The Korea Herald

N. Korea's Kim Jong Il turning to designer fakes?

Feb 17, 2011

It's a North Korean version of Christmas, with Kim Jong Il playing Santa Claus. In past years, the authoritarian leader has celebrated his birthday by handing out gifts ranging from rice to Rolexes, an annual attempt to buy loyalty and stability. As Kim celebrates his 69th birthday Wednesday, however, the gift baskets may be lighter and knockoff Gucci could replace the real thing. With North Ko...
N. Korea's nuke weapons, ballistic missiles pose serious threat to U.S.: Clapper

Feb 17, 2011

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles pose a serious threat to the United States, the chief U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday. "North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs also pose a serious threat, both regionally and beyond," National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing. "Pyongyang has signaled ...
Hungry N.K. greets dear leader’s birthday

Feb 16, 2011

Seoul says there are no clear signs of additional food rationing usually given out to mark anniversary North Koreans greeted the 69th birthday of their “Dear Leader” on Wednesday, their deepening food shortages and apparent hunger momentarily forgotten amid hordes of flowers and neon signs, which light up the usually bare streets. Images released by the North Korean media this week showed hando...
N. Korean leader's 2nd son seen in Singapore: KBS

Feb 16, 2011

Kim Jong-chol, the second son of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-il, was seen at a concert by world-renowned guitarist Eric Clapton in Singapore, a South Korean broadcaster reported on Tuesday. Kim, dressed in black pants and a T-shirt, was accompanied by some 20 men and women at a concert hall in Singapore on Feb. 14, two days ahead of his father's birthday, according to Korea Broadcasting System (KB...
N. K. unlikely to be affected by Egyptian revolution

Feb 16, 2011

Information is so tightly controlled in North Korea that the reclusive communist state will not likely be affected immediately by the evolving social network service that has played a pivotal role in Egypt's popular revolution, an expert said Tuesday. But Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, did not preclude the possibility of South Korean pop culture penetrating deep into ...
N. Korean man makes rare defection by land to S. Korea

Feb 16, 2011

A North Korean man crossed the inter-Korean border and defected to South Korea, a military official said Wednesday. The man in his early 20s passed through the heavily armed border and was spotted by South Korean soldiers patrolling a frontline guard post at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Cheorwon County, some 120 kilometers northeast of Seoul, the official said. A team of military and intelligenc...
Senator calls for transparency in N.K. aid delivery

Feb 15, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― A senior U.S. senator Monday called on the Obama administration to secure transparency in the distribution of food aid to North Korea before any resumption of the aid, which was suspended years ago over the same issue, is made. “Any resumption of U.S. food aid to North Korea should be contingent on North Korea allowing access and accountability by monitors in accordanc...
China supports N.K. power transition: KCNA

Feb 15, 2011

A senior Chinese official has supported North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s plans to cede power to his youngest son, the North’s official news agency reported Tuesday. Meng Jianzhu, Chinese state councilor and public security minister, “warmly congratulated Kim Jong-il upon his reelection as general secretary of the WPK and Kim Jong-un upon his election as vice chairman of the Central Military Com...
Remittance to N.K. helps enlighten about South Korea: defector

Feb 13, 2011

A 43-year-old North Korean defector who has taken asylum here since 1997 believes that his and other defectors’ remittances to their relatives in the communist state help enlighten them about the free, democratic and capitalist South. “When we make remittances to our loved ones in the North, we talk to them over the phone to ensure the money was properly sent. Through such talks, a wave of news ...
U.S. warns North Korea of further isolation

Feb 13, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The White House said Friday that North Korea will face further isolation if it refuses to engage in dialogue with South Korea in a serious manner. The North demonstrated a lack of seriousness once again by walking out of its rare military talks with the South last week, White House spokeswoman Robert Gibbs said at a press briefing. “I think it was clear, again, when t...
N. Korea's FMD outbreak spreads across country: report

Feb 13, 2011

North Korea's foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread across many parts of the country after the first case was confirmed in the capital city on Dec. 25, a U.S. broadcaster said Sunday. Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting a report by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, said the communist country confirmed that since the first case hit a small cattle farm in Pyongyang, the highly con...
Half of N. Korean defectors send money to their homeland: poll

Feb 13, 2011

Nearly half of North Korean defectors here have remitted money to their families in the impoverished communist nation under U.N. sanctions, a poll showed Sunday. According to the survey of 396 North Korean defectors residing in South Korea, aged 15 or older, 49.5 percent said they have sent money to their families in the North, while 46 percent said they have not and 4.5 percent said that they h...
N.K. could attempt further provocations: U.S. spy chief

Feb 11, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could attempt further provocations to boost the standing of his heir-apparent son, the top U.S. intelligence official predicted Thursday, saying the regime‘s deadly attack on a South Korean island was believed to be part of such efforts. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in written testimony to the House Intelligence ...
U.S. spy chief: N. Korea could attempt further provocations to help power succession

Feb 11, 2011

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could attempt further provocations to boost the standing of his heir-apparent son, the top U.S. intelligence chief predicted Thursday, saying the regime's deadly attack on a South Korean island was believed to be part of such efforts. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in written testimony to the House Intelligence...
Foot-and-mouth disease breaks out in N. Korea: RFA

Feb 10, 2011

North Korea has reported an outbreak of the livestock foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease on its soil to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Radio Free Asia said in a report on Thursday. North Korea's agricultural ministry sent a letter to the U.N. organization on Wednesday, notifying it of the outbreak of the contagious animal disease and asking for emergency support, the ...