North Korea's ceremonial head of state has vowed to strengthen ties with Iran and reaffirmed a shared hostility towards the United States during a meeting with Iran's leader, state media said Sunday.

Kim Young-Nam, attending a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, met with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday to clarify Pyongyang's "firm stand" to boost ties with Iran, the North's KCNA said.

Coca-Cola has been available at private markets in North Korea for more than a decade even if the U.S. soft drink maker has not opened business in the communist state, defectors from the North said Saturday.

A clip featuring Coke being served in what is said to be a pizza restaurant in Pyongyang recently attracted attention on video sharing site YouTube.

South Korea and the United States on Friday completed an annual joint military drill denounced by North Korea as a rehearsal for war.

The computer-assisted simulation exercise, named Ulchi Freedom Guardian, was successfully finished after kicking off on August 20, the Combined Forces Command of the two allies said in a statement.

Japan and North Korea were in close contact for a second day, officials said Thursday, as the countries seek to find enough common ground for possible future discussions at a higher level.

Diplomats from the two sides held their first face-to-face encounter in four years Wednesday in Beijing, in relatively low-level talks Japan characterized as "matter-of-fact and frank."

North Korea, long accused of shunting its disabled residents off to isolated detention camps, will take part for the first time this year in the Paralympics, which open Wednesday in London.

The country's sole competitor is a 16-year-old swimmer whose training only began in April. Yet his participation offers inspiration to others involved in North Korea's nascent disabled sports programs, says Li Pun Hui, a former table tennis star who has become her country's leading advocate for disabled athletes.

North Korea's leader has warned of an "all-out" war against the South while denouncing its ongoing joint military drill with the United States, state media said Sunday.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries on Monday began a two-week exercise aimed at testing defenses against the communist North, insisting it was defensive in nature but Pyongyang called it a drill for a preemptive nuclear attack.

North Korea has threatened to reconsider several agreements with the United States that call for Pyongyang's concessions on its nuclear program in exchange for U.S. humanitarian and energy aid, Foreign Policy magazine reported.

Citing two unnamed sources familiar with the discussions, the magazine said the hardening of North Korea's position was made evident during a meeting last month in Singapore of mid-level North Korean officials and U.S. foreign policy experts.

North Korea could build an arsenal of up to 48 nuclear weapons, several times more than it has now, if the communist state were able to step up its program unchecked, a U.S. think tank said Thursday.

North Korea's nuclear program is shrouded in secrecy, but the Institute for Science and International Security used limited available information to chart out different scenarios for Pyongyang's progress in the coming years.

The uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un headed to China Monday for talks on the joint development of two special economic zones, the North's state media reported.

Jang Song-Thaek is leading a North Korean delegation for a third round of talks on the Rason Economic Trade Zone and the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwado Economic Zone, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Monday he is seeking a way to ease tensions between North and South Korea, and promised more help to Pyongyang to recover from deadly floods.

Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said inter-Korean relations had soured recently.