North Korea

In the latest sign that North Korea’s warlike stance toward South Korea and the United States is moving from words to action, Pyongyang on Wednesday barred South Korean managers and trucks delivering supplies from crossing the border to enter the Kaesong industrial park.

The demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea is about a quarter the size of Yellowstone Park and one expert says it could become a highway for refugees if North Korea collapses.

The United Nations estimates a quarter of the population of North Korea is starving, even though things have slightly improved since the famine of the 90s.

North Koreans are mourning the death of Kim Jong Il, but journalist Barbara Demick says “It’s hard to tell if people are crying because they feel sad about the death of this man or they’re crying because they’re worried about what happens next.”

North Korea today decided not to retaliate after South Korea conducted military drills on Yeonpyeong Island, near North Korea. Last month, North Korea attacked that island, killing four South Koreans, and sparking a surge in new recruits, including women, for the South Korean military.

Diplomatic cables released recently by WikiLeaks reveal that some Chinese diplomats wouldn’t object to a reunified Korea. One expert says reunification would lead to an immediate refugee crisis in China and such instability in the North that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to maintain order.

South Korea’s president is vowing to unleash “enormous retaliation” should North Korea attack his nation again. The tough talk came after North Korea fired dozens of rounds of artillery this morning at a disputed border island where South Korean forces are based, killing at least two South Korean marines. BBC correspondent Chris Hogg in Seoul and Dr. Jim Walsh, international security expert at MIT join us.

U.S. Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth met with officials in South Korea today, after American scientist Siegfried Hecker revealed over the weekend that he had seen a new, sophisticated and industrial-scale uranium enrichment facility in North Korea. Dr. Jim Walsh of M.I.T.’s Security Studies Program puts the new revelations in context.

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