NORTH KOREA
Institute: North Korea Tunnel Work at Nuke Test Site
Matthew Pennington, The Associated Press — June 25, 2013
Satellite photos show signs of new tunnel work at North Korea’s underground nuclear test site, a U.S. research institute said Tuesday.
U.N. Sanctions Panel Calls on States to be Wary of North Korean Diplomats
Global Security Newswire — June 25, 2013
A newly published report by a U.N. Security Council committee calls on countries with diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea to be on the lookout for illicit efforts by Pyongyang’s envoys to secretly use their stations to proliferate and acquire nuclear technology, Kyodo News reported on Monday
North Korea Looms as China, South Korea Presidents to Meet
Jeyup S. Kwaak, The Wall Street Journal — June 26, 2013
South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrives in Beijing on Thursday for a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will be closely watched for their policy coordination on North Korea.
US Reiterates Stand On Talks With North Korea
RTT News — June 25, 2013
The United States on Tuesday reiterated its long-standing position that it would engage in direct talks with North Korea only if the reclusive communist nation took “meaningful actions” to honor past commitments on its disputed nuclear and missile programs.
U.S. tacitly accepting N. Korea as nuclear state: Joel Wit
Lee Chi-dong, Yonhap News Agency — June 25, 2013
The United States is apparently losing its game with North Korea as the Barack Obama administration, stuck in “Strategic Patience 2.0,” is “skating dangerously close to accepting North Korea as a nuclear state,” an expert said here Tuesday.
IRAN
Iranians and the Rial Get a Lift From Rohani Election Victory
Farnaz Fassihi, The Wall Street Journal — June 25, 2013
…Iran’s currency, the rial, is already benefiting from the excitement and hopefulness surrounding Mr.Rohani’s election. In the past two weeks the value of rial has appreciated against the dollar by almost 20 percent, reversing the spiraling trend of the past two years.
Iran’s new president sees all paths for nuclear talks leading to Washington
The Associated Press — June 26, 2013
…Rouhani’s repeated emphasis on direct outreach to Washington may now have a chance for real traction among the ultimate decision-makers in Iran — the ruling clerics and the powerful Revolutionary Guard.
Op-Ed: Talk to Iran’s New President. Warily.
Dennis B. Ross, The New York Times — June 25, 2013
The election of Hassan Rowhani as Iran’s new president has created a sense that there are new possibilities of progress on the nuclear issue; we need to respond, but warily.
DEFENSE/NUCLEAR SPENDING
Draft Senate Bill Boosts Nonproliferation Spending, May Limit Warhead Update
Douglas P. Guarino, Global Security Newswire — June 26, 2013
Senate appropriators are looking to boost funding for efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear weapons and could at some point set the stage for scaling back the scope of plans to modernize U.S. atomic warheads.
U.S. Moves to Abandon Costly Reactor Fuel Plant
Matthew L. Wald, The New York Times — June 25, 2013
The Energy Department is moving toward abandoning a half-built factory that has cost $3.7 billion so far and was intended to make reactor fuel out of plutonium from retired nuclear bombs — part of an agreement with Russia to shrink the world’s supply of nuclear bomb fuel after the cold war.
