Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has promoted his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, to the rank of general, just one day before a rare meeting of North Korea's ruling Workers Party. The move added to speculation that Kim Jong-un will take over for his ailing father in the future.
Israel's partial freeze on settlement buliding in the West Bank ended last night, and Marcus Mabry, associate national editor for The New York Times, and Charlie Herman, economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC Radio, discuss how this will affect peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They'll also take a look at what's ahead this week for Bishop Eddie Long, who has been accused of trying to sexually seduce four teenage boys; President Obama's continued conversations with middle-class Americans; how China and Japan's relationship is rapidly deteriorating, and more.
In March, a South Korean warship was torpedoed, killing 46 sailors and sinking the vessel. Recent evidence strongly implicates North Korea as the most likely power responsible for the attack, though Pyonyang denies any involvement. Now, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has said his country will boost its defense, sever all trade with North Korea and deny North Korean merchant ships access to their sea lanes. The U.S. has backed the South Korean stance.
But this is not the first time North Korea has taken a hostile maritime policy, nor is this the most explicit act of aggression by Pyongyang.
They’re starting to call it “the cruise to nowhere.” For more than two weeks, the U.S. government has been closely tracking the progress of a North Korean ship as it makes its way across the South China Sea bound for Myanmar. At first officials thought the mystery ship could be the first test of the UN Security Council's resolution to allow inspection of suspicious ships. But now it seems that the North Koreans may be fishing for something else: a confrontation with the U.S. BBC Correspondent John Sudworth joins The Takeaway from Seoul, South Korea, with more of the story.
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