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Discusses relations between the United States and North Korea in light of a possible confrontation about a nuclear weapons program that Korean dictator Kim Jong Il might restart. Details of the military capability of North Korea; Efforts of U.S. President George W. Bush to employ diplomacy and prevent panic; Distinction between the defiance of North Korea and Iraq over United Nations weapons inspections and disarmament; Speculation on whether North Koreans have the skill to make nuclear devices small enough to load onto missiles; Pros and cons of a U.S.-led embargo and hard-line containment policy. INSETS: MEASURING THE THREAT;COUNTDOWN TO CRISIS;WHO'S WHO IN THE NUCLEAR-SUSPECT CLUB.

The article informs that Asian countries help the brutal military regime of Burma by doing business with the country. Thuang Htun, who participated in a student-led uprising against Burma's military regime and then fled to Thailand when the generals crushed the movement in 1988, has not abandoned hope that one day democracy will come to the country and it will be safe for him to return.

The article reports on the strategy which is being adopted by China, South Korea and the U.S. to bring the North Korean despot Kim Jong Il back to the bargaining table. Hard-liners in the United States President George W. Bush's administration are of the view that Kim Jong Il can be forced to shelve his nuclear weapons program by cutting off his isolated country from trade and aid. But, China one of the largest trade partner of North Korea is not in favor of adopting this strategy.

The article focuses on the attempt made by the U.S. President George W. Bush administration to persuade North Korea to stop developing nuclear weapons. North Korea declared publicly on February 10, 2005 that it has nuclear weapons. Bush sent two members of the U.S. National Security Council to Beijing, China, bearing a letter to Hu Jintao, the President of China. China is the only country having any influence over the regime in North Korea.

The article reports that South Korea has invited political, diplomatic and economic turmoil by impeaching its President Roh Moo Hyun. On March 12, 2004, after a vote tally of 193-2, National Assembly Speaker Park Kwan Yong gravely announced that the legislature had garnered the two-thirds majority necessary to impeach Roh, plunging the country into a political crisis. The inexperienced administration of Roh, who was a surprise winner of the 2002 presidential election, has been hapless at times.

The article discusses the nuclear proliferation threat posed by North Korea. The country has already been selling deadly weapons to countries including Pakistan, Libya, Syria and Iran as well. But analysts and hard-liners in the U.S. are increasingly concerned that a desperate North Korea is spreading more than conventional arms and it is supplying its atomic weapons technology to Iran, creating far more dangerous alliance between the two.

The article presents information on the international criminal enterprises run by Kim Jong II, leader of Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in North Korea. North Korea is a hotbed of counterfeiting and car smuggling. North Korea supplies drugs to Russia and China, South Korea and Taiwan. North Korea also exports heroin and methamphetamines to its neighboring countries.

Profiles Roh Moo Hyun, the president of South Korea. His experiences in coalition building; His inexperience in foreign relations; Crisis that South Korea faces as North Korean dictator Kim Jong II threatens to arm himself with nuclear weapons; Dispute between South Korea and the United States over how to deal with Kim; Belief of Roh that any action that could provoke Kim Jong II is unacceptable; Roh's personality; Possibility that Roh's policy toward North Korea might alienate a large portion of the South Korean electorate. INSET: Testing Times.

Discusses economic and domestic problems facing North Korean dictator Kim Jong II. Impact of hunger on the North Korean people; Effects of the acknowledgment that the government is trying to build nuclear weapons; Desire of North Koreans for Kim's regime to fall apart; Fear of punishment that comes with speaking out against Kim.

Focuses on North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il. View that he is obsessed with drama and has film crews follow him around; Family background, education, and ascension to power in 1994; How he has tried to change his reputation as a spoiled playboy; Career highlights and how his father, Kim Il Sung, set up the first dynastic succession in a communist state; Mention of the visit of United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Pyongyang in 2000.

The article reports that the United Nations World Food Program has warned that North Korea could be on the verge of a deadly food shortage. North Koreans used to be able to go to China to forage for extra food, but Pyongyang ordered a crackdown on border jumpers. Major contributors, including the U.S. and Japan, are reluctant to give aid to North Korea while the country refuses to relinquish its nuclear arsenal. People have become overlooked victims of the Korean peninsula's nuclear crisis.

The article focuses on the economic conditions in Hoeryong, North Korea during the year 2005. The residents of the city no longer need to depend completely upon the state and foreign donations for food and a few simple pleasures. Transport services and cottage industries in the city are growing. North Korea carried out cautious economic reforms during the year 2002. Factory owners were ordered to start earning profits and workers were encouraged to perform longer hours to earn more pay.

The article focuses on issues concerning risks faced by Asians in Iraq following recent kidnappings of Japanese and Korean civilians. Civilians from Japan and South Korea, as well as Canada, Britain, the U.S., Italy and Israel, were taken hostage across Iraq. As terror attacks metastasize across the globe, many are worried that an Asian capital may be next, particularly given that the Madrid train attack prompted the new Spanish government to pledge to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

This article focuses on the possible spread of the avian-flu outbreak, with the potential for a pandemic. This virus has had months to roll through the chicken population, possibly mutating and becoming more pathogenic as it goes. In an effort to curtail the current avian-flu outbreak before any killer mutations can occur, public-health officials, epidemiologists and virologists are now scrambling to figure out the origin and genomic sequence of the flu strains in the affected countries.

Reports that Filipina and Russian women are being sold into sexual slavery in the bars and nightclubs that serve U.S. military bases in South Korea. Efforts of U.S. lawmakers to combat the growing worldwide trade in women; Role of Republican congressman Christopher Smith, chief sponsor of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act; Plight of the women; How the women are tricked into prostitution.

Speculates on the satellite photos showing what looked like an explosion and mushroom-shaped cloud over a remote area in North Korea. Pyongyang's denial that it had exploded a nuclear weapon; Theories on what caused the explosion and mushroom cloud; North Korea's willingness to show outsiders the area; Views of experts; Violations of nonproliferation pledges by other countries.

The article asserts that the improved economic relations among Japan, South Korea and China could not ameliorate relations among them. In January 2005, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun called for cooperation between Korea and Japan. China also made efforts to put aside its antipathy toward Japan. Despite these developments territorial disputes between Japan and China and between Japan and South Korea are continuing.

The article focuses on the campaign-financing scandal involving several close advisers of South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, who are suspected of bankrolling Roh's campaign by passing the hat to corporate leaders for illegal campaign contributions. Already, Roh's personal secretary has resigned and the administration's former secretary for general affairs has been arrested. Allegations of illegal fund raising and personal corruption is ensnaring a growing list of Roh's aides.

Focuses on the efforts of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to discover the cause behind the break-up of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February 2003. Focus being placed on a piece of hardened foam that fell off the external fuel tank and onto the shuttle's left wing during lift-off; Damage the foam may have done to the tiles on the underside of the shuttle. INSET: Nuclear Brinkmanship II.

The article presents information on a proposal of South Korea to stop North Korea's nuclear weapons program. South Korean Minister of Unification Chung Dong Young has told Kim Jong Il of North Korea that if he stops the program then South Korea will give 2 million kilowatts of electricity each year to North Korea.

The article focuses on U.S. government's stand on solving the North Korean nuclear crisis. U.S. President George W. Bush publicly insists that six-party talks involving the U.S., China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea, remain the most viable way to convince North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il to abandon his nuclear-weapons program.

The article reports on Kim Jong Il, North Korean leader, who has identified a new threat to his grip on power. Men in the North are letting their hair grow longer, a social trend so disturbing to Kim that he is trying to eradicate it at its roots. Another problem Kim is facing is how to perpetuate the rule of his dynasty. North Koreans assume that sooner or later he will name a successor to assume the mantle of power he inherited from his father Kim II Sung in 1994.

Discusses the feelings of U.S. President George W. Bush with regard to the nuclear proliferation programs in North Korea. Consideration of how North Korean officials ousted the weapons inspectors from their country; Withdrawal of North Korea from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; How U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly met officials in Seoul and Beijing to negotiate with North Korea about their weapons of mass destruction.

Discusses South Korea's reaction to the U.S. approach to he North Korean nuclear crisis. Anti-American protests in South Korea; Belief of South Koreans that South Korea will inherit the nuclear weapons when North and South reunify; Observation that the South Korean government is running interference and advocating a diplomatic strategy; Announcement by North Korea that it was pulling out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; Efforts of South Korea's President-elect, Roh Moo Hyun, to pursue peaceful reunification with the North; Youthful South Koreans who have not experienced war and have a sentimental bond with North Koreans. INSET: Nuclear Neighborhood.