The Korea Herald

Precondition makes resumption of 6-party talks difficult: Blix

Nov 29, 2011

Hans Blix, former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the U.S. and South Korea’s precondition for North Korea to halt uranium enrichment could make it more difficult to start six-party negotiations. Blix visited Korea as a member of an eminent persons’ group, or EPG, to provide advice to President Lee Myung-bak for when South Korea hosts the Nuclear Security Summit i...
S. Korea to auction off baby food for N. Korean children

Nov 29, 2011

South Korea has taken steps to auction off some baby food originally intended for North Korean children, an official said Tuesday. The move comes nearly two months after South Korea dropped a plan to send 5 billion won ($4.3 million) worth of aid to North Korean flood victims, citing no response from the North as the reason for the change of plan. South Korea had insisted it would deliver baby ...
Pyongyang's construction drive said to kill hundreds of college students

Nov 29, 2011

North Korean college students have reportedly died in a spate of accidents at construction sites amid intense efforts by Pyongyang to prepare for a milestone political event next year, a source familiar with the issue said Tuesday. The alleged accidents sparked rumors that an estimated 200 college students have died at various construction sites in the North's showcase capital city of Pyongyang,...
‘U.S. experts on Korea to visit Pyongyang this week’

Nov 27, 2011

About five or six U.S. experts on Korean affairs are scheduled to visit Pyongyang sometime this week, a diplomatic source here said Sunday. “Experts and scholars who study issues on the Korean Peninsula have been invited by the North Korean foreign ministry and may visit the North this week,” the source said. “The purpose of their trip isn’t known, and I am trying to find out more about their tr...
N.K. leader faces challenges in power succession, Yu says

Nov 27, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il faces challenges in handing over power to his youngest son, Seoul’s top official in charge of relations with Pyongyang said. Kim named Jong-un vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party and a four-star general last year in the clearest sign yet of his intentions to make his son the country’s next leader. The 69-year-old leader i...
Firms in N. Korea face uncertainties

Nov 27, 2011

South Korean manufacturing companies operating in North Korea outside Gaeseong still face an uncertain future, despite the South’s hints at a softening stance toward Pyongyang, sources said. The government has appeared to be loosening its “May 24 measures,” which banned all exchanges and cooperation with the North after the sinking of the Cheonan, since Yu Woo-ik took the helm of the Unification...
N. Korea bolsters coastal patrol to deter defection: sources

Nov 27, 2011

North Korea's navy has bolstered its coastal patrol to deter its nationals from defecting to South Korea via the sea, South Korean sources said Sunday. "North Korean patrol boats have ratcheted up their monitoring in waters off Tungsangot, Haeju and Kangryong," one source said, referring to areas all located in South Hwanghae Province on the west coast. "These moves appear designed to keep North...
Official leaves for rare trip to monitor food aid in N.K.

Nov 25, 2011

A South Korean official and four civilians left for North Korea on Friday on a rare mission to ensure that recent aid from Seoul had reached its intended beneficiaries, an official said. The trip comes a day after North Korea threatened to turn South Korea‘s presidential office into “a sea of fire” in anger over Seoul’s massive military maneuvers near the tense sea border. The show of force nea...
U.N. envoy pledges efforts to locate ‘abducted’ family in N. Korea

Nov 25, 2011

The United Nations’ envoy on North Korean human rights Friday promised to work toward the return of a Korean family believed to be held in the communist country, saying the case highlights the urgency of resolving abductions by the North. Thousands of South Koreans, including lawmakers and human rights activists, have mounted calls at home and abroad for the return of Shin Sook-ja and her two da...
North Korea threatens to turn Cheong Wa Dae into sea of fire

Nov 24, 2011

North Korea on Thursday threatened to turn the South’s presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae into a “sea of fire” in a statement by its military denouncing Wednesday’s military exercise on Yeonpyeongdo and Baengnyeongdo. South Korea carried out the exercise on the border islands on the first anniversary of the North’s artillery attack on Yeongpyeongdo that killed two marines and two civilians. T...
N. Korean defectors in China vulnerable to human trafficking

Nov 24, 2011

Female North Korean defectors in China are susceptible to human trafficking carried out by Chinese and ethnic Koreans, a recent survey showed Thursday. More than half of about 120 North Korean women surveyed by South Korean activists in China said they experienced trafficking in China, according to Free the NK Gulag, a Seoul-based rights group. The rights group, which conducted the survey betwe...
N. Korea adopts law on preventing damage from earthquakes and volcanoes

Nov 24, 2011

North Korea has adopted a new law on preventing damage from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the country’s official news agency said. “The law stipulates principles concerning observation and forecast of natural disasters, prevention of damages and rescue activities,” the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday, without giving details. The development comes after experts have warned th...
N. Korea condemns Seoul's railroading of KORUS FTA

Nov 24, 2011

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday condemned South Korea's parliament for ramming through a free trade agreement with the United States, saying that the move invited strong backlash from the public and opposition parties. South Korea's ruling-party controlled parliament on Tuesday railroaded a long-pending free trade agreement with the U.S. during a chaotic session as an opposit...
N.K. sees jump in number of mobile phone users

Nov 23, 2011

Spread of information through phones may not immediately lead to big change: experts The number of North Korean mobile phone users has jumped in recent years, with the figure projected to top 1 million by year’s end, an noteworthy phenomenon in the tightly controlled state. In the last three months, there has been an increase of around 140,000 cellular phone registrations, according to a recent...
Seoul to set up unification fund

Nov 23, 2011

The South Korean government said it will establish a “unification fund” under the current inter-Korean cooperation fund to prepare for reunification with North Korea in the future. The Unification Ministry said the fund will be run separately from the inter-Korean cooperation fund so that it can be used for a stable integration of the two Korean regions and social security. The unification fund...