North Korea

Malaysians 'banned from leaving North Korea'

The state news agency KCNA said the ban would stay in place "until the incident that happened in Malaysia is properly solved".

Mr Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, was killed in Malaysia last month.

North Korea has denied accusations that it carried out the killing.

North Korea fires four ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan, PM Abe says

The move comes as South Korea and the United States are holding their joint military exercises, which Pyongyang sees as preparations for an invasion.

Kwon Ki-joon, a spokesman for the South Korea Defense Ministry spokesman, said "several projectiles" flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The firing took place in Tongchang-ri, in the country's North Pyongan province, and the projectiles are believed to have landed in the Sea of Japan, which is also known as the East Sea, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official.

Top source: Trump believes North Korea is greatest threat

Trump has already called on China to take action to rein in North Korea, over which China has considerable influence and leverage, the official said.

"You gotta work on North Korea," Trump told a Chinese official on Monday, the senior administration official said, apparently pointing to a brief meeting at the White House Monday between Trump and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, the highest-ranking Chinese official Trump has met with since taking office.

North Korea executed 5 security officials, South Korea says

The deputy minister-level officials had worked under the recently fired state security chief Kim Won Hong, and are believed to have been executed for making false reports to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to two parliamentarians who had been briefed by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS).

"Kim Won Hong, the state security chief, is in a house arrest situation after an investigation and more than five deputy minister-level officials who worked under him have been executed by anti-aircraft guns," South Korean lawmaker Kim Byung-kee said.

Trump administration nixes informal talks with North Korea

     

The back-channel talks were to be held in New York between the US experts and a six-member team of North Koreans led by Choe Son-hui, the director of the American affairs bureau of the country's foreign ministry.

Donald Zagoria, the head of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, an advocacy group that was organizing the talks, emailed participants Friday morning to say next week's meeting would proceed as scheduled after receiving assurances that the visas would be granted, the two participants said.

VX nerve agent used to kill Kim Jong Nam

Nerve agents are the most toxic and fast-acting substance known in chemical warfare -- and VX is the most potent of all of them, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Malaysia requests Interpol alert to help find North Korean suspects

Speaking to reporters, Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said police had also formally requested an interview with the North Korean embassy'ssecond secretary, who is wanted for questioning.

Kim Jong-nam killing: North Korea condemns Malaysia

It does not name Kim Jong-nam, but the KCNA report appears to be state media's first reference to the death of the half-brother of North Korea's leader.

Mr Kim died after being poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport and his body remains in a hospital mortuary.

Several North Koreans are wanted in connection with his death.

They include a senior official at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur as well as an employee of the state airline, Air Koryo.

Kim Jong-nam killing: Malaysia recalls envoy from North Korea

Kim Jong-nam died in mysterious circumstances last week at an airport in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Police believe he was poisoned.

Malaysia has recalled its ambassador from the North Korean capital Pyongyang and has summoned the North Korean ambassador "to seek an explanation".

Malaysian police say they are now looking for four North Koreans.

North Korea's ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, Kang Chol, told reporters that he did not trust the Malaysian inquiry.

China bans all coal imports from North Korea amid growing tensions

China's Ministry of Commerce, in a public notice jointly issued with the country's customs agency Saturday, said the decision was made to comply with a UN Security Council resolution that China helped draft and pass last November.

Resolution 2321 imposed some of the toughest sanctions yet against the North Korean regime, after it disregarded an earlier UN ban to test what it said was a nuclear warhead in September 2016.