俄罗斯外长访朝 商讨朝核问题
俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫23号抵达平壤，开始对朝鲜进行为期2天的访问。拉夫罗夫是在朝鲜试射火箭后围绕朝核问题出现新危机的"敏感"情况下访问朝鲜的。会谈的主要议题之一就是朝核问题。
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned other countries not to expect any breakthroughs from his visit to the North Korean capital.
Removing obstacles
In Pyongyang he met with North Korean officials to discuss removing the latest obstacles to talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons programs.
Earlier this month, North Korea announced it was pulling out of the talks process, which it described as "useless," after the United Nations condemned its launch of a long-range rocket.
Next stop, South Korea
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan is to greet Lavrov in Seoul, Friday, after he departs Pyongyang.
Yu said North Korea should not make the situation any worse and that, if North Korea carries through on threats to restart its main nuclear facilities, the United Nations will seek additional punishment.
Nuclear inspectors expelled
North Korea ejected international nuclear inspectors from the country, last week, and vowed to strengthen what it calls its "nuclear deterrent." It has warned South Korea not to follow through on its intentions to join an American-led campaign aimed at stopping weapons trafficking. Pyongyang says joining the program would be seen as an "act of war."
For more than three weeks, North Korea has detained a South Korean executive apparently accused of speaking disrespectfully of the North's leadership and encouraging a North Korean woman to defect. North Korea is also holding two American journalists, who it says trespassed across the border with China. Analysts believe the North may use both cases for political leverage with the respective countries.
