NKorea puts military on “special alert” because of joint SKorean-US military drills

September 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Thursday said it will hold the third joint military exercise with China next year and clarified that no such drill was planned for this year. "It was mutually decided during the last exercise that the next joint military exercise would be held in 2010, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.

September 20th, 2009 SKorean destroyer rescues 5 Yemeni fishermenSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's military says one of its destroyers has repelled pirates pursuing cargo ships off the coast of Yemen and rescued five Yemeni fishermen. The Joint Chiefs of Staff say the destroyer dispatched a helicopter Saturday after learning that pirates were chasing the three cargo ships off Yemen's southern coast.

August 17th, 2009 NKorea to resume SKorean tours, family reunionsSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday it would restart tours to a scenic mountain resort and allow reunions for families separated since the Korean War — a surprise move that could help ease months of tensions with South Korea over Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests. The North's announcement followed a meeting Sunday between the country's leader Kim Jong Il and the chairwoman of Hyundai Group, the biggest South Korean investor in the North, who traveled to Pyongyang last week to secure the freedom of a company employee and discuss restarting joint business projects.

August 17th, 2009 NKorea agrees to resume tours, family reunionsSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday that it will resume largely stalled cross-border exchanges with South Korea, a surprise move that could help ease months of tensions over the communist country's missile and nuclear tests. The North's announcement followed a meeting Sunday between the country's leader Kim Jong Il and the chairwoman of Hyundai Group, the biggest South Korean investor in the North, who traveled to Pyongyang last week to secure the freedom of a company employee and discuss restarting joint business projects.

August 17th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Monday put its troops on alert as an annual joint South Korean-US war game commenced and accused its neighbour of planning an attack. North Korea would react to any provocation with a "merciless and prompt annihilating strike at the aggressors with all offensive and defensive means, including nuclear deterrent", state media quoted the high command of the Korean People's Army as saying.

August 13th, 2009 SKorean worker held in NKorea returns to SouthSEOUL, South Korea — An official says that a South Korean freed by the North after months in detention has crossed the border into the South. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-ju said that Yoo Seong-jin returned home late Thursday and will soon arrive at a South Korean immigration control center near the border.

August 3rd, 2009 SKorean envoy to meet US officials over NKoreaSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's nuclear envoy will meet key U.S. diplomats in charge of North Korea policy in Hawaii this week to talk about how to handle the communist country in the wake of its latest nuclear and missile tests, his office said Monday.

July 31st, 2009 NKorea holds onto seized SKorean fishermenSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's military said Friday that four South Korean fishermen seized a day earlier after their boat strayed into North Korean waters remained under investigation, South Korean officials said. The 29-ton boat drifted north Thursday after its satellite navigation system apparently malfunctioned.

July 13th, 2009 Chinese, SKorean envoys meet for NKorea talksSEOUL, South Korea — Top nuclear negotiators for China and South Korea held discussions Monday on how to break the impasse in negotiations over North Korea's atomic program, as South Korea's president called for a get-tough approach on Pyongyang. North Korea quit the six-nation nuclear negotiations in April in anger over a U.N.

July 6th, 2009 US, Russia agree to resume military cooperationMOSCOW — The United States and Russia say they are resuming military cooperation suspended after Russia invaded its smaller neighbor Georgia last year. The expected announcement came Monday, as President Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) met for their first summit in Moscow.

May 11th, 2009 Biographical info on Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystalNAME — Lt.

May 1st, 2009 NKorea intensifies probe of detained SKoreanSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it is intensifying its investigation into a South Korean worker detained on suspicion of denouncing the communist nation's government, indicating it had no intention of releasing him any time soon. The man was detained March 30 at an industrial complex in North Korea that the two neighboring countries jointly operate.

April 21st, 2009 SKorean officials travel to NKorea for meetingnull

March 12th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea has warned that it is "fully combat ready" to retaliate against any attempt to thwart off its planned satellite launch. "Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," said the statement, carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.

March 9th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korean troops have gone on combat alert in response to annual US-South Korean manoeuvres, the country's official news agency reported. The North Korean Army's Supreme Command vowed massive retaliation against the US and South Korean forces if Pyongyang's land, sea or air spaces are violated during the military exercises.