'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
North Korea said Friday that leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger capability to cope with any foreign provocation as he met with military officers ahead of annual drills next month between South Korea and the United States that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal.
Earlier this week, Kim reopened suspended communication channels with rival South Korea, raising hopes of reduced animosities on the Korean Peninsula. But some experts say Pyongyang could conduct missile tests or take other tension-raising actions in response to the drills, which Seoul and Washington have altered in past years to support diplomacy.
The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim held the workshop of military commanders and political officers from July 24-27 to discuss ways to enhance the North's military strength. It said it was the first such meeting since North Korea's military was founded.
During the meeting, Kim "stressed that commanders and political officers should focus all efforts on completing preparations for actively and offensively coping with any military provocation of enemies," KCNA said.
Kim accused "the hostile forces," an apparent reference to the U.S. and South Korea, of bolstering their capabilities for making a preemptive attack and intensifying "all sorts of frantic and persistent war drills for aggression." Kim ordered the workshop attendees to put greater efforts to boost their units' combat efficiency, KCNA said.
Kim's speech carried by KCNA didn't mention his nuclear program and didn't contain any fiery rhetoric against the United States or South Korea.
In the past few years, South Korean and U.S. militaries have cancelled or scaled back some of their regular military exercises to support the now-stalled diplomacy on North Korea's nuclear program or due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked over a possibility for next month's drills being canceled or downsized, Boo Seung-Chan, a spokesman at South Korea's Defense Ministry, told a briefing Thursday that Seoul and Washington were reviewing factors like the pandemic's current status, efforts to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and their combined military readiness.
Some experts say North Korea could test-fire powerful missiles if the United States and South Korea conduct the drills in a full-fledged manner.
U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear program remain stalled for about 2 1/2 years due to disputes over international sanctions on the North. During the diplomatic impasse, Kim has threatened to build up his nuclear arsenal if Washington doesn't withdraw policies it considers hostile to North Korea.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.