Seoul (South Korea), Apr. 11 : North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's three sons are not the only ones with strong enough family connections to make them contenders for power as their father, weak and still ailing, casts about for a successor.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Kim is also counting on the economic acumen of his brother-in-law, Jang Song Taek, to buttress his regime.

New York - The United Nations Security Council failed to agree Thursday on a resolution against North Korea's claimed satellite launch over the weekend, even as Japan demanded a swift and decisive response. Ambassadors of the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain have been in negotiation sessions with Japan since Sunday, but the discussions have yielded no results.

London, Apr 9 : North Korean parliament has re-elected the country's supreme leader Kim Jong-Il to his most powerful post, chairman of the National Defence Commission, even as the international diplomatic deadlock persisted over last weekend's missile test by Pyongyang.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the election "is all the servicepersons' and people's expression of unquestioned support and trust in him," adding that Kim has performed the immortal exploits to shine long in the history of the country.

Seoul - North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament on Thursday re-elected the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, to the government's highest post.

The Supreme People's Assembly reconfirmed Kim as the chairman of the National Defence Commission, state-media reported. The commission is the most powerful body in North Korea's government.

Beijing, Apr. 8: China has asked the United Nations to respond prudently to the Democratic People''s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) rocket launch, even as the UN Security Council have scheduled a second meeting to discuss what sanctions, if any, can be imposed on that country.

“China is always careful about imposing sanctions. We believe the response of the Security Council should be conducive to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia as well as the Six-Party Talks," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

Tokyo  - The Japanese Parliament on Tuesday condemned what it regards as a ballistic missile test by North Korea over the weekend.

The lower House called on the government to implement further sanctions against the Stalinist state and urged the UN Security Council to pass a resolution against North Korea.

Meanwhile, the five permanent members of the Security Council in New York continued their tug-of-war over a resolution on what North Korea claimed was the launch of a communications satellite.