World - North Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said he was willing to help North Korea repair its economy and end decades of international isolation if Pyongyang stopped a cycle of threats and finally moved toward nuclear disarmament. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - US President Barack Obama left South Korea for home Thursday, a US embassy spokesman said, wrapping up his four-country debut Asian tour. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - President Barack Obama says his envoy on North Korea will travel to the country early next month for the first bilateral talks with the communist regime since he took office. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - Obama: US working with allies on ways to send Iran 'clear message' on nuclear program. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's president says he and President Barack Obama have agreed to offer North Korea a "grand bargain" aimed at ending the North's nuclear program. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea appears to be taking elaborate measures to evade U.N. sanctions aimed at its nuclear and missile activities, arms trading and import of luxuries, U.N. experts say in a new report. Full Story »

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will discuss luring a reluctant North Korea back to nuclear dealings and a long-delayed trade pact with Seoul in talks with President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday at the end of his Asian tour. Full Story »

President Obama wants China's backing for harsh sanctions if Tehran remains defiant, but Chinese interests militate against escalating the standoff Full Story »

SEOUL (Reuters) - The one certainty in unpredictable North Korea is that if the state detonates a nuclear device or leader Kim Jong-il visits a duck farm, Ri Chun-hee will be on TV boasting about the amazing accomplishment. Full Story »

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Pirates freed 36 crew members from a Spanish trawler Tuesday, and a self-proclaimed pirate said the hostage-takers were paid $3.3 million in ransom. Spain's prime minister did little to deny a payment was made — one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - A Virgin-Islands owned chemical tanker carrying 28 North Korean crew members has been hijacked by Somali pirates off the Seychelles, the multinational naval force operating in the area said on Tuesday. Full Story »

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said on Tuesday that Beijing expects the United States to hold a bilateral meeting soon with North Korea and said his government would welcome such a move. Full Story »

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues. Full Story »

BEIJING (AFP) - US President Barack Obama and China's Hu Jintao Tuesday pledged to apply their joint political might to the world's toughest problems, but friction was evident on Tibet, economics and Iran. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - Pyongyang's agents over the past decade abducted about 200 Chinese citizens as part of a campaign to stop people from fleeing North Korea, a news report said Tuesday. Full Story »

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama was set to continue his effort to court China while cajoling it on economic strains on Wednesday, with the final day of his visit featuring talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future despite the upcoming talks with Washington, a former senior US diplomat who recently visited Pyongyang said Monday. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - A North Korean cargo ship visited a South Korean port Monday, showing that trade between the rival countries is continuing despite their bloody naval skirmish last week. Full Story »