North Korea

Nuclear armed states continue to upgrade their stockpiles despite an international trend towards disarmament, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported June 15.

Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranking 175 countries on their levels of public sector corruption. Greece ranks 69 along with Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Senegal and Swaziland.

The least 10 corrupt countries are:

Nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan and the United States met in Seoul on May 27, seeking a way forward to revive long-stalled, six-party talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea said May 20 it has the technology to make nuclear missile warheads, less than two weeks after announcing it had launched a ballistic missile from a submarine.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on May 18 called for increased pressure on North Korea as he slammed Kim Jong-Un's "egregious" leadership and "grotesque" executions of Pyongyang officials.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his defense chief for sleeping during a meeting and talking back to the young leader, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers May 13, citing what it called credible information.

North Korea's test-firing of a ballistic missile from a submarine was "very serious and concerning", South Korea said on May 11, with one defence official suggesting Pyongyang could have a fully operational platform in two or three years.

North Korea carried out a test launch of a new ballistic missile from a submarine. The North Korean government considers its new weapon a “Strategic weapon on a global scale”.

The ballistic missile was designed and built “after the personal initiative by Supreme Commander of the Korean People, Kim Jong-un” added the state-run news network KCNA.

Two South Koreans awaiting trial in North Korea on espionage charges have admitted to spying for Seoul in interviews with CNN in Pyongyang conducted in the presence of North Korean minders.
 

North Korean leader cancels trip to Moscow

MOSCOW -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has canceled his trip in Moscow where he was to attend a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2.

He was supposed to appear on the Red Square on May 9, but this has been canceled "because of his duties in North Korea."