REUTERS INDIA: North Korea said on Friday it was being forced to "reexamine" its nuclear programme because of fresh signs the United States remains hostile towards the country, indicating it will step up defiant efforts to boost its nuclear arsenal.
The new leadership of North Korea, headed by the third generation of the Kim family, reinforced its control on the reclusive state this week by further promoting its young leader Jong-un and purging a top general who was seen as opposing his reforms.
The North has denied in recent months that it was preparing to conduct a third nuclear test, after a failed rocket launch widely seen as a long-range missile test in disguise, which effectively scrapped a deal on moratorium on such tests reached with Washington in February.
"The consistent hostile policy towards the DPRK pursued by the U.S. is giving rise to the evil cycle of confrontation and tensions on the Korean Peninsula, making the prospect of denuclearizing the peninsula all the more gloomy," the North's unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said. » | Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Daniel Magnowski | SEOUL | Friday, July 20, 2012
REUTERS INDIA: EXCLUSIVE - Kim to reform North Korean economy after purge: source – Impoverished North Korea is gearing up to experiment with agricultural and economic reforms after young leader Kim Jong-un and his powerful uncle purged the country's top general for opposing change, a source with ties to both Pyongyang and Beijing said. » | Benjamin Kang Lim | BEIJING | Friday, July 20, 2012
