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North Korea releases detained Chinese sailors

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 23:15
North Korea has released 16 Chinese fishermen and their boat, Chinese state-run media said Tuesday, after reports that armed assailants had taken the sailors hostage and demanded a ransom. "All the fishermen with the boat are safe on their way back," China's Xinhua news agency said, citing a Chinese embassy official in Pyongyang it said had heard the news from the shipowner. Xinhua said the fishermen had been detained "by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea side", using the North's official name, and without giving further details.

North Korea releases detained Chinese fishing boat, owner says

May 20, 2013 22:45
BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea released a Chinese fishing boat on Tuesday after it was taken from waters between the two countries, the boat's owner said, in an incident that had proved a new irritant in ties between the often uneasy allies. Chinese counselor to North Korea Jiang Yaxian had told state media earlier that North Korea had "grabbed" the private vessel from off the northern city of Dalian in waters between China and the Korean peninsula.

Hashimoto clarifies remarks on "comfort women" after flak

Kyodo News InternationalMay 7, 2013 12:30
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Wednesday sought to clarify his remarks on a system to recruit women into sexual servitude for Japan's soldiers during World War II, saying he personally does not condone the scheme. Two days after he made controversial remarks that the so-called comfort women were "necessary to maintain discipline" in the Japanese military, Hashimoto told reporters he simply stated a fact that people at the time had that kind of view.

North Korea says no plan to use American as bargaining chip

May 7, 2013 11:27
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Sunday it had no intention of using an American it sentenced to hard labor for 15 years as a bargaining chip in talks with the United States. North Korea sentenced Kenneth Bae, a Korean American who traveled to visit North Korea last November, on Thursday for what is said were crimes against the state. North Korea has in the past used detained American as bargaining counters in dealings with the United States. But the North's state news agency dismissed speculation it might do so again.

North Korea rejects South's call for talks on industrial zone

April 26, 2013 06:33
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea rejected on Friday a South Korean proposal for talks aimed at restarting a joint factory zone saying the South has acted in an "unpardonable" manner to jeopardize a "precious" legacy of the rivals' bid to seek peace. The North's National Defence Commission, its supreme leadership body, repeated that what it saw as the reckless behaviour of the South had thrown into question the safety of the zone's operation and had forced it to stop access there.

China "working on" persuading North Korea - U.S. officer

April 24, 2013 08:15
By Terril Yue Jones BEIJING (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday Chinese leaders had assured him that they were working on persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programme. China is North Korea's main diplomatic and financial backer and fought alongside the North in the 1950-53 Korean War. It has always been reluctant to apply pressure on the North, fearing a flood of refugees into China if North Korea were to collapse.

North Korea needs more tests for nuclear missile - U.S. expert

April 18, 2013 11:31
By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - North Korea would need to carry out at least one more nuclear test in order to develop a nuclear missile, a prominent U.S. scientist who has often visited the isolated Asian state said on Thursday. Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker, who in 2010 was shown a previously undetected uranium enrichment facility in North Korea, said he believed it could conduct its fourth such explosion in weeks or months.

North Korea offers talks but U.S. wants "clear signals"

April 17, 2013 22:45
By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea offered the United States and South Korea a list of conditions on Thursday for talks, including the lifting of U.N. sanctions, but Washington said it was awaiting "clear signals" that Pyongyang would halt its nuclear weapons activities.

Seeking calm in Koreas, US looks again to China

April 15, 2013 17:35
As North Korea prepares a potential missile test and issues threats almost daily, the Obama administration is hoping yet again that China can force its unruly neighbor to stand down. It's a strategy that has produced uneven results over decades of American diplomacy, during which Pyongyang has developed and tested nuclear weapons and repeatedly imperiled peace on the Korean peninsula. But with only the counterthreat of overwhelming force to offer the North Koreans, the U.S.

Insight - China's freeway to North Korea: A road to nowhere

April 15, 2013 17:31
By John Ruwitch YANJI, China (Reuters) - A new stretch of China's G12 expressway arcs toward the northernmost tip of North Korea, connecting one of the world's most vibrant economies to probably its most stagnant. It is a symbol of China's long-term goal of building economic ties with its unpredictable neighbour.
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