The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has said it will send a
first batch of emergency food aid to impoverished North
Korea, where a series of deluges and a typhoon have left
hundreds of people dead or missing.
North Korea's ruling party has removed a top military
official close to the centre of power, suggesting new leader
Kim Jong-un and his closest advisers may be purging the
ruling elite to strengthen their grip on the secretive state.
China has denied allegations that its firms had exported
banned goods to North Korea, after Japanese media reported
that Chinese-made missile transporters were sold to Pyongyang
in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution.
China's most senior diplomat has vowed to deepen ties with
North Korea and praised its young leader Kim Jong-un, despite
an international outcry over Pyongyang's recent rocket launch
and the possibility of a third nuclear test by the isolated
state.
The UN nuclear watchdog says it is now unlikely to visit
North Korea after Pyongyang announced it was no longer bound
by an agreement with the United States for a moratorium on
missile and nuclear tests.
North Korea's new leader addressed his nation and the world
for the first time Sunday, vowing to place top priority on
his impoverished country's military, which promptly unveiled
a new long-range missile.
A satellite launch North Korea had hailed as a moment of
national pride ended in failure yesterday when the rocket
disintegrated over the Yellow Sea, earning Pyongyang
embarrassment as well as condemnation from a host of nations
that deemed it a covert test of missile technology.
