Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Park warns of tougher sanctions against N.K. over possible provocation
President Park Geun-hye warned North Korea against staging another provocation as she met Thursday with U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.North Korea is under growing international pressure to drop its nuclear ambitions after it carried out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7.The U.N. Security Council has imposed the toughest-ever sanctions resolution on North Korea that calls for, among other things, the mandatory inspectio
April 1, 2016
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Unification Ministry losing raison d'etre
With the Park Geun-hye government refocusing its North Korea policy toward sanctions and pressure, the Unification Ministry faces a formidable task of overhauling the existing cross-border projects and upholding its core raison d’etre: dialogue and cooperation. Following Pyongyang’s Feb. 7 long-range missile launch preceded by its fourth nuclear test, Seoul set a change in the unruly neighbor’s behavior as its new cross-border policy goal. It announced the effective shutdown of a joint industria
March 31, 2016
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Seoul says S. Korea-China summit would offer momentum to tackle N.K. nuclear issue
South Korea on Thursday expressed hopes that its upcoming summit with China in Washington would offer "crucial momentum" to tackle North Korea's nuclear problem amid rising cross-border tensions stemming from Pyongyang's continued saber-rattling.President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold their seventh summit on Thursday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit that seeks to jointly tackle nuclear terrorism."It will be the seventh summit, which is testimony to
March 31, 2016
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N. Korea says it has made remarkable strides after adopting ‘byeongjin’ policy
North Korea said Thursday that it has made remarkable strides in the past three years after it adopted the "byeongjin" policy of simultaneously pushing for nuclear development and economic growth.Pyongyang's claims were revealed in a detailed report by a think tank under the ruling Workers' Party of Korea as the country marked the third anniversary of the North's decision to pursue its two-pronged policy goal.According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the National Reunificatio
March 31, 2016
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Overseas N. Korean workers earn $50-100 per month, subject to heavy labor
North Korean workers dispatched overseas are suffering through 17 hours of heavy labor every day and earn a meager $50 to $100 per month, a South Korean civic group said Thursday.North Korea has sent more than 50,000 workers abroad, mainly to China and Russia, as it seeks to obtain dollars despite poor working conditions in these countries. According to testimony presented at a seminar in Seoul, North Korean laborers dispatched overseas are forced to work excessively long hours starting at 6 a.m
March 31, 2016
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New N. Korean envoy to Myanmar takes office
A new North Korean ambassador to Myanmar took office after his predecessor returned to the communist state, possibly due to the fresh sanctions South Korea and the U.S. have imposed on him, a diplomatic source said Thursday.The source said that Jong Ho-bom arrived in the Southeast Asian state last week after his predecessor Kim Sok-chol went back to Pyongyang about two weeks ago. On March 16, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported that Jong had been appointed to replace Kim, who had ser
March 31, 2016
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N. Korea to spend 15.8 % of this year‘s budget on defense
North Korea plans to spend 15.8 percent of its national budget on the defense sector this year, the country's state media said Thursday, amid growing speculation that Pyongyang will carry out further military provocations.North Korea said its state budget spending is expected to go up 5.6 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, the Korean Central News Agency said, without revealing the total amount.An approval of the country's plans on budget expenditures was reached on Wednesday at a plenary sessi
March 31, 2016
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Pyongyang official on Seoul likely doubling as spy agency head
A new North Korean official handling inter-Korean affairs is believed to be continuing his previous role as leader of the North's reconnaissance bureau, an organ similar to Seoul's spy agency, sources said Thursday.Gen. Kim Yong-chol has been appointed as the party secretary handling inter-Korean affairs, also doubling as the head of the United Front Department at the ruling party, following the death of his predecessor, Kim Yang-gon.Kim also appears to hold his original position as the North's
March 31, 2016
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N. Korea key topic for Obama-Xi summit: White House
North Korea will be a key topic when U.S. President Barack Obama holds a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, the White House said Wednesday."There obviously are a wide range of issues that the United States and China are able to effectively coordinate on," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "The best example of that recently is that, you know, our efforts to work together to isolate and apply further pressure on the North Korean regime for their destabilizing activiti
March 31, 2016
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Only sanctions can lead to change in N. Korea‘s nuclear calculus
Only sanctions can lead to a change in North Korea's nuclear calculus, the U.S. treasury secretary said Wednesday, calling for stringent implementation of the latest package of U.N. Security Council sanctions.Secretary Jack Lew made the remark during a discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, saying the U.S. is working closely with China and others to carry out the new sanctions that are considered the toughest ever to be imposed on Pyongyang."We are mindful, though, that No
March 31, 2016
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Seoul, Iran officials to meet over economy, Pyongyang
South Korea and Iran will hold working-level talks in Tehran next week to discuss their economic ties and the implementation of international sanctions against North Korea, a government official said Wednesday.The fourth round of director-general level talks between the two countries will take place next Wednesday as South Korea pushes to capitalize on new business opportunities that have arisen after the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran.The meeting will also touch on issues related
March 30, 2016
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NK‘s provocation, war rhetoric aim to elicit internal solidarity
South Korea said Wednesday that North Korea's latest provocations and bellicose rhetoric appear to aim to elicit stronger internal solidarity ahead of the North's key party event slated for May.North Korea fired off several short-range and ballistic missiles this month in an apparent show of defiance against tougher U.N. sanctions over the North's January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. It has also threatened to make a pre-emptive strike against Seoul and Washington.The Ministry of Un
March 30, 2016
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Seoul sees slim chance Pyongyang nuke test can trigger volcanic eruption
South Korea sees a slim chance that additional North Korean nuclear tests would trigger a volcanic eruption of Mount Paekdu, a North Korean mountain situated close to the country's underground atomic test site, government sources said Wednesday.Seoul's assessment came amid speculation that North Korea may conduct another nuclear test soon in defiance of stronger U.N. sanctions over the North's latest nuke and missile provocations.The government has recently held a series of seminars to study the
March 30, 2016
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N. Korea may be trying to develop new medium-range solid-fuel missile
North Korea's recent test of a solid-fuel rocket engine suggests that the communist nation may be trying to develop a new two-stage missile similar to its Rodong medium-range ballistic missile, a U.S. expert said Tuesday.The North claimed last week that the country successfully conducted a ground test of a solid-fuel rocket engine, with leader Kim Jong-un saying that the test "helped boost the power of ballistic rockets capable of mercilessly striking hostile forces."The North also released phot
March 30, 2016
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U.S. urges N. Korea to tone down rhetoric
The United States urged North Korea on Tuesday to tone down its bellicose rhetoric after Pyongyang's top diplomat threatened the communist nation is ready to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S.Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong made the threat in an interview with Russia's Itar-Tass news agency published on Monday, saying the country "placed its army into the state of its readiness to deliver a preemptive nuclear strike in response to the U.S. hostile activities."It was the latest in a
March 30, 2016
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Pressuring N. Korea to top Obama‘s trilateral summit with Park, Abe
Pressuring North Korea with sanctions will be the No. 1 topic for a trilateral summit that U.S.President Barack Obama is scheduled to hold with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week, a top American diplomat said Tuesday.The three leaders are scheduled to hold the three-way meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. The meeting comes as Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions with threats of attacks, claims of
March 30, 2016
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North Korea fires short-range missile into East Sea
North Korea on Tuesday fired a short-range missile into the East Sea in another show of force, the South’s military said. The projectile took off at around 5:40 p.m. from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan and flew some 200 kilometers toward the northeastern inland areas, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. A picture released by North Korea’s main newspaper Rodong Shinmun on March 11, claiming the short-range ballistic missile launch test. (Yonhap) “Our military maintains tight readiness posture wh
March 29, 2016
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Park to coordinate N.K. squeeze at nuclear summit
President Park Geun-hye is leaving for Washington on Wednesday to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, where she will also hold a series of talks with leaders of the U.S., China and Japan to coordinate their steps on North Korea in the wake of its new nuclear and missile tests. Park will meet separately with U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. Her schedule also includes a separate trilateral sess
March 29, 2016
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Pyongyang clamping down on people making phone calls with South Koreans
North Korea has been intensifying a "sting operation" to arrest people making contact with South Koreans using mobile phones, especially in border areas near China, sources said Tuesday.Sources familiar with North Korean affairs said that nearly 10 people have been arrested by security forces since the start of the ongoing 70-day campaign to encourage its people to work harder as the ruling Workers' Party gets ready to host its first congress since 1980.The event is expected to allow North Korea
March 29, 2016
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Seoul journalists urged to use caution at China-Pyongyang border
South Korea urged its journalists Tuesday to exercise special caution when reporting near the Chinese border with North Korea amid heightened tensions following the North's nuclear and missile tests, a diplomatic source said.The government sent a letter to local news organizations, urging reporters in the area to pay special attention to their safety and follow Chinese laws, the source said on condition of anonymity.The warning comes after South Korea received intelligence of a possible North Ko
March 29, 2016