actually broke just as we were warming up for the debate last night and our readers were discussing it in comments while most of the political sphere was focused on New Hampshire. Ahead of their original schedule, Kim Jong-un launched a missile into orbit allegedly carrying an “Earth observing satellite” over the objections of pretty much everyone else on the planet. Like we needed this on top of everything else that’s going on.(WaPo) North Korea on Sunday declared that it had successfully put an "earth observation satellite" into orbit under the direct orders of leader Kim Jong Un,...

The Japanese government says North Korea launched what's widely believed to be a long-range ballistic missile on Sunday. The government said the missile was launched at 9:31 AM Japan time from the western coast of North Korea toward the direction of Okinawa Prefecture.

Last night a Bernie Sanders declared North Korea our biggest foreign threat. "Clearly North Korea is a very strange situation because it is such an isolated country run by a handful of dictators, or maybe just one, who seems to be somewhat paranoid. And, who had nuclear weapons." Not that you've read much about this in the mainstream media, but just last week North Korea (7 thousand miles away) signed a "Trade Agreement" with Castro's Cuba (90 miles away.) Not that you've read much about this in the mainstream media, but much of the "trade" between Stalinist Cuba and Stalinist...

As of this writing, North Korea intends to launch another Unha-3 rocket, or a larger and more efficient version in a launch window falling between 8 – 25 February. This launch follows on the heels of a nuclear test conducted by North Korea on January 6, 2016, and the claim by Kim Jung-Un that the bomb was a hydrogen bomb. The MSM pundits and their positivist quacking "experts" all state the bomb was not a hydrogen bomb; however, experts such as Peter V. Pry disagree. What was discussed by Dr. Pry was the intentionally low-yield weapon test that would...

North Korea's nuclear extortion drama, the repeated threat of nuclear attack followed by demands for food and financial aid, has exhausted South Korean and Japanese diplomatic patience. Last year, Japan indicated that North Korea should expect more than expressions of anger the next time it put a ballistic missile on a launch pad in preparation for a test. Pyongyang's threat theater often starts with erecting a missile and announcing a test flight. Alternatively, Act 1 begins with a nuclear test. North Korea allegedly conducted a nuclear test on January 6. Weapon range and reliability play a role Tokyo's and Seoul's...

Former president Jimmy Carter on Wednesday will make a rare address to the upper chamber of the British Parliament to draw attention to the eradication of the Guinea worm disease, according to the Associated Press.

The United States has backtracked somewhat on its previous assessment of North Korea's recent nuclear test, CNN reported Thursday. While Washington originally expressed skepticism over Pyongyang's claims that it tested a hydrogen bomb during the January 6 test, it now believes North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb after further review and analysis of the latest intelligence information, officials told the news network. A U.S. official directly familiar with the latest assessment said there may have been a partial, failed test of some type of components associated with a hydrogen bomb. ...

Speculation mounts of imminent N. Korea rocket launch AFP By Thomas Watkins, with Hiroshi Hiyama in Tokyo Washington (AFP) - Speculation mounted Friday that North Korea is preparing a rocket or long-range missile launch to follow its recent nuclear test, with Japan reportedly ordering its military to shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory. With existing UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from the use of ballistic missile technology, any launch would be a further slap in the face of the international community which is struggling to find a united response to the January 6 nuclear test. Following...

The U.S. now believes North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb on January 6, after further review and analysis of the latest intelligence information. A U.S. official directly familiar with the latest U.S. assessment said there may have been a partial, failed test of some type of components associated with a hydrogen bomb. The assessment comes after careful examination of the latest intelligence analysis of the test data. But the official emphasized there is no final conclusion. ... That analysis shows the test was conducted more than two times deeper underground than originally assessed --...

North Korea may be readying long-range missile launch soon: Kyodo SEOUL | By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range missile as soon as within a week, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported early on Thursday, citing an unnamed Japanese government official. The official cited signs of possible preparations for a missile launch, based on analysis of satellite imagery of the North's Tongchang-ri missile test site on its west coast. The report came as U.N. Security Council members discuss fresh sanctions against the North after it conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6....

PYONGYANG, North Korea,- North Korea announced food scientists have achieved a major scientific breakthrough: a "suave" liquor that "causes no hangover." The state-run Pyongyang Times said in an English-language report that scientists with the Taedonggang Foodstuff Factory altered the recipe for the ginseng-based Koryo liquor to eliminate the morning-after hangover effects of consuming alcohol. The report said researchers found the hangover was eliminated by "using the boiled and scorched glutinous rice instead of sugar" to cover the bitter taste of the ginseng. "Koryo Liquor, which is made of six-year-old Kaesong Koryo insam, known as being highest in medicinal effect, and...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Iran has fulfilled its initial obligations under the terms of the nuclear deal reached with world powers last July, paving the way for the first stage of sanctions relief. The IAEA's announcement came just hours after a breakthrough prisoner swap with the United States saw four American citizens freed in return for the release of seven Iranians jailed in the US. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano hailed the announcement as "an important day for the international community." Sanctions relief to Tehran will see billions of dollars in trade and unfrozen funds...

No wonder Iran has given up its nuclear weapons development program. With the $150 billion we are giving them, they can buy all of the nukes they need from North Korea. Trump is correct when he says our country is run by stupid people!