NORTH KOREA will this week launch its biggest political meeting for 30 years, apparently paving the way for another dynastic succession in the impoverished hardline communist nation.

CHINA resisted pressure yesterday from South Korea and Japan to censure North Korea publicly for the sinking of a warship, calling only for regional tensions over the incident to be defused.

An Egyptian telecoms giant launched an advanced mobile phone network in North Korea today, the latest attempt to introduce a global symbol of personal freedom into one of the world’s most tightly controlled societies.

North Korea today abruptly cancelled groundbreaking test runs of trains across its highly-guarded border with South Korea, citing an atmosphere of confrontation and war.

Thailand’s foreign minister says the North Korean government has told him nuclear talks planned for this week must be postponed to mid-to late September, it was reported today.