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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
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Ship linked to NK arms shipments to Russia is moored in China: State Dept.
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Senior N. K. intelligence officer, diplomats defect
A ranking official at North Korea’s military spy agency and two diplomats working outside the country have defected to the South, the government confirmed Monday, days after the joint arrival here of 13 workers from a North Korean restaurant in China. The colonel-level intelligence officer came to Seoul last year and gave a “detailed testimony” on the Reconnaissance General Bureau’s espionage operations against the South, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed source with knowledge on th
April 11, 2016
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Senior N. K. intelligence officer, diplomats defect
A ranking official at North Korea’s military spy agency and two diplomats working outside the country have defected to the South, the government confirmed Monday, days after the joint arrival here of 13 workers from a North Korean restaurant in China. The colonel-level intelligence officer came to Seoul last year and gave a “detailed testimony” on the Reconnaissance General Bureau’s espionage operations against the South, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed source with knowledge on th
April 11, 2016
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N. Korean workers in China defect to S. Korea via Thailand, Laos: source
A group of North Korean defectors who used to work at a restaurant in China entered South Korea last week via Thailand and Laos, a source familiar to North Korean affairs said Monday.Thirteen North Korean workers at an overseas restaurant defected to South Korea en masse last week amid toughened international sanctions on Pyongyang over its latest nuclear and missile tests.The source said that the North Koreans who worked at a restaurant in the Chinese eastern port city of Ningbo flew into Bangk
April 11, 2016
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N. Korea calls on party members to participate in '70-day
North Korea is making a determined effort to encourage its ruling Workers' Party members to actively take part in a nationwide campaign to boost productivity ahead of the key party congress set for early next month, a media report said Monday, adding, however, that many are lukewarm about such prodding.Quoting a provincial source, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) said the central party has issued an order to ordinary party members across the country, emphasizing the need to show an exe
April 11, 2016
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Seoul keeps close tabs on Pyongyang’s possible nuclear test
South Korea is closely monitoring North Korea over its possible fifth nuclear test this week, a presidential official said Monday.Presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk did not provide details but said Seoul is keeping very close tabs on developments taking place in the isolationist country.There has been speculation that Pyongyang may carry out a fifth nuclear test ahead of its founder Kim Il-sung's birthday, which falls on Friday. The founder is the late grandfather of the country's current lea
April 11, 2016
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N.K. military intelligence officer defected to S. Korea
A ranking North Korean military officer in charge of conducting intelligence operations defected to South Korea last year, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, as the North's leader is tightening his grip on the regime.A North Korean senior colonel, whose name has been withheld, defected in 2015 after working at the North's reconnaissance bureau tasked with carrying out espionage missions against the South, the ministry said. (Yonhap)"(The North Korean military official's defection) is a fact,
April 11, 2016
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U.S. calls for caution about dangers of GPS jamming by N. Korea
The U.S. State Department has issued a notice cautioning vessels traveling near the Korean Peninsula about the dangers of North Korea's attempts to jam GPS signals.The communist nation tried to disrupt the South's GPS signals for about a week, although the radio attack came to a halt on Wednesday, according to officials in Seoul. A number of airplanes and ships were affected by the disruptions, but no major damage has been reported yet. South Korean officials said the North could resume GPS jamm
April 11, 2016
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Future mass N. Korean defections can't be ruled out: unification ministry
Future mass defection by North Koreans working abroad cannot be ruled out following the recent escape of 13 people, South Korea's unification ministry said Sunday.Speaking to reporters, a ministry official explained that considerable pressure to send back hard currency to Pyongyang in the face of tough United Nations sanctions played a part in the restaurant workers' defection. The government hinted earlier that the defectors were fearful that they would be punished if they were unable to send b
April 10, 2016
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More large-scale defections possible from North Korea: Seoul
In the wake of last week’s mass defection, additional exoduses may come about among North Koreans working overseas as the impact of U.N. resolutions and unilateral sanctions takes shape, top Seoul officials said Sunday. A group of a male manager in his 30s and 12 female employees in their early 20s who had served at a North Korean restaurant arrived in Seoul on Thursday, the Unification Ministry announced late Friday. Officials declined to unveil the detailed time line of their journey or the lo
April 10, 2016
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N. Korean leader sends congratulatory message to Korean university in Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory message to the teaching staff and students of a Korean university in Japan, the country's state-run media said Sunday.The message sent to Korea University in Tokyo, run by the General Association of Korean Residents, or Chongryon, was on the occasion of the school marking its 60th year of educating students, the Korean Central News Agency said.Chongryon is a pro-North Korean group that has maintained close ties with the communist regime. The
April 10, 2016
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Justice ministry to set up N. Korea human rights archive
South Korea's Ministry of Justice said Sunday it will set up an in-house archive to keep complete tabs on North Korea's human rights violations, so as to hold those responsible for abuses accountable in the future.The move aims to collect and document data that can be used to punish human rights violations after reunification and to take well-documented offenses to the International Criminal Court even before the two Korea's become one again, it said. The Ministry of Unification plans to transfe
April 10, 2016
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N. Korean restaurant staff who defected en masse worked in China: source
The 13 North Koreans who recently defected en masse to South Korea used to work at a restaurant in China, a source said Sunday.The government source, who declined to be identified, said the defectors had been able to get past North's tight surveillance in China to move to a Southeast Asian country before coming to South Korea.Seoul's Ministry of Unification announced Friday that the North Koreans -- one male manager and 12 female employees -- defected to Seoul. It did not reveal details includin
April 10, 2016
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N. Korea claims success in new ICBM engine test
North Korea claimed Saturday that it has successfully conducted a ground test of a new engine for an inter-continental ballistic missile, the latest in a series of Pyongyang's claims of progress in its nuclear and missile programs.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued an order to conduct the "jet test of a new type high-power engine of inter-continental ballistic rocket and personally came to the Sohae Space Center to guide the test," the Korean Central News Agency said."The great success made
April 9, 2016
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Group defection by N. Koreans points to impact of U.N. sanctions: experts
Group defection by N. Koreans points to impact of U.N. sanctions: expertsThe latest defection by North Koreans working at an overseas restaurant may indicate that toughened international sanctions have begun to generate an impact by cutting off a source of hard currency for Pyongyang, experts said. A group of 13 North Koreans from a restaurant in an unidentified nation made an unusual defection to South Korea en masse this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday. The latest case came
April 8, 2016
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13 North Koreans working abroad defect to South
Thirteen North Koreans working at a restaurant based outside the country have defected to South Korea, the Unification Ministry said Friday, marking the first mass defection since the United Nations passed powerful economic sanctions against the communist country last month.According to ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee, a male manager and 12 female workers who had been dispatched from North Korea to a restaurant abroad arrived in Seoul on Thursday. He declined to name the exact time of their ar
April 8, 2016
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13 N. Koreans from overseas restaurant defect to S. Korea: Seoul
More than 10 North Koreans working at a restaurant in a foreign country have defected to South Korea this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.A group of 13 North Koreans -- one male manager and 12 female employees -- entered South Korea on Thursday, the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said.Overseas restaurants operated by North Korea are known to face difficulty in doing business following the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) sanctions on Pyongyang. Such restaurants have served a
April 8, 2016
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N.K. steps up personality cult around leader Kim ahead of May congress
North Korea is stepping up efforts to glorify leader Kim Jong-un in the run-up to the ruling party's landmark congress in May which would focus on solidifying Kim's one-man leadership, a government official said Friday."I think the main goal of the upcoming party congress would be to build up Kim Jong-un's one-man rule," Lim Byeong-cheol, director general of the Unification Ministry's Intelligence and Analysis Bureau, said in a conference on North Korea policy earlier in the day. "As part of tha
April 8, 2016
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[NEWS FOCUS] Observers split on strategy against N.K.
After North Korea briefly mentioned talks in a statement earlier this week, local observers are split between retaining the current hardline approach and being more open to talks in addressing inter-Korean tensions.Last month, the U.N. adopted a new resolution that had what South Korean officials called “the strongest ever sanctions” against Pyongyang, in a punitive action against its Jan. 6 nuclear testing and Feb. 7 long-range rocket launch. Some observers said that the North’s mention of talk
April 8, 2016
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N. Korean workers die of yellow fever in Angola: RFA
Around 10 North Korean workers dispatched to Angola have died of yellow fever in the southern African country, a U.S. radio outlet said Friday.About 450 people have been confirmed to be infected with the viral disease in Angola since the first case was reported in December in the country's capital, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) report said. Among those that caught yellow fever, 178 have died so far, with the disease spreading rapidly in nearby countries, the RFA said, quoting source
April 8, 2016
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N. Korea uses sunken U.S. merchant ship to stir up anti-Americanism
North Korea has used the story of an American commercial ship that sank 150 years ago in an apparent move to arouse hostility toward the United States.The North's Central Television aired a children's program on Sunday on the General Sherman called "American imperialists -- our resentful foes -- are coyotes."In the TV program, an actor said the General Sherman came to Korea out of hostility, adding that the ship's captain, crew and ship owner looted and killed many Koreans.The U.S. commercial sh
April 8, 2016