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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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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N.K. nuke envoy returns home after talks with ex-U.S. diplomats
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy returned home Thursday from Beijing after holding unofficial talks with former U.S. diplomats in Singapore earlier this week over the North's nuclear and missile programs. Upon his arrival at the Beijing airport before flying to Pyongyang, Ri Yong-ho, the North's chief negotiator to the long-stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, remained tight-lipped over whether he met with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, in Beijing.A South Korean d
Jan. 22, 2015
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'The Interview' actor wishes best for N. Korean people
Randall Park, the Korean-American actor who played North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Sony Pictures comedy, "The Interview," said Wednesday he hopes "whatever is best" for the North Korean people will happen.Park made the remark at a news conference promoting a new ABC TV series, "Fresh Off The Boat," in response to a request for comment on a plan by anti-Pyongyang activists in South Korea to send DVDs of "The Interview" to the communist nation."I don't know enough about the politics there t
Jan. 22, 2015
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N. Korea accepts Moscow's invitation for May visit: report
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has accepted Russia's invitation to visit Moscow in May, Russia's state media reported Wednesday.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow that "a positive signal has been received" from the North, apparently referring to Pyongyang's affirmative response to its invitation to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to a May 9 ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, according to a re
Jan. 22, 2015
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N. Korea appeals for S. Korea to strive for inter-Korean ties
North Korea, in its latest peace offensive, pressed South Korea Wednesday to resume inter-Korean dialogue after suspending its planned joint military exercises with the United States.But the Seoul government immediately dismissed it as "propaganda," asking Pyongyang to accept its earlier proposal for high-level talks to arrange a breakthrough in icy cross-border relations without any conditions attached.According to South Korea's Unification Ministry, the North sent what it called an "appeal" to
Jan. 22, 2015
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Abe’s handling of Asia ties could hurt U.S. interests: CRS
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet could hurt U.S. interests by roiling regional tensions with “comments and actions on controversial historical issues,” the U.S. Congressional Research Service said Tuesday.In a report on U.S.-Japan relations, the CRS said Abe has raised tensions in the region over issues such as Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of women, history textbooks accused of whitewashing the country’s wartime atrocities, and visits to a Tokyo shrine accused of honoring
Jan. 21, 2015
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Kim Jong-il’s half-brother named N.K. envoy to Czech Republic
The half-brother of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was recently appointed Pyongyang’s top envoy to the Czech Republic after serving 17 years as ambassador to Poland, a South Korean government official said Wednesday.Kim Pyong-il is a younger brother of Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un. He will be replaced in Warsaw by Ri Kun, the director general for North American affairs at North Korea’s foreign ministry, the official said on condition of anonymity.“It has been deter
Jan. 21, 2015
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‘N. Korea likely to prioritize ties with China’
This is the fifth installment in a special New Year’s series of interviews with preeminent scholars on international politics and security. ― Ed.Improving its strained ties with China will be at the top of North Korea’s foreign policy agenda for this year, a political scientist said, stressing China still remains the most crucial economic and political partner for the isolated state.Last year, Pyongyang was seen to have beefed up its diplomacy with Moscow and Tokyo amid growing estrangement from
Jan. 21, 2015
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N. Korea accepts Moscow's invitation for May visit: report
SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has accepted Russia's invitation to visit Moscow in May, Russia's state media reported Wednesday.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow that "a positive signal has been received" from the North, apparently referring to Pyongyang's affirmative response to its invitation to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to a May 9 ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, according
Jan. 21, 2015
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N. Korea threatens counteraction against joint S Korea-U.S. drills
North Korea threatened Wednesday to take unspecified countermeasures if South Korea and the United States go ahead with their plan to conduct joint military exercises planned for March.Despite North Korea's repeated calls for a suspension in recent weeks, South Korean military officials confirmed earlier this week that it will carry out its joint military drills with the U.S. in March as scheduled.Two major joint drills -- Key Resolve and Foal Eagle -- are expected to kick off in South Korea in
Jan. 21, 2015
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Late N.K. leader's half-brother named ambassador to Czech Republic
The half-brother of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was recently appointed Pyongyang's top envoy to the Czech Republic after serving 17 years as ambassador to Poland, a South Korean government official said Wednesday.Kim Pyong-il is a younger brother of Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un. He will be replaced in Warsaw by Ri Kun, the director general for North American affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry, the official said on condition of anonymity."It has been deter
Jan. 21, 2015
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N. Korea's envoy in Beijing after nuke talks with ex-U.S. diplomats
North Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Tuesday after two days of unofficial talks in Singapore with former U.S. diplomats on his country's nuclear and missile programs.Ri Yong-ho, the North's chief negotiator to the long-stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, was tightlipped on whether he plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in Beijing.Upon his arrival at the Beijing airport, Ri was whisked into a waiting sedan with a North Korean embassy pl
Jan. 21, 2015
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Ministry against blocking anti-N.K. leaflets
A group of North Korean defectors and human rights activists warned Tuesday that it would send to the North copies of "The Interview,” a comedy about a plot to assassinate its leader Kim Jong-un, should Pyongyang reject Seoul’s request for dialogue.The previous day, the group launched toward the North five balloons carrying some 100,000 leaflets from Tanhyeon in the border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The leaflets were designed to make North Koreans aware of the brutality of the dictatorial
Jan. 20, 2015
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N. Korea plans IR session on eastern tour zone project
North Korea plans to hold an investor relations session in April as part of efforts to develop its scenic eastern coastal region into a world-class tourist zone, its state media said Tuesday.According to a report by the North's Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean company in charge of developing the eastern coastal areas of Wonsan and Mount Kumgang plans to invite potential investors in April for a presentation and tour of the region. "We are planning to push for diverse measures to attr
Jan. 20, 2015
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Activists spread anti-N. Korea leaflets over border
A group of local and foreign activists has sent balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border, but DVDs of the controversial film "The Interview" have been excluded, the group's head said Tuesday."As previously announced in November, (we) scattered 100,000 anti-North Korean leaflets near (the border town) of Paju last night," Park Sang-hak, the head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea, told Yonhap News Agency. "The DVDs of 'The Interview' were not included on purpos
Jan. 20, 2015
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Seoul to enact unification law
South Korea said Monday it was seeking to spur its efforts this year to bring about reunification by establishing a legal and institutional framework, holding joint economic and cultural events with the North and boosting cooperation with other countries. While pushing for robust defense and the North’s denuclearization, it vowed to formulate a vision for an integrated Korea, build consensus at home and abroad and expand dialogue and economic exchanges with Pyongyang. The measures were submitted
Jan. 19, 2015
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Key North Korean defector 'misled' him on life story
A prominent North Korean defector who fled a prison camp and became the face of international efforts to hold the country accountable for widespread human rights abuses has changed important parts of his life story. Author Blaine Harden says in a statement on his website that he has pressed Shin Dong-Hyuk to "explain why he had misled me'' during interviews for Harden's book on Shin, "Escape from Camp 14.'' North Korea tried to discredit Shin late last year as it fought a U.N. General Assembly r
Jan. 19, 2015
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Park calls for creating conditions for talks with N. Korea
South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday called on officials to create conditions to allow North Korea to come forward for talks in the latest conciliatory gesture toward Pyongyang to jump-start stalled dialogue.Park also said the two Koreas should start substantial dialogue to lay the groundwork for their potential unification.The call came as North Korea has remained silent on South Korea's recent offer to ministerial talks in January to discuss such bilateral issues as the reunion of fa
Jan. 19, 2015
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S. Korea to redouble efforts to prep for unification
South Korea plans to ramp up efforts to prepare for unification and seek dialogue with North Korea on a variety of cooperative projects this year, the government said Monday.Under the plan, Seoul will push for a trial run of a rail line connecting Seoul to the North Korean cities of Pyongyang and Sinuiju and try to enact a law to lay the foundation for the peaceful reunification of the divided Korean Peninsula, the unification, foreign and defense ministries said in their joint policy report to
Jan. 19, 2015
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N. Korea repeats calls to cancel allies’ drills
North Korea has repeated its calls for the United States to cancel the annual South Korea-U.S. military drills in return for its nuclear moratorium in an apparent show of its desire for talks with Washington amid toughened U.S. economic sanctions against the isolated regime.In a rare media interview on Friday, Hyon Hak-bong, the North’s ambassador to Britain, reiterated Pyongyang’s stance against the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises to begin next month, saying the North was ready to take “respon
Jan. 18, 2015
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U.S. ex-officials meet N. Korean nuclear chief amid standoff
U.S. academics and former senior officials met with North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator in Singapore on Sunday to get a feel for each other's positions amid a yearslong standoff over the North's nuclear weapons buildup. Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council, a U.S.-based nonprofit, told reporters that the meeting would cover the North's nuclear missile programs. He said ``it's two ways of taking each other's temperatur
Jan. 18, 2015