strong commitment to the stability of the korean peninsula and the security of our close ally the republic of koreathe two leaders agreed to stay in close touch as the situation develops. and agreed they would direct their national security teams to continue close coordination. of course, north korea has been a thorn in the side of the international community and of u.s. diplomats and of u.s. administrations for many years with the concern about them getting into developing nuclear weapons so, of course, the state department, the defense department and the white house keeping a very close watch on this situation and as i said, we'll monitor those reactions and get them to you as soon as we get them. >> all right, steve centanni live in the bureau, thank you, steve. let's bring in john bolton, former u.s. ambassador to the united nations and a fox news contributor. good morning to you, ambassador. >> good morning. >> south korea right now on high alert. what do you worry about? >> nuclear weapons. i think at the moment, the situation in north korea is almost certainly very unstable. look, this is no

kim led the democratic people's republic of korea for 17 years. he stepped into power following the death of his father, kim il-sung who founded the reclusive state in 1948. his funeral will be held on december 28th, a day before a period of official mourning comes to an end. and this is how the news of his death was reported on television in north korea. >>> plenty of emotion on display there. that's hardly surprising considering the cult of personality fostered by the deceased dictator and his followers. whatever you might think of kim jong-il, there was no denying he was an out of the ordinary head of state. let's take a look at the man and his life with dan rivers. >> reporter: kim jong-il was a diminutive stature and characteristic hair were parroted by some of in the west. for the citizens of the democratic peoples republic of korea, kim was the embodiment of this reclusive state, feared, loved, worshipped, his cult of personality was deeply entrenched. his father was kim il-sung who founded north korea with soviet backing after world war ii.

starting point to the arduous expedition that stretches along the bank of lake in the north of the republic of korea. early in the morning twenty people driving five dog teams and nine snowmobiles are ready to set off season travelers and thirty sled dog huskies are joined by journalists and extreme tourism and. the snowmobiles will take the lead. their task is to look for a convenient track and pave the way over deep snow dr teams then follow in their wake. today we have a difficult day today is the first day of the expedition so we need to learn to work together temperatures will drop to thirty below so will be difficult this is the lead dog cheyenne and this is amadeus these two dogs are also experienced this is chinook and this is. the grand cross on the shore of lake quito symbolizes the start of the expeditions first stage it serves as a good omen for those who have safely returned to from a journey across the lake and for those who are about to set off the cross is there for a reason as the lake has an reputation. legend has it that the lake takes separate feiss if it doesn't in any particula

i would say the only and the most important ally for the democratic republic of korea.he will probably pay a visit to china very soon, especially if he wants to win the power struggle within the political circle, and also in the struggle between himself and all the military generals in p'yongyang. in this situation, things can be very dangerous after the funeral on december 28. >> the beijing foreign studies university. thank you so much for your insight. footage of the violent suppression of protest in egypt has attracted international condemnation. >> shocking and disgraceful are the words u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton used to describe the treatment of a theme of a protester in egypt. the incident happened during deadly clashes which have continued to rage for a fourth day. our reporter is in cairo. be warned the report contains some disturbing images. >> this is the shock which has outraged egyptians. a fully veiled woman being viciously beaten and virtually stripped by a gang of soldiers. the video is much worse. first they beat her, kicking her in the hea

i am corral mark from the republic of korea. i would like to wish my father, my family, and all my friends in virginia a very special merry christmas and happy new year. i miss you all. i look forward to seeing you soon. >>> back now with a commuter alert about the dulles toll road tonight. crews will close the eastbound lanes approaching the beltway and that is so they can shift those lanes back to where they were before work started on the hot lanes project. that work is expected to be finished by 5:00 in the morning. >>> the national zoo received an early christmas gift today. >> a $4.5 million donation that could help produce a panda cub in the new year. >> i'm kristin fisher at the national zoo, which received a $4.5 million denation. >> this is the largest donation we have ever gotten. >> gift is from david of the dc base, carlyle group. >> they are an extraordinary species and it's one that i hope will be with us for many, many years. >> money means the zoo can stop focusing on fund raising and get back to what they reall

. >> we are from the republic of korea and we want to wish our friends and family back in woodbridge,nia, and randy and marie a merry christmas and happy new year. happy holidays. >>> back now with the controversy brewing over in evergreen. this is the tree at the state house, to be exact. tonight, governor lincoln is set with the state's holiday tree. within an hour later, a republican state representative will light a christmas tree outside her legislative office. not calling the state tree a christmas tree is just taking the whole politically correct thing too far. >>> and only on 9. last night saw video of a woman taking down a holiday display that she found offensive. it happened outside the loudoun county courthouse and tonight, our peggy fox went back to leesburg to find out what is next for all of those holiday displays. >> this defends me very deeply. >> four members wanted to suspend the rules that allow public holiday displays like this. a skeleton santa on a cross. this grandmother found so offensive she took it down. >> it was predictable. it was easy to see coming. the k

. >>> hi, we're from republic of korea and we want to wish our friends and family back in woodbridge,nia, and randy and marine a merry christmas and ha >>> melwood and wusa9 serve all those who serve at home and abroad this holiday season. >> hi, calling from germany. to my mom and my cousins living in the washington, d.c. area, happy holidays and know that i would much rather be there than here, but know that i love you. six months and counting. i'll see you soon. >>> back now with an update on a nativity scene robbed of a key figure. we told you that the baby jesus was stolen from his manger in this display at the central park shopping center. tonight, the 80-pound figure is back where he belongs. police say a tip led them to the plastic figure, but so far that suspect has not been charged. >>> all across the country, some needy families are getting some much needed holiday cheer this season. >> our ken explains how a good deed is becoming a popular trend among perfect strangers. >> santa doesn't always have a white beard and wear a red hat, ask some of the people out here in spring

. >>> hi, we're from republic of korea and we want to wish our friends and family back in woodbridge, virginia, and randy and marine a merry christmas and happy new year. happy holidays. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. >>> melwood and wusa9 serve all those who serve at home and abroad this holiday season. >> hi, calling from germany. to my mom and my cousins living in the washington, d.c. area, happy holidays and know that i would much rather be there than here, but know that i love you. six months and counting. i'll see you soon. >>> back now with an update on a nativity scene robbed of a key figure. we told you that the baby jesus was stolen from his manger in this display at the central park sh

the leader of the democratic people's republic of korea since one nine hundred ninety four he succeeded his father kim il sung keeping korea close to the world kim jong il was also named supreme commander of the people's army one of the largest in the world with one million active troops and over four million reservist it's believed enormous funds allocated to its military might ate up north korea's resources needed to fight famine and other social problems but kim jong il and his regime tried to put on a different show when allowing the globe a glimpse inside one hundred you know in our father the general came john thank you so much. after the korean war the demilitarized zone was drawn up sending north and south korea into very different directions decades on the north remains a closed communist state the south. modern democracy and innovative success story north korea has caused global outrage in recent years testing patience by carrying out underground nuclear test and short range missile launches leading to us in un financial and military sanctions it is now not a matter of the uni

. >>> season's greetings i'm concern mark delong from the republic of korea.ould like to wish my father, family and all my friends in virginia a very special merry christmas and new year. i miss you all. i look forward for seeing you soon.  >>> yesterday, we told but a d.c. woman who says she was fined eight times for flow ago with a shreds of news paper she used to make cat litter. now, the department of public works explains why it issued those fines. matt ackland has the story. >> reporter: pat rich rae white invited us into her home tuesday and showed us step by step how she makes cat litter with shredded newspaper. she thinks this is better for the environment than buying litter at the store. >> i'm trying to do something really good for the environment by using the shredded paper in the cat box and then i get fined for it. >> reporter: but the department of public works director says his inspectors found more in white's trash than just strips of contaminated newspaper. >> what the hearing officer looked at and what the inspector