Images show North Koreans playing volleyball at nuclear test site

U.S. experts who have been forecasting an imminent North Korean nuclear test said on Tuesday they were surprised when they viewed their latest satellite images of the country’s nuclear test site and saw volleyball games under way. With tension mounting between Pyongyang and Washington, analysts had thought they would see activity suggesting preparations for an […]

USS Carl Vinson isn’t anywhere near North Korea: Incompetence or political theater?

A week ago, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group was being diverted from its scheduled operations in Australia to head directly for the Korean peninsula amid ever-increasing tension surrounding Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program. Reports substantiating his claim came in from the Pentagon, and […]

Could the U.S. have caused North Korea’s missile test to fail with a virus?

Another recent ballistic missile test by Kim Jong Un’s North Korean regime ended in failure over the weekend, prompting another round of headlines poking fun at the reclusive state’s inability to make meaningful progress in building a missile with a high probability of success.  Although it seems likely enough that the floundering economy and educational […]

North Korea debuts ‘new’ Special Operations unit in massive military parade

In an elaborate military parade this past weekend designed to set the stage for another spectacular missile test, North Korea rolled out the highest profile heavy hitters in its arsenal. The occasion landed on what would have been North Korea’s founding father Kim Il-Sung’s 105th birthday, and was speculated to coincide with the Democratic People’s […]

VP Pence delivers warning to Kim Jong Un from Korean DMZ

Vice President Mike Pence offered a new round of warnings to North Korea on Monday – this time directly from the Korean Demilitarized Zone dividing South Korea from its aggressive northern neighbor.  In his remarks, Pence made it clear that President Trump will not employ a continuation of international norms established by his predecessor. “We’re […]

Pence stresses ‘era of strategic patience’ over as he visits Korean DMZ

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stared across the demilitarized border between North and South Korea on Monday, a day after North Korea’s failed missile launch, reiterating that the U.S. “era of strategic patience” with Pyongyang was over. Pence is on the first stop of a four-nation Asia tour intended to show America’s allies, and remind […]

Trigger a conflict and be prepared to pay the price, China’s foreign minister warns

In his toughest assessment yet of the escalating North Korean ­nuclear crisis, Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Friday that a conflict could erupt “at any moment” – and whoever provoked it would pay the price. Analysts said Wang’s warning reflected the danger of an imminent threat. “Tensions have risen … and one has the […]

Here’s what’s going on with Chinese troop movements on North Korea’s border

As tensions climb to historic highs between the US and its allies and North Korea, rumors of massive movements of Chinese troops near North Korea’s border keep surfacing. A Pentagon official told Business Insider that the US had heard the reports but had “not seen anything to corroborate it.” But Chinese troops are always stationed in […]