Former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman is apparently using the friendship he has developed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to call for the release of Kenneth Bae, the U.S. citizen sentenced to 15 years of labor in the isolated Republic.

"I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him 'Kim,' to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose," Rodman said on Twitter.

Bae, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South Korea, was arrested on Nov. 3 in the North Korean city of Rason (formerly Rajin) while escorting five European tourists. He was later sentenced to 15 years behind bars, supposedly for endangering national security. more >>

Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American who has been in a North Korean prison for more than six months, was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for "hostile acts" that were seen as an attempt to overthrow the government, North Korean media said Thursday.

Reports indicate that Bae, who ran a travel agency named Nation Tours, had lived in China and had previously visited North Korea without any trouble. KomoNews.com reported last year that Bae, identified by North Korea's official news agency, the KCNA, by his ethnic name Pae Jun Ho.

Bae and the group were arrested on Nov. 3, 2012, while in the northeastern city of Rajin. more >>

An American man, identified as a tour guide and a Christian, will be put on trial in North Korea for alleged crimes against the state, revealed the Korean Central News Agency in a report that comes six months after Kenneth Bae's initial detention.

Although his charges were not made completely clear, the KCNA (North Korea's official news agency) reported Saturday that Bae, a 44-year-old of Korean descent, had undergone a "preliminary inquiry" that revealed he had confessed guilt.

"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it. His crimes were proved by evidence," states the KCNA report. more >>

North Korea has demanded that the United States apologize for using the "nuclear stick," and threatened that it would not hesitate to take military action on South Korea "immediately and without notice."

North Korea said it would be willing to hold talks with the South only if the United States apologized for new U.N. sanctions that were imposed in response to a nuclear weapon test by Pyongyang in February.

"If the puppet authorities truly want dialogue and negotiations, they should apologize for all anti-DPRK hostile acts, big and small, and show the compatriots their will to stop all these acts in practice," North's state news agency KCNA said Tuesday, as North Korea marked the second day of festivities in honor of the April 15 birthday of its first leader, Kim Il Sung. more >>

As North Korea's official news agency ramped up its rhetoric and declared on Thursday the possibility of war breaking out "today or tomorrow" with the West, Christians living in the oppressive communist country have verified that preparations for war are being made around the clock, and are asking fellow believers worldwide to pray.

"The military army, navy, air force troops, strategic rocket troops, the red guards and the red youth guards are already in combat mode. Urgent meetings are being held everywhere, regardless if it is day or night. At those meetings, officials make decisions on what needs to happen in case war breaks out and everyone, including women, needs to be combat ready," a local church leader has said of the situation, according to persecution watchdog Open Doors USA.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un said in a message to the people, according to Open Doors' sources, that "If war breaks out because of the actions of the U.S. and puppet South Korean's unpardonable behavior, they will end up with a disgraceful downfall, and our people will greet a brilliant new day of reunification. The day has come to show off the power of 'Military First' and our great nation to the whole world." more >>

In the wake of new international sanctions and perceived hostile military drills by South Korea and its allies, officials in North Korea have revealed their plans on restarting a shuttered nuclear reactor, spurring fears the North's nuclear program could be resuming.

At issue is a nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, which was previously shutdown in 2007 as part of an international aid deal, but officials in Pyongyang announced that it would resume operations at the plant in the latest development concerning North Korea's nuclear program.

In remarks made during a United Nations meeting in Andorra, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that any escalation of the current situation could spell disaster for the international community, especially with the involvement of nuclear weapons. more >>