North Korea has executed a top financial official in a desperate attempt to quell public anger at its bungled currency revaluation, South Korean news reports and analysts said Thursday. Pak Nam-Ki, who was earlier reported sacked as chief of the ruling communist party's planning and finance department, was shot dead last week at a military range in Pyongyang, Yonhap ...

France will not open diplomatic relations with North Korea but plans to establish an office there to support non-governmental groups, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Thursday. "We are not going to open an embassy, certainly not," Kouchner said at a press conference in Tokyo. "Open an office, yes, in order to help the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) there." France is ...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has executed a ruling party official blamed for a botched currency reform, in a desperate attempt to quell public unrest and stem negative impact on Pyongyang's power succession, a news report said on Thursday. The execution by firing squad in Pyongyang last week of Pak Nam-ki, Labour Party chief for planned economy, was for the ...