North Korea

North Korea is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The official language is Korean.

Officially, North Korea is an atheist state. Although its constitution guarantees freedom of religion in Article 68, the principle is limited by the requirement that religion may not be used as a pretext to harm the state, introduce foreign forces, or harm the existing social order. Despite this constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion and the right to religious ceremonies, according to Human Rights Watch, religious practice is restricted. Although proselytizing is prohibited due to concerns about foreign influence, the number of Christian churchgoers nonetheless more than doubled between the 1980s and the early 2000s due to the recruitment of Christians who previously worshipped privately or in small house churches. The Open Doors mission, a Protestant group based in the United States and founded during the Cold War era, claims the most severe persecution of Christians in the world occurs in North Korea.

There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. According to Religious Intelligence, 64% of the population are irreligious, 16% practice Korean shamanism, 14% practice Chondoism, 4% are Buddhist, and 2% are Christian. Freedom of religion and the right to religious ceremonies are constitutionally guaranteed, but religions are restricted by the government. Amnesty International has expressed concerns about religious persecution in North Korea.

The Country profile , and the facts.

The Government is a single-party communist state. The leader is Kim Jong-il, the late president Kim Il-sung's son. On 12.18.11 Kim Jong il died . From late 2010, Kim Jong-un was viewed as heir apparent to the leadership of the nation, and following his father's death (12/17/2011) he was announced as the "Great Successor" by North Korean state television.




As a result of North Korea withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003, there has been a series of meetings with six participating states ( six-party talks ): the People's Republic of China; the Republic of Korea (South Korea); the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea); the United States of America; the Russian Federation; and Japan aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

News & Videos about North Korea

Timeline: North Korea

Talking to Kim Jong II. The world reacts to North Korean rocket launch.

NOTE 4.5.09: The U.S. says neither missile nor satellite reached orbit - the rocket launch failed. Parts landed in the sea of Japan, Pacific Ocean. The matter will be brought before the Council today at 3pm to determine if N. Korea violated any United Nations Security Council resolutions 1695 and 1718.



United Nations is warning N. Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program. Many world leaders are hoping China will step in with a persuasive voice.

President Obama on Weapons Proliferation in Prague, Czech Republic

6.12.09 United Nations Security Council voted to tighten sanctions.

U.N. Resolution 1874 includes a number of measures aimed at stopping North Korea’s nuclear proliferation, including tougher inspections of cargo, an expanded arms embargo, and new financial restrictions on North Korea, curbing loans and money transfers that serve as funding for their nuclear program.

North Korea has threatened to launch a long-range missile in retaliation for new sanctions passed by the United Nations Security Council following its May 25 nuclear test, as well as a series of missile launches. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, Japanese Prime Minister Taro, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Chinese president Hu Jintao, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak speak on the issue of N. Korea's nuclear weapons.

N. Korea May Launch Missile Toward Hawaii.

They are accusing the U.S. of waging atomic war. They are responding to a meeting between S. Korean Pres. Lee and Pres. Obama reports MSNBC on 6.21.09.

North Korea threatens to harm US if attacked.

Pres. Obama said his administration and the U.S. military are fully prepared for N. Korea. He will not reward "belligerence and provocation."

North Korea

Lisa Ling's sister, Laura Ling, and her colleague Euna Lee were seized along the Chinese-North Korea border. North Korea decides to indict them. June 8, 2009, and sentences them to 12 years labor. Pres. Obama said the U.S. was working through all channels to secure their release.

Ms Ling, 32, a Chinese-American, has reported on drug wars in Mexico and native tribes in Brazil and is the younger sister of Lisa Ling, an award-winning TV journalist. Her father, Doug Ling, told reporters that he brought up his daughters as a single father and that both of them were sometimes “too adventurous” in covering news around the world. “I worry quite a bit. But I’m not losing any sleep over it,” he said. “Because I’m more or less used to it.”

Dan Rather says:

1. N. Korea is testing the Obama Administration. They don't want to get lost in the shuffle of this new Administration.

2. N. Korea is eager to call attention to themself to what they call the unfairness of previous U.S. Administrations. So the journalists have become bargaining chips for N. Korea.

3. Bill Richardson is trusted in N. Korea. They want to get some attention from him or Al Gore. They want some engagement from the U.S.

4. N. Korea is furious because the United Nations is considering putting more sanctions on them because they launched a rocket a couple of months ago. Also, they don't like that Secy. of State Clinton is talking about putting them back on the U.S. terrorist state list.

Embedded video from CNN Video


Embedded video from CNN Video

7.11.09 : U.S. is seeking amnesty

8.4.09 : Bill Clinton sent to negotiate with Kim Jong-Il

updated 3 hours, 55 minutes ago

Story Highlights:
1.President Clinton on mission to negotiate release of Euna Lee, Laura Ling
2.Reporters for Al Gore's Current TV accused of plotting smear campaign
3.Visit comes amid tension over North Korea's nuclear program
4.Clinton unlikely to have made trip without likelihood of success, analyst say

(CNN) -- Former President Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in North Korea on Tuesday, North Korea's state-run news agency reported.

Clinton arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day on a mission to negotiate the release of two American journalists who have been held in the reclusive communist nation since March, the White House confirmed.

Clinton "courteously conveyed a verbal message" to Kim from President Obama, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denied that Clinton was carrying any message from the Obama administration.

Kim and Clinton had "an exhaustive conversation" that included "a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern," KCNA reported.

Earlier in the day, Gibbs confirmed Clinton was on a "solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans," but gave little detail on his itinerary .

"We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission," Gibbs said.

KCNA did not disclose the purpose of the visit in its three-line dispatch. However a source with detailed knowledge of Clinton's movements told CNN late Monday that he was going to seek the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both reporters for California-based Current TV, a media venture launched by Clinton's Vice President Al Gore.

Yang Hyong Sop, the vice president of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, and Kim Kye Gwan, the vice foreign minister, met Clinton, KCNA reported.

Lee and Ling were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

Since the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, efforts to resolve the issue have been handled through Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in the reclusive communist state.

Video: What may lie behind the pick of Bill Clinton
Embedded video from CNN Video



Last month Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration had dropped its request for Ling and Lee to be released on humanitarian grounds and instead was seeking amnesty, which implies forgiveness for an offense.

This change in language is an important distinction that could move North Korea to release the women without feeling that its legal system has been slighted, analyst Mike Chinoy said.

"I suspect that it was made pretty clear in advance that Bill Clinton would be able to return with these two women; otherwise it would be a terrible loss of face for him," said Chinoy, an Edgerton senior fellow on Asia at the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles, California. "The bigger, broader and more important question is what else could be on the agenda. Will Clinton be carrying a letter from Barack Obama for the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il? Will he meet Kim Jong-Il?"

Clinton's mission comes as the United States and its allies in the region are trying to push North Korea back into stalled nuclear disarmament talks. North Korea conducted its second nuclear bomb test in May and has conducted several missile tests since then. The United Nations responded by tightening and expanding sanctions.

The two nations were on opposite sides in the 1950-1953 Korean War and had no regular contacts before a 1994 crisis over North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea agreed at that time to halt the development of nuclear weapons, but abandoned that accord and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003.

Clinton had considered visiting North Korea in 2000 near the end of his second term as president. His secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, had gone to Pyongyang in early 2000 to meet with Kim, now widely reported to be ill.

8.4.09 : The U.S. journalists are pardoned

updated 4 minutes ago

Story Highlights:
1.NEW: "Clinton expressed sincere words of apology," statement says
2.NEW: North Korea says Laura Ling, Euna Lee have been released
3.Reporters for Al Gore's Current TV accused of plotting smear campaign
4.Visit comes amid tension over North Korea's nuclear program

(CNN) -- North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and released two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday.

The announcement came after former U.S. President Clinton met with top North Korean officials in Pyongyang to appeal for their release.

"Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it," the news agency reported. "Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view.

"The meetings had candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them."

The report said Clinton then conveyed a message from U.S. President Obama "expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries."

It added, "The measure taken to release the American journalists is a manifestation of the DPRK's humanitarian and peace-loving policy.

"The DPRK visit of Clinton and his party will contribute to deepening the understanding between the DPRK and the U.S. and building the bilateral confidence."

DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the nation's official name.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both reporters for California-based Current TV, a media venture launched by Clinton's Vice President Al Gore, have been held since March.

Lee and Ling were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

Because the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, efforts to resolve the issue have been handled through Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in the reclusive communist state.

Video and Text: Clinton returns to the U.S. with the journalist . Also watch the video of Laura Ling speaking. After seeing Bill Clinton, they knew the nightmare was ending . President Obama reflects on their release. Pres. Obama's remarks.