Free Republic

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has reportedly taken his former secretary as a new wife after his purported spouse died of cancer in 2004. The emergence of Kim's new wife is expected to give a new twist to a power struggle between his sons over who would succeed at the helm of the communist country.

U.S. offers to meet N. Korea on sidelines By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago SEOUL, South Korea - A U.S. envoy expressed support for China's proposal to hold informal six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear threat and offered to meet bilaterally with the North on the sidelines of those discussions. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was in Seoul as part of a regional tour to coordinate the international response to the North's test-firing Wednesday of seven missiles. The tests caused international outrage but also division over whether North Korea should be punished. Over Chinese and...

North Korea may have gambled -- and lost -- while playing a game of nuclear/missile chicken with the United States. The reclusive communist state, the only remaining Stalinist regime on the planet, can hardly feed its population. Thousands are reported to starve to death every winter, yet this has not prevented Pyongyang from spending billions of dollars to build a nuclear deterrent, and a delivery system it hopes would reach the continental United States. ~Snip~ This latest move by North Korea will give the United States a golden opportunity to step up its military presence in and around the Pacific...