North Korea has detained a United States citizen, the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang and a university chancellor said Sunday, raising the number of Americans thought to be held by the secretive nation to three. – New York Times
Experts say the United States is unlikely to have been behind North Korea's botched missile launch last week, despite rampant speculation that the explosion was the result of an Obama-era cyber sabotage program. – The Hill
Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Sunday that President Trump will face a nuclear-armed North Korea with missiles that could reach the United States in this term. – The Hill
North Koreans are reportedly experiencing long lines at the gas pump, prompting speculation over whether China is withholding fuel supplies in an effort to put pressure on President Kim Jung-un to curb his developing nuclear program. – The Hill
The US and its allies are maintaining the military pressure on Pyongyang as well as urging China to use its trade ties to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions…China, however, is ambivalent about the benefits of tighter commercial sanctions. – Financial Times
North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. – Associated Press
Eight North Korean defectors in China face involuntary repatriation after being detained by Chinese police last month, the Human Rights Watch group and a pastor who has been assisting them said on Monday. - Reuters
South Korean software mogul-turned-presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo will seek to restart six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula if he is elected on May 9, he said in a written interview with Reuters. - Reuters
Editorial: North Korea is a terrorist government that obeys none of the norms of international behavior. The only solution is regime change. But in the meantime, the U.S. should make clear that Americans who travel to North Korea do so at their own risk. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
David Cohen writes: The Trump administration should start by applying secondary sanctions against midsize Chinese banks that aid North Korean front companies, leaving the larger ones for later, if necessary. Imposing secondary sanctions would send a strong message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the financial noose is tightening in a way that could drive a wedge between Kim and the Pyongyang elite critical to his continued hold on power. And it would demonstrate, to North Korea and China alike, that the United States is serious about generating the leverage necessary for a successful negotiation. – Washington Post