New U.S. defense chief warns North Korea on nuclear weapons

The White House says Joe Biden is aiming for a realistic approach towards North Korea's denuclearization rather than his predecessor's "grand bargain" strategy.

North Korea has warned Washington will face "a very grave situation'' over President Joe Biden's "big blunder" of calling Pyongyang a security threat.

US President Joe Biden has said he's "under no illusions" about the difficulty of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

North Korea's elite university brags of alleged partnerships with Western institutes, including two German ones. Those, however, bristle at the notion of partnership. DW investigates.

North Korean state media has blasted the US decision to permit South Korea to develop unlimited range missiles, calling it evidence of a "hostile" US policy towards Pyongyang.

Kim has said extreme weather, the coronavirus pandemic and being cut off from Chinese trade could lead to another food crisis in North Korea.

The North Korean leader didn't rule out the possibility of entering into dialogue with Washington but said his country should be more prepared to have an adversarial relationship with the Joe Biden administration.

Pyongyang has told the World Health Organization that it has yet to find a single coronavirus infection. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest people who refuse a vaccine.

The North Korean leader said failures during the pandemic and a "grave incident" had threatened the safety of the people. Elsewhere, Romania is selling off excess vaccines. Follow DW for the latest.

Heavy rain and flooding in provinces along North Korea's east coat have inundated wide swathes of farmland as the impoverished country organizes relief efforts.

North Korea appears to have restarted activities at its main plutonium-producing reactor in Yongbyon, the UN atomic agency, IAEA, has said in an annual report. The apparent resumption of operations comes as Pyongyang has been voicing threats to expand its nuclear arsenal amid continued tensions with the United States.

Analysts say cash-strapped Pyongyang is returning to its strategy of trying to obtain concessions from the international community by threatening nuclear proliferation.