South Korea

SEOUL -- North Korea's state-run Asia Pacific Peace Committee warned foreigners in South Korea Tuesday to set up evacuation plans. State media KCNA carried a statement, saying Pyonyang does not want any harm done to foreigners in South Korea in case of a war and urging "all foreign organizations, companies and tourists to work out measures for evacuation. " Analysts, however, said that a war is unlikely, dismissing the announcement as yet another threat by Kim Jong Un's belligerent regime.

Re "Playing the lunatic card," News Analysis, April 5 North Korea acts like it has nothing to lose - because it has nothing to lose. When you starve and horribly mistreat your own people, and when you keep repeating the same careless behavior and expect a different outcome, that is lunacy, pure and simple. We all know that lunacy can be dangerous and often lethal. The young and up-until-now untested North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will learn that his nuclear and long-range missile threats will have long-term consequences that will completely overwhelm his weak and undernourished nation.

WASHINGTON -- Responding to concerns that North Korea is preparing to test a medium-range missile after weeks of bellicose threats, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific sought to reassure Congress on Tuesday that the Pentagon would be able intercept a missile aimed at the United States or its East Asian allies. Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear said Pentagon agencies would quickly recognize if a missile's trajectory was headed into the open ocean, and that U.S. anti-missile batteries on ships and land would knock it out of the sky if it was deemed a threat.

Shouldn't we just nuke North Korea now and get it over with? Or, to put it another way, was Douglas MacArthur right, after all? Well, no and no. (Although undoubtedly some will want to argue the MacArthur thing late into the night.) Yes, the Hermit Kingdom is being even crabbier than usual these days. On Tuesday, for example, Pyongyang warned foreigners in South Korea to prepare evacuation plans in case of war. North Korea is also believed preparing to conduct a missile test soon, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific reassured Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. military could intercept any missile launched by North Korea and aimed at America's territory or its East Asian allies. Adm. Samuel Locklear's briefing to senators came amid growing concern that North Korea is about to test a missile - some observers suggest as early as Wednesday - after weeks of bellicose threats. "We have a credible ability to defend the homeland, to defend Hawaii, to defend Guam, to defend our forward deployed forces and to defend our allies," Locklear told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

SEOUL -- A top North Korean official said Monday his nation will suspend the work of its more than 50,000 employees at a joint industrial park that had been one of the proudest examples of cooperation between North and South Korea. Kim Yang-gon, secretary of Workers' Party central committee, visited the Kaesong complex just north of the demilitarized zone between the two countries early Monday and later issued a statement that the North would "examine the issue of whether it will allow its existence or close it. " After weeks of heightened tension in the Korean peninsula, the North last week banned the entry of South Korean workers and raw materials for the industrial zone.

Inbee Park essentially won the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Sunday on her first hole at the Mission Hills Country Club course in Rancho Mirage. Park, from South Korea, made a resolute birdie while Azusa's Lizette Salas, 23, who had started the day in second place and three shots behind Park, hit a nervous drive in the rough and made a double bogey while her playing partner, Park, watched without outward expression. But inwardly Park must have been giving herself a high-five.

BEIJING -- In a sign of China's exasperation with its rogue ally, North Korea, newly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday condemned nations that throw the “world into chaos.” Without mentioning North Korea by name, Xi told delegates at an international forum in Boao, southern Hainan province: “No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains. " Xi advised turning “our global village into a big stage for common development, rather than an arena where gladiators fight each other.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela, has been discharged from the hospital after 10 days undergoing treatment for pneumonia,  officials said Saturday. Mandela's discharge was a huge relief for South Africans, after the anti-apartheid hero was hospitalized with breathing difficulties last month. His late-night admission alarmed South Africans, who revere Mandela for his role in fighting apartheid and ushering in a period of reconciliation after the first democratic vote in 1994.