Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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Most S. Koreans distrustful of NK regime: poll
More than nine out of 10 South Koreans do not trust North Korea's Kim Jong-un regime, with most of them also believing the regime is unstable, a poll showed Thursday.The survey on 1,000 citizens, taken late last month by the National Unification Advisory Council, showed that 61.6 percent of respondents never trust the Kim regime. Another 29.7 percent responded that they are quite distrustful of the regime.Only 0.3 percent of them said they trust the regime "very much," while another 4.9 percent
Dec. 4, 2014
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Top U.S. envoy on N. Korea nuclear issue to visit Seoul
The top U.S. nuclear envoy was to visit Seoul Thursday for talks with his South Korean counterpart to discuss ways to resume the long-stalled negotiations aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, the foreign ministry said.Sung Kim, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, is scheduled to arrive in Seoul later in the day to meet with Hwang Joon-kook, special representative for peace and security affairs on the Korean Peninsula, a day later, the ministry added.It marks his first visit to Seo
Dec. 4, 2014
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N. Korea-Russia trade shrinks this year
Trade between North Korea and Russia dropped significantly this year, despite Pyongyang's efforts to step up economic cooperation with Moscow, data showed Thursday. Russia's exports to North Korea reached US$59.01 million in the first nine months of this year, down 10.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the data by the Vladivostok office of the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). In particular, Russia's exports of flour to North Korea plunged 72.2 perc
Dec. 4, 2014
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N. Korea conducted small nuclear test in 2010: China professor
A Chinese professor has claimed that North Korea conducted a "low-yield underground nuclear test" in May 2010, possibly backing a claim by North Korea that it succeeded in carrying out a nuclear fusion reaction at that time. Wen Lianxing, the professor who leads a research group on earthquakes and physics at the Beijing-based University of Science and Technology of China, said the North's claimed nuclear test yielded a 2.9-ton blast with a margin of error of 0.8 ton.The claimed nuclear test was
Dec. 4, 2014
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Incoming U.S. Pacific commander calls N.K. ‘most dangerous threat’
The incoming U.S. Pacific commander said Tuesday that North Korea is “our most volatile and dangerous threat” as it pursues nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, vowing to fight and defeat the communist nation if deterrence fails.Adm. Harry Harris Jr. made the remarks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to confirm his nomination as new chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. Harris was named in September to succeed Adm. Samuel Locklear III as PACOM commander.“If confirmed, I look forw
Dec. 3, 2014
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U.N. to take up NK human rights resolution in mid-Dec.
A United Nations' resolution on North Korea's human rights conditions will be discussed at the world body's plenary session in mid-December while Seoul and others are in talks over whether to put the issue on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council, an official said Wednesday.A U.N. General Assembly committee last month passed a resolution calling for the referral of the country's human rights violations to the International Criminal Court (ICC).The move came after a U.N. Commission of Inquiry (
Dec. 3, 2014
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N. Koreans banned from using leader's name
North Korea has ordered its people not to use the name "Kim Jong-un" in a bid to protect the supreme authority of the current leader, according to Pyongyang's official document confirmed Wednesday.In January 2011, then leader Kim Jong-il issued a decree urging people with the same name to change it "voluntarily." As North Korea is regarded as a totalitarian state, it is unclear whether the decree was actually voluntary.The North has also prohibited parents from registering their newborn babies w
Dec. 3, 2014
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Incoming U.S. Pacific commander says N. Korea 'most dangerous threat'
The incoming U.S. Pacific commander said Tuesday that North Korea is "our most volatile and dangerous threat" as it pursues nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, vowing to fight and defeat the communist nation if deterrence fails.Adm. Harry Harris Jr. made the remarks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to confirm his nomination as new chief of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM). Harris was named in September to succeed Adm. Samuel Locklear III as PACOM commander."If confirmed, I l
Dec. 3, 2014
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Suspicions of N.K. involvement in cyber attack on Sony darken
Some of the malware that knocked down the computer network of Sony Pictures Entertainment contained Korean-language code in a sign that North Korea played a role in the attack, a news report said Tuesday.North Korea has been suspected of involvement since last Monday's cyber-attack on Sony because the communist nation has expressed strong anger at a comedy film, "The Interview," about a plot to assassinate leader Kim Jong-un. Sony is scheduled to release the film this month.The FBI has launched
Dec. 3, 2014
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Kim Jong-un's leadership faces troubles at home, aboard
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has managed to strengthen his power base since the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek, but he faces some domestic and external risks in the long run, a South Korean official said Tuesday.In particular, the elevated stature of the two powerful agencies -- the State Security Department and the Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers' Party of Korea -- could serve as a double-edged sword for the young leader, according to the official.After a show tri
Dec. 2, 2014
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S. Korea OKs setup of Christmas tree near border with N. Korea
South Korea has approved a local religious group's plan to build and light a giant Christmas tree near the western inter-Korean border, the defense ministry said Tuesday, despite expectations of strong opposition from North Korea.The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) has sought for the government's approval to restore a now-dismantled Christmas tree tower on top of Aegibong, a front-line hill in Gimpo, west of Seoul, around the Christmas season, saying their move is one of hope for peace on the K
Dec. 2, 2014
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U.N. rights resolution on N. Korea to heighten tensions: China
Defying any actions to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council over a landmark resolution condemning North Korea's grave human rights record, Pyongyang is likely to raise the stakes by following through on its threats to conduct a fourth nuclear test, a Chinese expert warned Tuesday. The U.N. resolution, co-sponsored by the European Union and Japan, is based on a groundbreaking U.N. Commission of Inquiry report earlier this year that graphically documented human rights abuses in North Korea. A k
Dec. 2, 2014
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N. Korean leader bans foreign cigarettes: source
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the country's senior officials not to smoke foreign cigarettes, saying it is a matter of patriotism, a source said Tuesday.Kim, who is apparently a habitual smoker himself, said he sees no need for foreign cigarettes in his country as domestic ones have good quality as well, according to the source involved in trade with North Korea.Kim said smoking foreign cigarettes means a lack of patriotism, added the source based in China.Kim, reportedly in his ea
Dec. 2, 2014
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Seoul seeking to put NK human rights on UNSC agenda: sources
South Korea and the United States are moving to put North Korea's dismal human rights conditions on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council within this year in a bid to continue U.N. discussions on the issue and turn up the heat on Pyongyang, government sources said Tuesday.North Korea's human rights situation has been in the spotlight as a U.N. General Assembly committee last month passed a resolution calling for the referral of the country's human rights violations to the Internation
Dec. 2, 2014
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N. Korean military begins winter training
The North Korean military has kicked off a winter exercise at the instruction of leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday.All troops of the Korean People's Army (KPA) started "the new year combat and political drill," said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The North's military routinely holds such training from December through March. The North's leader chose an artillery unit for his first "field guidance" during the defense exercise season.He inspected "the Artillery Co
Dec. 2, 2014
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Sony Pictures movies leaked online amid suspicions of N.K.
At least five new Sony Pictures movies have been leaked online, reinforcing suspicions that North Korea may have played a role in a cyber-attack in reprisal for Sony's impending release of a film about a plot to assassinate leader Kim Jong-un, news reports said.Sony has asked for an FBI investigation into the case after last week's hacking knocked down its computer network and pirated versions of five new films, including the recently released "Fury," turned up online over the last few days, acc
Dec. 2, 2014
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Prospect unclear for Korea-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation deal before year's end: report
An envisioned civilian nuclear cooperation deal between the United States and South Korea is expected to address all of Seoul's top atomic energy priorities, including the headache of disposing of spent nuclear fuel, a State Department spokesperson said Monday.The official made the remarks to Yonhap News Agency without providing any further specifics, such as how the agreement would address the spent fuel storage problem or if the U.S. would allow Seoul to reprocess spent fuel to reduce nuclear
Dec. 2, 2014
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N. Korea slams South's security law
North Korea lashed out at South Korea's draconian security law on Monday, saying that improving inter-Korean relations is impossible without abolishing the decades-old law.The criticism comes as Monday marks 66 years since the enforcement of the National Security Law in 1948 when the Korean Peninsula was divided into the capitalist South and the communist North. The law bans any "anti-state" activities that attempt to praise, encourage or propagandize North Korean political ideals."The National
Dec. 1, 2014
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Ex-first lady Lee to visit N. Korea next year
The widow of former South Korean President and 2000 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung plans to visit North Korea next May or June when the weather is milder and more favorable to her health, her nonprofit organization said Monday.Lee Hee-ho, 92, expressed her wish to travel to North Korea for humanitarian purposes when she met with South Korean President Park Geun-hye in late October. Pyongyang accepted the request last month. "(Lee) wished to visit the North this year, but at the earnes
Dec. 1, 2014
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Seoul's nuke envoy departs for Russia for talks on N.K. issues
South Korea's chief nuclear envoy departed to Russia Monday to discuss North Korea's nuclear issues following a high-ranking North Korean official's recent visit to the neighbor.The four-day trip by Hwang Joon-kook will include a meeting on Wednesday with Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morgulov Igor as well as discussions with officials there on the North Korean issue.Hwang's schedules in Russia are expected to focus on efforts to figure out the North's readiness to resume the long-s
Dec. 1, 2014