Most Popular
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Korea's food inflation surges to third-highest in OECD
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W13tr cash handout likely top agenda for Yoon's 1st meeting with Lee
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Med school deans urge for freeze of 2025 quota
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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N. Korea says Kim guided simulated nuclear counterattack drill
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Culture Ministry, KTO unveil Hallyu-themed tours
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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BOK chief says won will level off if Middle East conflict eases
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N. Korea blames South for postponement of family reunions
North Korea on Sunday blamed South Korea's confrontational policy for its abrupt decision to postpone the scheduled family reunions, further clouding the prospects for the highly anticipated event.The latest response comes one day after Pyongyang unilaterally put off the reunions of family members separated by the Korean War six decades ago, just four days before the planned event. Both sides had exchanged the final lists of about 200 candidates to be reunited at the North's mountain resort of K
Sept. 22, 2013
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Seoul says Pyongyang has nothing to gain abusing reunions as political tool
Seoul denounced North Korea’s decision to postpone the cross-border family reunions as “inhumane” on Saturday and warned that Pyongyang had nothing to gain by using the event as a political tool. On Saturday North Korea announced that the family reunions, scheduled to be held at North's mountain resort of Kumgang from Sept. 25-30, are being postponed accusing Seoul of creating an atmosphere of contention. Pyongyang also postponed the planned negotiations with the South, slated for Oct. 2, on how
Sept. 21, 2013
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China: N. Korea ready to make nuclear commitment
WASHINGTON (AP) – China's foreign minister pushed Friday for the restart of international talks on North Korea's nuclear program, saying that Pyongyang is ready to recommit to the goal of denuclearization.North Korea withdrew from the aid-for-disarmament talks in 2009, and over the past year has made clear it wants to be treated as a nuclear weapons state.But Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a Washington think tank the North has recently said it is ready to come back to a 2005 commitment on giving
Sept. 21, 2013
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N. Korea abruptly postpones family reunions with S. Korea
North Korea said Saturday it is postponing the planned reunions for families separated for six decades since the Korean War, accusing the South of seeking confrontation with the communist nation.The two Koreas have prepared to hold a round of family reunions at the North's scenic mountain resort of Kumgang from Sept. 25-30, in one of a series of signs of a thaw in relations between the two sides, along with the reopening of a joint industrial complex in the North.On Saturday, however, the North'
Sept. 21, 2013
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Report: N. Korea's collapse possible any time
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) – The collapse of North Korea could occur abruptly and with little warning like that of East Germany, a U.S. think tank report said Friday."It is more a matter of 'when' that 'if' it will occur," said the 295-page report by Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.South Korea and the United States need to craft detailed contingency plans in case of the communist regime's collapse, which would be far more disastrous than the fall
Sept. 21, 2013
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N. Korea's nuclear envoys return home from China
North Korea's veteran nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, and his aides returned to Pyongyang on Friday after a five-day visit to Beijing, where he urged for the resumption of the six-party talks "without preconditions." Kim and his aides, including Ri Yong-ho, the North's chief delegate to the long-stalled talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, left for Pyongyang via an Air Koryo flight at around noon. Upon arrival at the Beijing airport, they did not give any remarks. This w
Sept. 20, 2013
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S. Korean firms to discuss inter-Korean biz resumption next week
A civic group comprised of local companies doing business with the North are discussing ways to resume their inter-Korean business suspended for more than three years since May 2010 in a meeting with the unification vice minister next week, it said Friday."The companies plan to call for being allowed to visit the North to inspect their facilities and the permission to bring imports from the country such as sand, which have been previously paid for, into the South," said an official of the group.
Sept. 20, 2013
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Chinese FM 'confident' of deal with U.S. on N. Korea
In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, China's top diplomat expressed confidence Thursday that the two global powers will produce a fresh deal associated with efforts to resume multilateral denuclearization talks with North Korea. Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the need for reviving the six-way negotiations, also involving South Korea, Japan and Russia, in the interest of regional peace and stability. "I believe it is an important time for the six parties to review the past,
Sept. 20, 2013
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5 N. Korean workers died early this year in Russia: source
Five North Korean workers died from suffocation while sleeping with a diesel heater on early this year in Russia, a source familiar with the matter said Friday. "North Korean workers in Russia usually live in old apartments built during the Soviet Union days or underground shelters," the source said, adding their working conditions are very severe. Most North Korean workers dispatched abroad are forced to live in places with no heating and cooling facilities near their workplaces, it said.
Sept. 20, 2013
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S. Korean advance party heads to N. Korea ahead of family reunions
A group of South Korean Red Cross officials crossed the border into North Korea Friday to arrange accommodations for South Korean families who are scheduled to meet with their relatives in the North next week. The advance party of about a dozen Red Cross officials entered North Korea via the border office on the east coast and headed to the venue of the temporary family reunions at the Mount Kumgang resort. The reunions, scheduled for Sept. 25-30, are expected to bring together more than
Sept. 20, 2013
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S. Koreans in N.K. pay respects to ancestors to mark Chuseok
South Korean workers at the inter-Korean factory park in North Korea's border city of Kaesong marked the Chuseok holiday away from home Thursday by jointly holding ceremonies to pay respects to their ancestors.The Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee, which supports South Korean businesses in the factory park, said it held joint Chuseok rites for 80 to 90 workers who stayed there.Chuseok, the Korean version of Thanksgiving, is a major holiday in both Koreas. On the day, Koreans visit
Sept. 19, 2013
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U.S. snubs N. Korea's call for 'unconditional' talks
Apparently rebuffing North Korea's call for "unconditional" nuclear talks, the U.S. government urged the communist nation Wednesday to first demonstrate its seriousness on dialogue through action, not just rhetoric."The onus is on North Korea to take meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from provocations," a State Department official said, adding it reflects Washington's formal stance.The official pointed out Pyongyang committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons, including in t
Sept. 19, 2013
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N. Korea urges resumption of six-party talks 'without preconditions'
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy called for nations involved in the long-stalled talks on the North's nuclear program to resume the multilateral process "without preconditions." "We are ready to enter the six-party talks without preconditions," the North's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan told a forum organized by China's foreign ministry in Beijing.Kim said "preconditions" set by South Korea and the United States, however, "are in violation of the spirit of the Sept. 19 Joint Statement
Sept. 18, 2013
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U.S. House passes bill on extending nuclear energy cooperation with S. Korea
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Tuesday on extending the South Korea-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement for two years.The bill, H.R. 2449, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, calls for a rollover of the current accord originally scheduled to expire in March next year. Under the legislation, the current "123 agreement" will be effective till March 2016.It is intended to give Seoul and Washington more time to negotiate
Sept. 18, 2013
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China FM calls for swift resumption of N. Korea nuclear talks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday called for nations involved in the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program to resume the talks "at an early date.""We must seize the opportunity and continue to move toward a better direction" to further ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Wang said during a conference in Beijing, organized by China, to probe ways to re-start the six-way talks aimed at denuclearizing the North.The one-day "seminar" has been arranged by China
Sept. 18, 2013
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Inter-Korean industrial zone reopens
South Korean factory owners crossed into North Korea on Monday as the joint Gaeseong industrial zone reopened five months after it was shut down by threats of war.After weeks of often spiky negotiations aimed at easing inter-Korean tensions, dozens of cars, trucks and management staff crossed the border shortly after 8:30 a.m.“I hope we can work together well again, just like before,” said the 50-year-old head of a Seoul textile company who declined to be named.The optimistic mood at the border
Sept. 16, 2013
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N.K. nuclear envoy in China
BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― A senior North Korean diplomat with long experience in negotiations on the North’s nuclear program arrived in Beijing Monday for a series of meetings as China is accelerating its efforts to resume the long-stalled talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear ambition. A delegation headed by North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan made an announced visit to Beijing, nearly three weeks after Kim held talks in Pyongyang with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei. The
Sept. 16, 2013
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Gaeseong park begins test-run as Koreas discuss sustainable growth
An inter-Korean factory zone in North Korea began its trial-run production on Monday after a five-month hiatus, as the two Koreas discuss ways to ensure sustainable growth of the joint economic venture.More than half of the 123 South Korean firms with factories at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North's eponymous city were set to start trial operations, with the aim of fully normalizing operations thereafter, and have asked North Korean workers to report to work, the Unification Ministry
Sept. 16, 2013
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N. Korea emboldened by U.S. handling of Syria: Klingner
While dealing with the Syria crisis, the Barack Obama administration once underscored the need to set a precedent for North Korea, Iran and terrorist groups jeopardizing the interests of the U.S. and its regional partners.But concerns are growing that Washington's tactic on Syria may be sending the wrong signal, especially to Pyongyang."The (North Korean) regime is probably heartened by signs of a declining American willingness to intervene overseas even when confronted by evidence of the use of
Sept. 16, 2013
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N.K. seeks talks for becoming ‘nuclear state,’ U.S. envoy says
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― North Korea is seeking direct or multilateral negotiations involving the United States in a bid to get recognized as a nuclear state, Washington’s top envoy on Pyongyang said.Amb. Glyn Davies, special representative for North Korea policy, stressed Washington is interested only in talks on denuclearizing the communist nation.“It seems clear that North Korea is attempting to make these talks, when and if they occur in the future, about something very different, which is
Sept. 15, 2013