IAEA Prepares for Return to Pyongyang

Ship weapons to Iran, Syria, Myanmar

(NEWSER) - North Korea operates a vast global arms and nuclear materials trading network, and two men related by marriage largely control this expanding operation. In announcing economic sanctions yesterday, the Obama administration named Chun Byung-ho and Yun Ho-jin—likely Chun's son-in-law—who have shipped components for nuclear reactors, long-range missiles, and other arms to Iran, Syria, and Myanmar. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the shadowy pair. More»

Depends on meeting with US, Kim Jong Il tells China premier

(AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told China's premier today that the North was prepared to return to multi-nation disarmament talks depending on progress in its two-way negotiations with the US. Kim's comments were the clearest sign yet that Pyongyang was readying to resume the six-nation talks it withdrew from after conducting missile tests in April and a nuclear test in May. More»

Sale of weapons, info is true threat from secretive regime

(NEWSER) - North Korea's nuclear test yesterday makes it no likelier that the rogue state will actually launch a weapon of mass destruction, argues AP analyst Robert Burns. What it does suggest is something perhaps even scarier: that the regime may facilitate the nuclear ambitions of other state actors or even of terrorists. The cash-strapped North has a history of selling nuclear secrets to foreign buyers, and diplomacy has so far failed to halt its program. More»

(NEWSER) - American officials believe North Korea’s increasingly hostile foreign policy is the result of a power shift quietly taking place in the secretive nation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Analysts note that North Korea withdrew from nuclear talks shortly after Kim Jong Il’s suspected stroke, and say the leader’s brother-in-law and third son are emerging as key players in the country’s new power structure. More»

President trades macho for cool

(NEWSER) - President Obama didn't swagger through his European road trip, but that doesn't mean he isn't ready to play hardball. "If George W. Bush was a cowboy, Obama is a group hug," writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. The contrast between Obama, who's still establishing his presidential persona, and his predecessor couldn't be starker: "You can bring 'em on. Or you can calm 'em down." More»