North Korea

North Korean officials claim they have "weaponized" their stockpile of plutonium, a U.S. scholar said Saturday, a development that could badly complicate talks to end the regime's nuclear weapons program. Selig Harrison, speaking to reporters after he arrived in Beijing from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, said that the North Koreans had considerably hardened their negotiating positions and that the prospects for President-elect Barack Obama to make a breakthrough in talks were "gloomy."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il finally emerged late last month after reportedly suffering a major stroke six months ago. Although dispelling one rumor -- he didn't die -- his appearance did nothing to stop speculation about his health and who will succeed him. The temptation is to wait and see, but this would be unwise. The United States and its Asian allies must prepare for the possibility that the leadership of North Korea may change sooner rather than later, and not necessarily smoothly.

The South Korean intelligence reports are ominous: North Korea appears to be preparing to test-launch a ballistic missile with sufficient range to strike Alaska and possibly the West Coast. A train transporting a large cylindrical object was recently spotted by a U.S. surveillance satellite chugging toward a new launchpad site west of Pyongyang, the capital, a South Korean government source recently told news outlets here.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton promised Friday to follow a foreign policy that "is neither impulsive nor ideological" as she prepared for her first overseas trip to confront a series of sensitive issues in Asia. Clinton said her approach would value "what others have to say," which she cast as being in contrast with Bush administration policy.

North Korea threatened Monday to test a missile capable of reaching the United States, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began consultations with regional leaders on the security threat from the reclusive state, the global economic crisis and other issues. In an apparent attempt to command attention, North Korea hinted that it will test-launch a Taepodong 2 missile from its eastern coast.

Hillary Rodham Clinton prefaced her first trip abroad as secretary of State with a speech Friday sketching out various Obama administration views regarding her Asia itinerary. Her approach on the crucial issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons program embodies an overwhelming -- and unfortunate -- continuity with the Bush administration. This is not at all surprising, given the president's campaign rhetoric.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that U.S. officials and allies were scrambling to prepare for the possible departure from power of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, a development she said threatened to increase turbulence in one of the world's most heavily armed regions. Arriving in Seoul for security talks, Clinton said persistent signs in the secretive Pyongyang government suggested that a change of leadership might be at hand.

South Korea's president told destitute North Korea today to abandon its plans to develop nuclear weapons and return to talks with its neighbor. North Korea has stoked regional tensions recently by announcing it is readying a test flight of its longest-range missile, which is designed to carry a nuclear weapon as far as Alaska but has not been successfully flown, U.S. and South Korean officials have said.

The U.S. and South Korea on Monday began annual war games involving tens of thousands of troops, prompting North Korea to call its military into "full combat readiness," saying it views the joint land and sea exercises as a prelude to an invasion. The hostilities raised tensions on the Korean peninsula to their highest point in weeks as the U.S. and its allies anxiously awaited North Korea's test launch of its most advanced long-range missile.