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Describes the illegal activities conducted by officials from North Korea. The country's vast criminal enterprise; Smuggling and drug trafficking since the 1970s; Evidence of corruption; The country's need for cash; Funding the nuclear program with drug profits; Cultivation of opium poppies since the 1980s; North Koreans targeting the drug trade in Europe; Drug of the future for North Korea seen to be methamphetamine; Use of counterfeit money.

The article offers news briefs from around the world. The administration of U.S. president George W. Bush will begin talks with North Korea, Iran, and Syria. Efforts to eradicate polio in the Pakistan-Afghanistan boarder area are being hindered by Muslim clerics who are telling people it is a U.S. plot to sterilize Muslims. Former Sudanese interior minister Ahmed Haroun and military commander Ali Kushayb will stand trial for crimes against humanity committed in the Darfur region of Sudan.

This article offers world news briefs. Iran has agreed to talks with the U.S. on ways of curbing sectarian violence in Iraq. The body of Slobodan Milosevic has been returned to Serbia for burial. The South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan resigned over his decision to play golf rather than attend to a railway strike. The U.S. military will no longer operate facilities in Iceland. U.S. intelligence is monitoring criminal rackets run by the government of North Korea.

The article reviews various news briefs related to U.S. politics as of February 13, 2006. A groups of new tapes featuring former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon discussing his political strategy were discovered. New information regarding the diplomatic relationship between North Korean and Iran is reviewed. The conflict between the U.S. Navy and chaplain Lt. Gordon Klingenschimitt is also reviewed. Other news briefs are included.

Offers political news briefs. Fear of North Korea conducting nuclear tests within the year; Significance of Howard Dean's avoidance of the spotlight since being elected Democratic National Committee chair; Impact of departing staff on the Office of Counterterrorism; Expectation of high turnover in the Republican staff of the House Intelligence Committee; Role of the Ruckus Society in targeting the U.S. Army; other topics.

Presents news briefs from around the world as of June 2003. Robert Mueller's unsuccessful meeting with the families of September 11th victims; Delay in giving pilots stun guns; Fear of severe acute respiratory disease (SARS) by North Korean officials; Launch of a U.S. Peace Government by John Hagelin.

Offers political news as of December 17, 2001. Suspicions that North Korea has samples of smallpox; Plans of United States officials to visit Great Britain to promote U.S. President George W. Bush's antiterrorism campaign; Weekly breakfasts held by Bush with Congressional Republican leaders; Other news.

Discusses the United States' history of diplomacy with North Korea, in light of Korea's development of a long-range missile, known as Taepo-dong 2. Range and implications of the missile; Reaction to the last missile test performed by North Korea; Diplomacy in the form of bribery by the US, Japan, South Korea and China; Role of aid to North Korea in diplomacy; Outlook for further aid.

The author contemplates if North Korea's Kim Jung Il would sell nuclear weapons. The country leads an isolated existence and would welcome foreign exchange. Drug smuggling and trafficking are extensive along with currency and brand counterfeiting. United States officials are concerned that nuclear materials may now be traded.

Presents news briefs related to the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. View of some administration officials that Bush does not have the political strength to pull off the variety of battles he's taken on, especially Social Security reform; Interest of U.S. President George W. Bush in North Korean political prisons believed to hold 200,000 prisoners, and his tendency to use more respectful language towards North Korean leader Kim Jong Il; More briefs.

Discusses the role of China in persuading North Korea to negotiate with the U.S. regarding its nuclear weapons programs. Fears of an Asian arms race by the Chinese; Diplomatic moves by China; Delivery of a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at his vacation home; Factors that may have influenced Kim's decision to accept the talks in Beijing, China.

When U.S. officials call the North Korean regime "mafialike," they aren't exaggerating. Of late, Washington has been focusing on more-pressing matters like North Korea's rogue missile sales and nuclear bomb program. The criminal activity is getting hard to ignore. North Korean diplomatic and trade missions, long used as smuggling centers, are being watched more closely, forcing the regime to split the take in "joint ventures" with traffickers from China, Japan, and Taiwan. U.S. officials say they've seen videotape of dictator Kim Jong Il's son, Kim Jong Nam, using counterfeit dollars at a Macao casino.