The US and South Korea on Monday kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labelled an "all-out provocation", days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.The five-day Vigilant Ace drill – involving 230 aircrafts, including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and tens of thousands of troops – began Monday morning, Seoul's air force said.Pyongyang over the weekend blasted the drill, accusing US President Donal

The Pope comes to townThe biggest story this week was Pope Francis’ visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

From an undisclosed location north of Pyongyang, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which flew for approximately 50 minutes at an altitude of 4,000 kilometres before landing 250 kilometres from the northwest coast of Japan. Dubbed the Hwasong-15, the testing of this ICBM shattered a two-month long missile testing silence by Pyongyang.

North Korea shattered a two-month period of relative quiet by test-firing a missile that analysts say may put the US east coast in range.Japan said the intercontinental ballistic missile flew for 53 minutes on a lofted trajectory and may have reached an altitude of more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) before landing in waters about 250 kilometers from its northwest coast.

China will send a special envoy to North Korea this week, state media said Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump concluded an Asian tour to rally support against Pyongyang's nuclear threats.Friday's trip by President Xi Jinping's special envoy, Song Tao, is likely a diplomatic push by China to resolve the nuclear standoff, though the official Xinhua news agency merely said he will discuss last month's Chinese Communist Party congress.As Beijing prepared for the missio

The US under President Donald Trump’s leadership is looking more and more isolated in a region calling for the promotion of free trade and the easing of tensions in the Korean Peninsula.In defiance against economic protectionismOn Saturday, Asia-Pacific leaders successfully revived the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – initially thought to be dead after the US pulled out in January.

US President Donald Trump was forced to abandon a surprise visit to the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas on Wednesday due to bad weather, leaving him "pretty frustrated" according to the White House.South Korean leader Moon Jae-In, who had flown earlier before the weather closed in, was left waiting at the border which bristles with electric fences, minefields and anti-tank barriers.The US chief executive, who the White House had previously said would not go to the sym

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump have one thing in common – they both want to make their nations great again.

North Korea ruled out talks and threatened to increase its nuclear arsenal in a fresh warning to Donald Trump's administration Saturday as the US President set off on a tour of Asia.Trump departed for his first presidential trip to Asia Friday, with tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats looming large.

The US should stop threatening North Korea and instead assure leader Kim Jong-Un that there are no plans to oust him, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump next month.In a televised speech before leaving for Tokyo, Duterte said the US, Japan, China and South Korea should sit down with the North Korean leader to tackle the Pyongyang regime’s weapons development and missile tests.