Most Popular
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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Naver will consider company benefits in deciding on selling Line shares: CEO
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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No imminent nuclear, missile tests in N. Korea: U.S. think-tank
Recent satellite images of North Korea's nuclear and rocket test sites do not point to any imminent tests, a U.S. think-tank said Friday, despite last week's threat by the communist state to flex its nuclear muscle.The images indicate that excavation continues on a new tunnel at the remote Punggye-ri test site in the northeast, but there is little or no activity at other key parts of the facility, said the closely-followed 38 North website of the Johns Hopkins University's U.S.-Korea Institute."
March 21, 2014
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Seoul calls on Pyongyang to repay its loans
Seoul has demanded that Pyongyang pay back its loans and interest totaling $86 million in installments, with the first repayment of the principal and interest due next Monday, according to the Unification Ministry.“As the due date fast approaches, we have sent a notice to the North through the Export-Import Bank of Korea regarding its repayment obligation, about a month before the date and in line with international practices,” said a ministry official, declining to be named.Under the Roh Moo-hy
March 21, 2014
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N. Korean leader flew to Wonsan before rocket launch
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had flown to an eastern test site one day before his military fired off an unprecedented number of rockets from there, a military source said Friday, an indication that he may have had a direct hand in the Sunday night launch.Kim visited the eastern city of Wonsan via a light aircraft, believed to be one of the Cessna models, last Saturday. The North fired off 25 ground-to-ground FROG-7 rockets into the sea the following night."It seems that Kim may have planned t
March 21, 2014
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N. Korea calls first session of new legislature
North Korea on Thursday called the first meeting of its new parliament.The state Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul, announced in a short dispatch that the inaugural session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly will be held in Pyongyang on April 9.On March 9, 687 new deputies were elected to what is regarded as a rubber-stamp legislature. It was the first such election under the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who took the helm in December 2011 following the death of his fa
March 20, 2014
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Belgium-based NGO to spend $1.1m in 2014 for disabled N. Koreans
An international civic group based in Belgium plans to send over $1 million in aid this year to North Korea to help the disabled there, a media report said Wednesday.The Belgium branch of Handicap International earmarked $1.12 million for this year to support medical and rehabilitation facilities in the communist country to promote the health and wellbeing of the disabled there, the Voice of America reported, citing an e-mail from the agency's official Dominique Delvigne.The budget is also to be
March 19, 2014
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China hints at veto of U.N. action on N. Korea human rights
China strongly hinted Tuesday that it would veto a United Nations resolution holding North Korea’s leadership responsible for crimes against humanity, dashing hopes for the international community to act on the North’s grim human rights record. A 400-page U.N. report, published last month, criticized the North’s regime for committing “crimes against humanity,” citing widespread execution of people, torture and sexual violence. The United States, the European Union and Japan are working to bring
March 18, 2014
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New U.S. envoy urges closer cooperation with China on N. Korea issue
The United States and China have “much more to gain” from closer cooperation in reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the new U.S. ambassador to China said Tuesday. At his first press conference as ambassador, Max Baucus also pledged to build a “stronger relationship” between the world’s two largest economies and militaries, saying it would not only benefit the two nations but also the whole world. “Leaders of both sides recognize that we are much more to gain from cooperation than conflic
March 18, 2014
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In U.N. session, U.S., China far apart over N. Korean human rights
The United States and China traded their typically differing views on the human rights situation in North Korea as the issue was discussed at a U.N. meeting in Geneva.In its 25th session, the Human Right Council held an "interactive dialogue" with the Commission of Inquiry, which recently investigated North Korea's human rights record.Michael Kirby, head of the COI, said it had found "systematic, widespread and grave human rights violations" occurring in the secretive communist nation.He said th
March 18, 2014
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N. Korea crimes on par with Nazis, Khmer Rouge: U.N. probe
The crimes of North Korea's regime are as chilling as those of the Nazis, South Africa's apartheid regime or Cambodia's Khmer Rouge and must be stopped, the head of a U.N. inquiry said Monday."Contending with the great scourges of Nazism, apartheid, the Khmer Rouge and other affronts required courage by great nations and ordinary human beings alike," Michael Kirby told the U.N. Human Rights Council."It is now your solemn duty to address the scourge of human rights violations and crimes against h
March 17, 2014
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Seoul urges North to stop ‘provocative’ rocket tests
South Korea called Monday for the North to stop its “provocative” rocket tests, after the launch of dozens of rockets in recent weeks ― most recently Sunday ― that Seoul says threaten regional security.North Korea test-fired 25 rockets off its east coast into the East Sea on Sunday ― the latest in a series of launches that have sparked criticism from Seoul and Washington.A spate of missile and rocket tests carried out by Pyongyang between late February and early March were largely seen as a calc
March 17, 2014
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Parents of kidnap victim meet N.K. grandchild
TOKYO (AFP) ― The ageing parents of a Japanese woman who was kidnapped and taken to North Korea as a schoolgirl and allegedly died there have met her daughter for the first time, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday.Pyongyang admitted in 2002 that it abducted a dozen Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s and eight of them had died, including Megumi Yokota who was only 13 years old when she was kidnapped on her way back from school by North Korean agents in 1977.Yokota’s parents spent five da
March 17, 2014
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N.K. demand for pay rise poses hurdle to Gaeseong complex
North Korea’s demand for a 10 percent pay rise for its workers at the joint industrial park in Gaeseong is posing a fresh hurdle to the park’s operations, which are returning to normalcy following a shutdown last April.Pyongyang has recently requested that the base wage for some 52,000 workers at the park be increased by 10 percent, more than double the mutually agreed ceiling of 5 percent.The North argues that as the pay did not increase last year during the shutdown of the park, there should b
March 17, 2014
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N. Korea readies rocket launchers on east coast
A day after North Korea test-fired 25 rockets from its east coast, the mobile launchers remained in place on Monday, a potential sign of additional provocations, a military source said. The latest move comes as South Korea has increased military vigilance in the wake of the North's rocket launches, seen as a show of protest against ongoing joint military drills between Seoul and Washington. "About 10 mobile launchers are seen (in satellite images) near Wonsan in Kangwon Province, where the North
March 17, 2014
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China's nuke envoy visits N. Korea
China's top negotiator on North Korea's nuclear program is visiting Pyongyang, the country's state media reported on Monday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not give specifics on Wu Dawei's visit or the exact date of his arrival, but only said he had arrived in the North's capital.Wu's trip is the latest in a series of visits from Chinese officials to the neighboring country since the high-profile purge of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's uncle in December.Last month, the Chinese deleg
March 17, 2014
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U.S. gives normal response to N. Korea's firing of 25 rockets
Responding to North Korea's reported launch of more than two dozen rockets in a single day, the Obama administration continued to urge the communist nation to exercise restraint."We are aware of reports that North Korea fired a number of rockets into the sea. We are closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, said Sunday in an emailed statement. North Korea test-launched a total of 25 short-range missiles from its east coast on Sund
March 17, 2014
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N. Korea fires 25 short-range rockets toward East Sea
North Korea fired off 25 short-range rockets toward the East Sea late Sunday, Seoul's military said, the latest show of force in response to the ongoing joint South Korea-U.S. military drills.The North began launching 10 projectiles at 6:20 p.m. over the span of 10 minutes. The launches began again at around 8:03 p.m., and the other eight rockets were fired in the period of five minutes, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 9:28 p.m., the North also fired sevent rockets.The fired rockets
March 16, 2014
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N. Korea fires 25 short-range rockets toward East Sea
North Korea fired off 25 short-range rockets toward the East Sea late Sunday, Seoul's military said, the latest show of force in response to the ongoing joint South Korea-U.S. military drills.The North began launching 10 projectiles at 6:20 p.m. over the span of 10 minutes. The launches began again at around 8:03 p.m., and the other eight rockets were fired in the period of five minutes, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 9:28 p.m., the North also fired sevent rockets.The fired rockets
March 16, 2014
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N. Korea demands wage hike for Gaeseong workers
North Korea is demanding a 10-percent pay increase for its workers at an inter-Korean joint factory park for this year, an official said Sunday.The base pay of North Korean workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, named after the North's border city where it is located, was set at a minimum of $67 per month based on an inter-Korean agreement. South Korean companies give a 5 percent raise annually, and each company pays for overtime.In addition to a 5 percent annual hike missed last year due t
March 16, 2014
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N. Korea's per-capita GDP grows 4.8 pct in 2013: report
North Korea's per-capita gross domestic product rose 4.8 percent on-year in 2013 from an improved grain harvest and expanded investment in the mining, utility and other segments, a report showed Sunday.The North's per-capita GDP for last year is estimated at $854, up $39 from a year earlier, according to the report released by the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI), a South Korean private think tank.The North's 2013 per-capita GDP amounts to a mere 3.6 percent of South Korea's per-capita GDP of $2
March 16, 2014
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N. Korea threatens to boast 'nuclear deterrence'
North Korea threatened to boast its "nuclear deterrence" if the United States continues to make "nuclear threats" against the communist nation, a possible warning of an additional nuclear test or long-range rocket launch.The so-called nuclear threats from the U.S. have long been the basis for North Korea's development of nuclear weapons."If the U.S.'s nuclear threats and blackmail continue, the struggle of our military and people to strengthen our self-defensive nuclear deterrence will continue,
March 15, 2014