Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Seoul says Fu Bao loan 'not going to happen'
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[Today’s K-pop] BTS pop-up event to come to Seoul
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China reaffirms 'clear-cut' goal of denuclearizing N. Korea
BEIJING (Yonhap News) – A senior Chinese military official renewed his country's "clear-cut" goal of ending North Korea's nuclear program through dialogue during a meeting with South Korean defense officials last week, China's defense ministry said Tuesday. Sun Jianguo, the deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remark on Friday when he met a delegation of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, which is affiliated with South Korea's defense ministry, i
Sept. 3, 2013
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N.K. nuclear arms program now a ‘real threat,’ Seoul says
North Korea has made considerable progress in developing a fairly robust nuclear program in the past three years and is capable of making atomic weapons at any time, Seoul’s defense ministry said Tuesday. “North Korea’s nuclear program remained at a developmental and experimental stage in 2010, but it has grown into a real threat in 2013, and it is able to make a nuclear device at any time,” the ministry said in a report to the parliamentary defense committee.“China’s changing attitude toward No
Sept. 3, 2013
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N. Korean leader inspects front-line islets on inter-Korean sea border
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected front-line military units that launched the deadly 2010 artillery attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island, a media report said Tuesday.Kim's visit marks the third time since he took power in late2011 that he toured the Jangjae and Mu islets that lie just a few kilometers north of the northern limit line (NLL) separating the two Koreas. He toured the small islands in August 2012 and early March of this year when the communist country ratcheted up tensio
Sept. 3, 2013
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China reaffirms 'clear-cut' goal of denuclearizing N. Korea
A senior Chinese military official renewed his country's "clear-cut" goal of ending North Korea's nuclear program through dialogue during a meeting with South Korean defense officials last week, China's defense ministry said Tuesday. Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remark on Friday when he met a delegation of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, which is affiliated with South Korea's defense ministry, in Beijing."China's stand on
Sept. 3, 2013
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Koreas stuck on when to reopen factory park, agree on future talks
The two Koreas failed Monday to agree on the reopening date of the joint industrial complex in North Korea's border town of Gaeseong, but agreed to meet again later this week. South and North Korea have hit a snag on how to ensure the smooth running of the complex and prevent political or other non-economic factors from disrupting future operations, officials said.The two sides agreed to hold the next round of joint committee talks on Sept. 10 with sub-committee talks to be held on Wednesday and
Sept. 3, 2013
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Bombs and pop songs: makings of N.K. spy
As well as the obvious classes like bomb-making, Kim Dong-sik’s intensive spy training in North Korea included memorizing hundreds of South Korean pop songs and dance moves.Such strategies for assimilating into South Korean society were considered essential to avoid suspicion, Kim revealed in a recently-published memoir that lifts the lid on some of the workings of the North’s spy agency.Now 51, Kim was captured in the South in 1995 and spent years undergoing interrogation before renouncing comm
Sept. 2, 2013
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Seoul to give $6.3m in aid to N.K.
GAESEONG/SEOUL ― South Korea has decided to resume support for World Health Organization programs to help malnourished North Korean children in a fresh sign of warming cross-border relations. The Unification Ministry said Monday the government would finance half the $12.6 million project, which was launched in 2006 to help improve hospitals, train personnel and boost supplies of essential medicine in the North. Seoul contributed about $10 million annually to the program between 2006 and 2008 and
Sept. 2, 2013
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N. Korea, China discuss resumption of six-party talks
The chief nuclear envoys from China and North Korea discussed ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs, China's foreign ministry said Monday.Amid indications Beijing is accelerating its efforts to revive the six-party talks, the Chinese nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, made a five-day visit to North Korea last week and held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan."The two sides exchanged views on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula a
Sept. 2, 2013
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Seoul to give $6.3m in aid to N.K.
GAESEONG/SEOUL -- South Korea unveiled plans Monday to resume support for the World Health Organization’s programs to help malnourished North Korean children in a fresh sign of warming cross-border relations. It pledged to finance half the $12.6 million program, which was launched in 2006 to help reform and repair hospitals, train personnel and boost supplies of key drugs there. Seoul’s contribution, which may be raised in the future, will come from an inter-Korean cooperation fund. It provided
Sept. 2, 2013
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Inter-Korean panel to discuss Gaeseong stumbling blocks
An inter-Korean panel is set to open its first meeting in Gaeseong on Monday to iron out differences over infrastructure enhancement, investment protection and other thorny issues crucial for reopening the industrial park. The focal point is settling when the assembly lines will be back online. Pyongyang calls for swift reactivation, while Seoul stresses the need for measures to prevent the North from taking any unilateral actions like the entry ban and pullout of workers it imposed in April. If
Sept. 1, 2013
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Opinion divided over DMZ peace park
With its serene landscape and undisrupted wildlife, the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas already looks like a peace park. But beyond the horizons, Cold War tension is palpable. Fully armed soldiers stand guard, eyeing each other with machine guns and tucked-away hand grenades. The 4-kilometer-wide, 250-kilometer-long frontier zone is strewn with land mines, dotted by guard posts and surrounded by heavy artillery.President Park Geun-hye is pushing to build a “peace park” in the DMZ as a
Sept. 1, 2013
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North Korea blames U.S. over cancellation of envoy’s visit
North Korea on Saturday blamed Washington for the cancellation of a visit by a special American envoy to Pyongyang, citing joint U.S.-South Korea military drills described as the “most blatant nuclear blackmail”.On Friday, the U.S. State Department said North Korea had cancelled the invitation to an envoy who was to have sought the release of an American citizen held prisoner in the reclusive state.News of the planned trip by U.S. diplomat Robert King had raised hopes that Kenneth Bae, a 44-year
Sept. 1, 2013
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N. Korea says B-52 bombers were behind botched trip by U.S. envoy
North Korea said Saturday that it had to cancel the planned weekend visit of a special U.S. envoy to the country because of fresh U.S. military provocations.Robert King, special envoy on North Korean human rights issues, had planned to begin a two-day visit to the communist nation on Friday to secure the release of Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-American man serving a prison term there.North Korea said it had agreed to allow King's visit on humanitarian grounds but the U.S. "ruined" the atmos
Sept. 1, 2013
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N. Korea says inter-Korean talks must not be used as bargaining chip
North Korean on Saturday stressed that ongoing inter-Korean talks should not be used as a bargaining chip and countries with vested interest on the Korean Peninsula must not play along with the hostile policies being pursued by the United States. In an article carried by the Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, it said the time has long past when the two sides vied for selfish goals while engaging in talks. The article also said that it is important that political lea
Aug. 31, 2013
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N. Korea engaged in major construction project at long-range
North Korea is engaged in major construction at its long-range rocket launch facility along its west coast, a U.S. think tank said Saturday, citing recent satellite imagery. According to 38 North, an analysis program of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, construction work may be underway at the Tongchang-ri launch site. After initial analysis on photos taken on Sunday it claimed there were six construction sites at the location, with the most noteworthy at a 45-meter by 6
Aug. 31, 2013
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N. Korea rescinds invitation for U.S. envoy on detained
Without explanation, North Korea abruptly canceled its invitation Friday for a U.S. special envoy to visit Pyongyang, bewildering American and South Korean officials who apparently expected the release this week of an American man detained there. At the invitation of the North, Ambassador Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, had planned to travel to the communist nation on Friday in local time in an effort to free Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old whose health is reportedly
Aug. 31, 2013
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New Zealand bikers arrive in S. Korea through inter-Korean border
Five New Zealand motorcyclists crossed the heavily armed inter-Korean border from North Korea to South Korea on Thursday with the goal of promoting peace on the divided peninsula, officials here said.North Korean media reported earlier on the arrival of the bikers and said they have visited many parts of the country as part of their trek across the Korean Peninsula.On Wednesday, the Seoul government allowed the bikers to cross the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as they want to use the visit to wish fo
Aug. 29, 2013
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Inter-Korean panel to discuss normalization of Gaeseong
The two Koreas on Thursday hammered out an agreement on a joint committee to spearhead institutional improvement and tackle disputes over the Gaeseong industrial park. The panel consisting of six members from each side will hold its inaugural meeting on Sept. 2, the Unification Ministry said. A permanent secretariat will be set up in the border city to “ensure the committee’s smooth operation.” “They will discuss how to run the joint committee and its agenda,” a ministry official told reporters
Aug. 29, 2013
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N. Korea urges S. Korea, U.S. to halt hostile acts
North Korea urged South Korea and the United States Thursday to desist from hostile policies and strive for dialogue and peace.In a statement released by the spokesman for the Policy Department of the National Defense Commission, Pyongyang claimed the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercise and actions taken by some South Korean groups to send anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets are "war commotion" and outdated tactics.The commission said the time has come for policymakers in Seoul an
Aug. 29, 2013
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N. Korea agrees on next week's Gaeseong committee meeting
North Korea accepted Seoul's proposal Thursday to hold the first-ever meeting next week of a newly created joint committee that will oversee management of an inter-Korean factory park in Gaeseong and prevent future work stoppages.The confirmation comes a day after Seoul's Ministry of Unification said a deal has been reached with the North in regards to the joint committee on the factory zone, which has been shuttered for nearly four months, calling for its first meeting next Monday. The formatio
Aug. 29, 2013