Free Republic

[snip] The analysts said that the death of the official, Ri Je-gang, coming soon after the death of another top official and the dismissal of yet another one, might instead help the son, Kim Jong-un, replace elderly leaders loyal to his father with those of his choosing. The North’s state-controlled media announced that Mr. Ri, a first deputy director of the Workers Party’s influential Organization and Guidance Department, died in a car accident soon after midnight on Wednesday. He was 80. [snip]

U.S. defense officials say they may deploy the massive aircraft carrier USS George Washington off the Korean Peninsula in the Yellow Sea, where North Korea allegedly sank a South Korean warship. The deployment would be a show of force by the U.S., which has vowed to protect South Korea and is seeking to blunt aggression from North Korea. An international investigation last month blamed North Korea for torpedoing the Cheonan warship in March, killing 46 sailors. U.S. officials, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Wednesday that a final decision on deployment of...

President Barack Obama told congressional leaders Wednesday that he would keep North Korea off of a list of state sponsors of terror. Obama said in a leader to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the president of the Senate -- technically Vice President Joe Biden -- that he had concluded that the government of North Korea "does not meet the statutory criteria to again be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism." North Korea was removed from the state sponsor list in the waning days of President George W. Bush's time in office. Bush, who had labeled the nation a...

<p>EOUL, South Korea — This is a developing story. Please refresh for the latest update.</p> <p>North Korea seized a South Korean fishing boat early Thursday after it accidentally crossed the countries' sea border, a news report said.</p> <p>Yonhap news agency quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying that the incident took place at about 6:30 a.m. in the East Sea and that four people were on board the South Korean boat.</p>

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has moved its most advanced long-range missile to a new launch site and has banned ships from the waters off its west coast through the end of July, news reports said Monday, moves that threaten to exacerbate tensions on the peninsula. The missile, which has arrived at the Dongchang-ni launch site on the northwest coast, is believed to be a version of the Taepodong-2 rocket that the North fired on April 5 saying it was a satellite launch, the South Korean Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported. The North could fire the missile as early as...