North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a USD 4 billion "emergency fund" hidden in secret accounts in European banks, a media report said.

North Korea plans to head back to the bargaining table early next month for talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program, a news report said Saturday.

North Korea's army said Monday it is ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a rehearsal for attack.

North Korea vowed on Tuesday to strengthen its nuclear deterrent and its means of delivery — an apparent reference to missiles — days after threatening rival South Korea and U.S. forces with attack if they conduct military exercises as planned next week.

North Korea threatened a "powerful" attack if the US and South Korea proceed with joint military drills next month, warning today that it could even resort to nuclear means.

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocked the region where China, Russia and North Korea meet Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

A top North Korean nuclear envoy wants to visit the United States for rare talks next month, news reports said on Saturday, amid a push by diplomats to revive negotiations on ending Pyongyang's nuclear program.

A "repentant" American missionary set to be freed from North Korea after being arrested at the border on Christmas said he was ashamed of the "biased" view he once held of the communist nation, Pyongyang's state media said on Friday.

North Korea would remain off the US list of terrorist states, President Barack Obama has certified, despite demands by several American lawmakers for the Stalinist state to be put back on for its provocative actions.

Officials from the two Koreas met on Monday in North Korea to discuss their joint industrial complex just days after a gunfire exchange at sea emphasized the fragility of the peace between them.

North Korea fired artillery and South Korea responded with warning shots along their disputed western sea border on Wednesday, but there were no reports of casualties and the North vowed more barrages would follow as part of a military drill.

North Korea threatened war on Sunday after South Korea warned of launching a pre-emptive strike if the North was preparing a nuclear attack - the latest salvo in a battle of rhetoric despite signs of improved cooperation across the militarized frontier.

North and South Korea opened talks Tuesday on further developing their joint industrial complex in the North despite Pyongyang's recent threat to break off all dialogue and negotiations, an official said.

The two Koreas will open two days of talks in the North's border city of Kaesong on Tuesday to discuss their recent joint tour of foreign industrial parks.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said his country must bolster its armed forces, state media reported on Sunday, two days after his regime warned it was prepared to launch a war against South Korea if necessary.

Last month, North Korea got a coveted visit to Pyongyang by a top U.S. official and hinted it was ready to resume negotiations on giving up its nuclear program.

Last month, North Korea got a coveted visit to Pyongyang by a top US official and hinted it was ready to resume negotiations on giving up its nuclear program.

South Korea and the US rejected North Korea's proposal to start peace talks to formally end the Korean War, with Seoul saying on Tuesday that can happen only after the North rejoins disarmament talks and reports progress in de-nuclearization.

North Korea proposed on Monday that a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War be signed this year, saying a return to negotiations on its nuclear program depends on better relations with Washington and the lifting of sanctions.

North Korea's 'appalling' human rights situation must improve before the country can expect to normalize relations with the United States, President Barack Obama's special envoy on the issue said on Monday.

North Koreans pledged allegiance to leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son on Friday by marking his birthday, a news report said, amid speculation he is being groomed to take over the nuclear-armed country.

North Korea appears to have started a uranium enrichment program soon after it agreed in a 1994 deal with the US to dismantle its existing plutonium nuclear weapons program, South Korea's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

North Korea called for an end of hostile relations with the United States in a New Year's message on Friday, and said it was committed to making the Korean peninsula nuclear-free through negotiations.

North Korea has banned the use of foreign currency, another sign its hard-line communist government is intent on reasserting control over the country's nascent market economy.

North Korean border guards apparently detained an American missionary as soon as he walked into the communist nation in an effort to call attention to Pyongyang's human rights abuses, an activist said on Monday.