Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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S. Koreans travel to N. Korea for family reunions
Hundreds of South Koreans arrived at a North Korean mountain resort Tuesday for meetings with their relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.The 389 members of 96 families were to meet with a total of 141 North Koreans on Mount Kumgang along the communist nation's east coast.It marks the first inter-Korean family reunions event since February 2014, a fruit of the Aug. 25 deal between the two Koreas on ending a military standoff.The South Koreans, mostly elderly, will stay here through Thurs
Oct. 20, 2015
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South, North families await reunions
SOKCHO, Gangwon Province ― More than 390 South Koreans arrived at a hotel here on Monday to make final preparations for one of the most emotional events of their lives ― reuniting with their relatives in the North whom they were separated from some six decades ago.A day before the reunions at Mount Geumgangsan on the North’s east coast, 393 people gathered at Hanwha Resorts where they were briefed on various matters including the detailed schedule of the reunions that were last held in February
Oct. 19, 2015
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North Korea denounces Park-Obama deal on its nuclear program
North Korea criticized President Park Geun-hye Monday for her latest summit deal with U.S. President Barack Obama, saying she played a "shameful farce" against Pyongyang.The Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper serving as the North's major propaganda organ, stressed the communist nation will never abandon its nuclear arsenal unless the U.S. rolls back its "hostile" policy against the North.Last week, Park visited the White House for her fourth summit with Obama.They issued a joint statement on North Kore
Oct. 19, 2015
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No doubt in Koreas' reunification, demise of dictatorship: Nobel prize winner
This year's Nobel prize winner in literature has expressed her firm belief in the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, as all dictatorships are "destined to be doomed in this century of freedom."Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian writer and journalist, made the remarks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Minsk on Saturday (local time), a week after she won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature for her portrayal of life in the former Soviet Union, which the Swedish Academy called "a
Oct. 19, 2015
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Seoul, China, Japan plan joint declaration on Pyongyang nukes
South Korea, China and Japan have been in talks to prepare a joint declaration that includes calls to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, government sources said Monday.The joint declaration would be adopted during a summit among President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the end of this month or the start of next month, the sources said on condition of anonymity.The trilateral summit in South Korea will be held for the first time in more th
Oct. 19, 2015
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JCS chief orders retaliation against North Korea provocations
Gen. Lee Sun-jin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, inspected combat readiness at a frontline military outpost facing North Korea Monday and instructed servicemen to react harshly against any North Korean provocations.During the visit to the military guard post along the central part of the border, Lee was briefed on the latest situation with the North Korean military and examined the combat posture of South Korea servicemen, the JCS said in a statement.North Korea could launch a provocatio
Oct. 19, 2015
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S. Korean separated families gather ahead of reunions with N.K. relatives
South Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War gathered at a resort on the country's east coast Monday to prepare for reunions with their North Korean relatives later this week, officials said.The first batch of the nearly 400 South Koreans, part of 96 families, stopped in the city of Sokcho on their way to the scenic resort on Mount Kumgang for the reunions with their family members in North Korea from Tuesday to Thursday.The upcoming event, the first since February 2014, is the resu
Oct. 19, 2015
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Seoul expects China's 'constructive role' on Pyongyang: ministry
South Korea will redouble efforts to prod China into playing a "constructive role" in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, capitalizing on the outcome of the summit talks between President Park Geun-hye and her U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.In a policy report to lawmakers, the ministry reaffirmed a two-pronged approach by Seoul and Washington toward Pyongyang -- tough pressure and incentives for dialogue.Park and Obama agreed in their summit last week to g
Oct. 19, 2015
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Obama blacklists North Korea again for human trafficking
U.S. President Barack Obama has included North Korea again on a blacklist of countries accused of human trafficking, extending a symbolic ban on provisions of U.S. funding for the communist nation for another year.In a "presidential determination" issued Friday, Obama blacklisted the North, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, South Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe as countries failing to meet the minimum standards under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.The designation bans the U.S. govern
Oct. 19, 2015
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Two Koreas ready to resume family reunions
Nearly 400 South Koreans will gather in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, Monday, a day before they travel across the border into the North to reunite with family members they have been separated from since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.South Korea`s Red Cross workers check wheelchairs at a hotel in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, on Sunday. (Yonhap)At Hanwha Resorts, a total of 394 people will be briefed on an array of issues including details about the reunions at Mount Geumgangsan, their health care an
Oct. 18, 2015
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Kim Jong-il orders development of satellite in 1987: defector
Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il ordered the development of a satellite in 1987, a former senior North Korean official said in a recently published memoir.Kim gave the order as he said North Korea should be capable of hitting the United States, said Kim Duk-hong, former deputy head of research at North Korea's ruling Workers' Party."There is nothing to be scared about once we develop a satellite," Kim quoted the former North Korean leader as saying in the memoir, citing documents that he a
Oct. 18, 2015
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Ex-Premier Goh Kun due in Pyongyang for academic seminar
Former Prime Minister Goh Kun and six other South Koreans will fly to Pyongyang this week to attend an international academic seminar, the Unification Ministry said Sunday.Goh and his entourage will depart for Pyongyang via Beijing on Monday to attend the week-long seminar hosted by Pyongyang University of Science and Technology through next Monday, a ministry official said."The government's position is to approve any requests for inter-Korean exchanges in academics, sports and culture to recove
Oct. 18, 2015
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N. Korea vows counteraction over proposed U.N. resolution on N.K. human rights
North Korea pledged Sunday to take "the toughest counteraction" against a proposed U.N. resolution targeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the North's dismal human rights record.South Korea, the United States and their like-minded partners began drafting a new resolution last Tuesday, calling for the referral of the highest official responsible for North Korea's human rights violations to the International Criminal Court.The highest official to be included in this year's resolution means
Oct. 18, 2015
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Korea backs court ruling over anti-NK leaflet launch
South Korea on Friday reiterated that the government is not empowered to forcefully curb activists' move to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. But it stressed that such a controversial campaign should not threaten the safety and security of border-area residents, saying a related court ruling is in line with the government's policy. A day earlier, a local district court ruled that it is lawful for the authorities to stop a leaflet campaign feared to put the people at risk. It was
Oct. 16, 2015
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Park calls for leadership of S. Korea, U.S. to end N. Korea's nuclear program
President Park Geun-hye Thursday called for joint efforts by South Korea and the United States to coax North Korea to give up its nuclear aspirations and pursue reform and openness. North Korea pledged to scrap its nuclear program in return for diplomatic concessions and economic aid under a landmark 2005 nuclear deal with South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. The North later backtracked from its commitment and conducted nuclear tests. It has also repeatedly vowed to develop its econ
Oct. 16, 2015
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Pyongyang preparing to test launch tube used in SLBM: 38 North
North Korea appears to be preparing to test a vertical launch tube used in submarine-launched ballistic missiles in an indication the communist nation is forging ahead with SLBM development, a U.S. research institute said. "Commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea is continuing the development of a submarine-launched ballistic missile at the Sinpo South Shipyard, including planning for a test of the vertical launch tube intended to fire the weapon," Joseph Bermudez Jr., an expert
Oct. 16, 2015
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Park calls for efforts to deal with North Korean threat
President Park Geun-hye called Thursday for expanding cooperation with the United States in cyberscurity and space to cope with threats posed by North Korea as she met with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter. "I hope that South Korea and the U.S. will expand cooperation in a comprehensive and strategic" manner over the issue, Park said in a meeting with Carter at the Pentagon. North Korea has a track record of waging cyberattacks on South Korea and the United States, though it has flatly denied
Oct. 16, 2015
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No religious freedom in N. Korea: U.S. report
The freedom of religion does not exist in practice in North Korea, an annual U.S. government report said Wednesday, noting the repressive regime continues to harshly handle religious people through executions, torture, beatings and arrests.US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the release of the 2014 International Religious Freedom Report at the US State Department in Washington on Wednesday. (AFP-Yonhap)The State Department’s 2014 International Religious Freedom Report pointed out that
Oct. 15, 2015
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North Korea, China launch border trade zone, kick off trade fair
North Korea and China launched a border trade zone on Thursday, as they kicked off their annual trade fair in the Chinese border city of Dandong. The Guomenwan trade zone in Dandong, where more than 70 percent of bilateral trade between the two nations is conducted, is the latest sign that North Korea and China are trying to boost economic cooperation, despite the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons. The launch of the trade zone fell on the first day of a four-day North Korea-China trad
Oct. 15, 2015
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Two Koreas expanding civilian ties: top official
Civilian exchanges between South and North Korea are expanding rapidly as Pyongyang has shown some indications of a positive shift in its policy direction, a top official here said Thursday. Vice Unification Minister Hwang Boo-gi held out expectations that inter-Korean ties in the civilian sector will soon return to levels experienced in the early months of the previous government. The Lee Myung-bak administration's drive for improved relations with North Korea came to a halt when a South Kore
Oct. 15, 2015