North Korea has agreed to a South Korean proposal to show a foreign delegation around a jointly run industrial park that recently re-opened after military tensions caused a five-month closure, officials said Friday.

The rare cross-border trip by about 30 foreigners is scheduled for December 19 and comes as Seoul tightens its watch on Pyongyang following the execution of leader Kim Jong-Un's uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.

North Korea said Friday it has executed the uncle of leader Kim Jong-Un, branding veteran fixer Jang Song-Thaek a "traitor for all ages", as the U.S. and South Korea voiced concern at the shock purge.

In a stunning downfall, Jang -- who had been seen as Kim's political regent and the country's unofficial number two -- was executed on Thursday immediately after a special military trial, state news agency KCNA reported.

The recent purge of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's once-powerful uncle could herald a period of radical upheaval comparable to China's Cultural Revolution, Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera said Thursday.

Pyongyang confirmed Monday that Jang Song-Thaek, once seen as the power behind the throne, had dramatically fallen from grace, with state TV airing humiliating images of him being dragged away by uniformed officers.

North Korea confirmed Monday that the powerful uncle of the nation's young leader Kim Jong-Un has been purged, accusing him of building a rival power base and being a corrupt, drug-using womanizer.

Jang Song-Thaek, once seen as his nephew's mentor and the power behind the throne, has been stripped of all his posts for committing criminal acts and leading a "counter-revolutionary faction", state media said.

News reports about Jang Song-Thaek, the powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, have been deleted from the website of the state news agency, supporting speculation Jang has been ousted.

The Korean-language website of the North's Korean Central News Agency displayed no result for Jang when searched on Sunday by an Agence France Presse correspondent.

An 85-year-old American war veteran freed by North Korea after more than a month in detention arrived home in the United States Saturday where he was reunited with his family.

A visibly relieved Merrill Newman made a brief statement after landing at San Francisco airport from Beijing, saying he was delighted to be back following his release on humanitarian grounds by the communist state, which said the American had cited his "sincere repentance."

An aide of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's uncle is seeking asylum in South Korea after fleeing his country ahead of a leadership purge, a report said Friday.

South Korean officials believe the escapee might have managed funds for Jang Song-Thaek, who until this week was regarded as Kim's political regent, said the South's cable news network YTN, citing intelligence sources.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Friday there should be no doubt about US commitment to its strategic shift to Asia as he wound up a regional tour dominated by security concerns.

In talks with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and later in a speech at Seoul's Yonsei University, Biden reiterated U.S. opposition to a new Chinese air defense identification zone that has fueled regional tensions -- especially between Beijing and Japan.

Satellite images of one of North Korea's largest political prison camps suggests its inmate population is expanding, Amnesty International said Thursday in a report detailing rape and torture in the North's notorious gulag.

The report by the London-based rights watchdog included rare testimony from a former camp guard, as well as from former inmates about the brutality prevalent in the prison system.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's uncle, seen as his nephew's political regent and one of the most powerful men in the country, has been ousted and several of his associates executed, South Korean officials said Tuesday.

In a briefing to a parliamentary committee, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Jang Song-Thaek had been removed as vice chairman of the North's top military body, the National Defense Commission, an opposition lawmaker told reporters.