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Yoon apologizes for first lady Dior bag scandal, calls push for special probe ‘political’
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Korea forecast to overtake Taiwan in chip production by 2032: report
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Girl hanging on bridge, police trying to rescue her both fall off; rescued immediately
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[K-pop’s dilemma] Can K-pop break free from ‘fandom’ model?
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YouTuber fatally stabbed on livestream by another YouTuber in Busan
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Yoon rebuffs opposition's call for special probe into wife
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Stray Kids hit with racism in Met Gala photo line
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No plan to let doctors with foreign licenses practice here anytime soon: PM
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[News Analysis] Yoon's first 2 years marked by intense confrontations, lack of leadership
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Yoon apologizes for wife's 'unwise conduct'
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Gov't to be alert over North Korean rocket launch during key holiday
The Unification Ministry said Friday it will be on high alert during the Lunar New Year's holiday to monitor a possible launch of North Korea's long-range rocket.North Korea has notified U.N. agencies that it will launch a satellite sometime between Feb. 8 and 25, widely seen as a covert test of ballistic missile technology. The first day of the North's launch window overlaps the holiday."The government will operate an emergency work system from Monday till Wednesday," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry
Feb. 5, 2016
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China FM: Envoy urged North Korea to avoid escalating tensions
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Hong Kong-based media Friday that special envoy Wu Dawei called for North Korea to avoid escalating tensions with a planned rocket launch.Wang also repeated that all relevant parties should work together to resume talks on North Korea's nuclear issue, according to his interview aired by Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV during his visit to London.China's chief nuclear envoy Wu wrapped up a three-day visit to North Korea on Thursday, as North Korea notified U.N. age
Feb. 5, 2016
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Park appoints new deputy heads of spy agency
President Park Geun-hye on Friday appointed new deputy chiefs of the National Intelligence Service. Kim Jin-sub, the intelligence secretary at the presidential National Security Office, was promoted to the first deputy director in charge of overseas intelligence. Prior to entering Cheong Wa Dae in late 2014, he served as director-general for North Korea affairs at the NIS. Park also picked Choi Yoon-soo, deputy head of the Busan High Prosecutors’ Office, as the second deputy director responsible
Feb. 5, 2016
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U.S. urges China to exercise influence to alter behavior of Pyongyang's
China should exercise regional leadership and influence with North Korea to help change the behavior of the "very unpredictable young man" leading its communist neighbor, the U.S. State Department spokesman said Thursday."We believe that as a strong leader in the Asia-Pacific region, and as a nation that borders the North, China has a unique role it has to play, has unique leadership that it can exert, and influence that it can bring to bear," spokesman John Kirby said at a Foreign Press Center
Feb. 5, 2016
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U.N. panel to recommend fresh sanctions against North Korea
A U.N. panel of experts is expected to recommend fresh sanctions against North Korea to a Security Council committee next week, sources said Thursday.The recommendations will be included in the panel's annual report to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang, the sources said. The committee, in turn, is expected to propose sanctions to the council in early March, the sources said.The Security Council swiftly condemned the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test and has since been wo
Feb. 5, 2016
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U.S. experts hold informal meetings with North Koreans amid rocket tensions
American security experts held unofficial "Track II" meetings in Berlin with North Koreans earlier this week, a U.S. think tank said, amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's planned rocket launch following a nuclear test.The meetings took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the U.S. participants included Joel Wit, editor of the North Korea-monitoring website 38 North, and Victor Cha, chief Korea analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, according to an email to reporters f
Feb. 5, 2016
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South Korea, U.S., Japan to hold video conference to discuss North's missile launch
National defense officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a video conferencethis week to discuss their joint response to the North's imminent long-range missile, a government official here said Thursday. The video conference will be held early on Friday with working-level national defense officials from the three countries on hand, the official said on condition of anonymity. The move comes after North Korea recently notified U.N. agencies that it will launch what it c
Feb. 4, 2016
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Seoul will intercept if North Korean missile falls in its territory: ministry
With North Korea gearing up for a fresh long-range missile test, South Korea is stepping up its capabilities to intercept any incoming rocket or its parts within its territory and take “due” retaliatory measures in self-defense, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. President Park Geun-hye once again urged Pyongyang to shelve its professed plans to fire what it claims to be an Earth-monitoring satellite between Feb. 8 and 25, stressing any launch entailing ballistic missile technology would be a “
Feb. 4, 2016
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Ex-N.K. military chief says its long-range rocket can hit U.S.
The former chief of the North Korean military's general staff had said in 2012 that the North is capable of hitting the United States with a nuclear weapon atop a long-range missile, a report showed Thursday.Ri Yong-ho, who was purged in July 2012, said earlier that launching a satellite amounts to firing a rocket, effectively acknowledging that the North's rocket launch is a covert test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korea's state-run broadcaster KBS."If we put a n
Feb. 4, 2016
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Seoul to intercept Pyongyang rocket if needed
South Korea won't hesitate to shoot down a North Korean rocket or its debris if necessary, the Defense Ministry said Thursday, amid clear signs that the secretive neighbor's rocket launch is imminent.North Korea informed U.N. agencies of its plan to send a satellite into orbit between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25, which is viewed as a cover for a long-range missile test.The move added to tensions already heightened after the North's nuclear test on Jan. 6. "The military is ramping up its air defense opera
Feb. 4, 2016
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N. Korean leader chairs joint meeting of party's key committees
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over a joint meeting of the ruling party's central and military committees as the party prepares for a key congress in May, the North's state media said Thursday.The North's leader chaired a joint meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea's central committee and the Korean People's Army committee in Pyongyang on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.The KCNA said that participants had an in-depth discussion on issues to furth
Feb. 4, 2016
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N. Korea preparing long-range missile launch at Dongchang-ri site
North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range missile at its Dongchang-ri launch site in the northwest, the Defense Ministry said Thursday, signaling an imminent missile test by the communist country in the coming weeks.North Korea has recently informed international maritime, aviation and telecommunication agencies that it will launch a rocket to put a satellite into orbit, taking a preparatory step for what the outside world believes will be a defiant test of a ballistic missile."In line wit
Feb. 4, 2016
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N. Korea, Russia sign agreement on extradition of illegal migrants
Russia and North Korea have signed an agreement on the extradition of illegal immigrants staying in their respective countries, Russia's emigration office said Wednesday. The agreement was reached Tuesday in Moscow between Nikolay Smorodin, deputy head of Russia's Federal Migration Service and North Korea's deputy foreign minister Pak Myong-guk, the office said.It said the two countries also signed related protocols of the agreement on the transfer and acceptance of persons who enter or stay ill
Feb. 4, 2016
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Park: N. Korea's missile launch should never be condoned
President Park Geun-hye said Thursday that North Korea's long-range missile launch should never be condoned as she called for strong sanctions to stop North Korea's move.North Korea's planned launch is "a desperate measure to maintain" its regime and shows that it is not afraid of U.N. sanctions, Park said in a statement read by Kim Sung-woo, chief presidential press secretary.North Korea has informed U.N. agencies that it will launch what it claims is a satellite between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25.Nort
Feb. 4, 2016
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Seoul: Pyongyang faces stronger sanctions if it fires missile
North Korea could face stronger sanctions if it goes ahead with a long-range missile launch, an official said Thursday, the latest in a series of pressure on Pyongyang to call off the plan.North Korea has informed U.N. agencies that it will launch what it claims is a satellite between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25."If North Korea launches a long-range missile, it could face stronger sanctions from the international community than the ones in place as the launch is a clear violation of the U.N. Security Cou
Feb. 4, 2016
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Chinese daily urges 'balanced' sanctions against N. Korea
A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party on Thursday called for "balanced" sanctions against North Korea following its latest nuclear test, reiterating Beijing's opposition to tougher sanctions against its closest ally. The state-run Global Times newspaper also warned North Korea against launching a long-range rocket, saying Pyongyang would pay a "new price" if it goes ahead with the planned launch, which is widely viewed as cover for a ballistic missile test.Weeks after conductin
Feb. 4, 2016
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U.N. releases $8 million for aid operations in N. Korea amid rocket tensions
The United Nations has released $8 million in emergency funds for underfunded aid operations in North Korea amid rising tensions over Pyongyang's plans to launch a long-range rocket in violation of U.N. resolutions."Humanitarian needs must be kept separate from political issues to ensure minimum living conditions for the most vulnerable people," Tapan Mishra, U.N. resident coordinator for the North, said in a press release, according to the U.N. website."The commitment and support of the interna
Feb. 4, 2016
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U.N. chief urges N. Korea to refrain from rocket launch
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wants North Korea to call off its planned long-range rocket launch, his spokesman said Wednesday."The secretary-general believes that it is important for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to refrain from using ballistic missile technology and to work for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.North Korea has informed international organizations it will launch an earth observation satellite between Feb. 8-2
Feb. 4, 2016
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Carter cautions against linking N.K. tensions to previous calls for preemptive strike
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter cautioned against linking the current tensions over North Korea's planned long-range rocket launch to his previous calls for a preemptive strike on the communist nation a decade ago.In 2006, Carter made the case for a preemptive strike in an article contributed to the Washington Post, just a couple of weeks before the North defied international warnings and test-fired a Taepodong-2 long-range missile on the July 4 Independence Day holiday.Carter, then a Harvard
Feb. 4, 2016
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China admits limited influence over N. Korea
While North Korea is thumbing its nose at the international community by announcing a planned test of a long-range rocket following last month's nuclear test, China, the North's key economic and diplomatic lifeline, acknowledged on Wednesday that it can't thwart the looming launch. North Korea's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 came nearly four months after Liu Yunshan, the Chinese Communist Party's fifth-ranked leader, held talks with the North's leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang. The talks between
Feb. 3, 2016