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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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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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. Korean military to launch cyber warfare center next year
South Korea will launch a cyber warfare center under the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) later this year to protect the military network from rising hacking attempts by North Korea, the JCS said Tuesday.In a report to the parliament, the JCS said it has updated its contingency plan to classify North Korea's cyber threat as a "non-military provocation" and is recruiting members for its own team tasked with preventing cyber attacks to operate the center at the start of next year.The latest move is aim
Oct. 22, 2013
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N. Korea deploys 130 air-cushion vehicles in coastal waters
North Korea has about 130 readily deployable hovercraft in its coastal waters, and its leader Kim Jong-un has regularly observed amphibious assault trainings targeted at South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) here said Tuesday.North Korea has 70 deployable air-cushion vehicles on its west coast and 60 of the amphibious vehicle in the east at its four hovercraft bases, the JCS said in a report to the parliament. The hovercraft can carry about 40 commandos at speeds of up to 96 kilometer per
Oct. 22, 2013
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N. Korea agrees on new Gaeseong venture with foreign firms: KCNA
North Korea has agreed with an international consortium to develop a new high-tech district in Gaeseong, close to the newly reopened industrial zone it operates with the South, state media said Friday.The jointly run Gaeseong industrial zone was shut in April amid high cross-border tensions. Seoul and Pyongyang agreed last month to reopen the park, but relations have since soured again.The North’s announcement of a new international deal came after South Korea said Monday it had postponed a plan
Oct. 20, 2013
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Unification minister to meet with investors on Geumgangsan tours
The top policymaker on inter-Korean affairs will meet with South Korean investors in the long-suspended joint inter-Korean tourism project at North Korea’s Mount Geumgangsan this week in order to discuss ways to make up for their financial losses, the unification ministry said Friday.The shooting death of a South Korean female tourist by a North Korean solider led to the suspension of the joint tour program at the scenic mountain in 2008, resulting in substantial financial losses by South Korean
Oct. 20, 2013
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Hecker: North Korea nuke problem getting trickier
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― North Korea is continuing to collect bargaining chips by apparently restarting its long-mothballed nuclear reactor in Yongbyon and possibly building another one on the site about 70 miles north of Pyongyang, a prominent U.S. nuclear scientist contends.Siegfried Hecker, who visited the Yongbyon complex in 2010, said should the North operate the 5-megawatt reactor with a full load of 8.000 fuel rods, it will be able to extract roughly 10-12 kilograms of plutonium within
Oct. 20, 2013
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Chinese scholar skeptical of nuclear talks with N. Korea
Even if nations resume the long-stalled talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, it “could take decades” to get the secretive communist state to give up its atomic weapons, a Chinese scholar said. Jin Qiangyi, a professor of Korean Studies at Yanbian University, said in an op-ed published by state-run China Daily Friday that convincing North Korea to open up its economy could be the best way to denuclearize the North. “The DPRK (North Korean) nuclear issue cannot be resolved in the
Oct. 20, 2013
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N. Korea to jointly build hi-tech industrial park with foreign firms
North Korea will jointly build a hi-tech industrial park in its border city of Kaesong with a consortium of foreign firms from Singapore and other nations, according to the communist country's official media.The firms include Jurong Consultants and OKP Holdings of Singapore, P and T Architects and Engineers of Hong Kong and other "well-known" companies in East Asia and the Middle East, according to a brief dispatch released Thursday by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)."The consortium agreed
Oct. 18, 2013
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Gov't mulls more support for hard-pressed Gaeseong firms
The government is considering giving more support to hard-pressed South Korean companies with factories in an inter-Korean factory park located in the North, an official said Thursday.The unification ministry source said that while Seoul does not plan to alter the contract regarding the return of insurance money given to companies prior to the reopening of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex on Sept. 16, it is nevertheless looking at ways to alleviate their financial plight."Discussions are underway
Oct. 17, 2013
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N. Korea sets up civilian body for special economic zones
North Korea has established a private organization to develop special economic zones, its media said Wednesday, following toughened business sanctions slapped on the communist country for its nuclear weapons test earlier in the year. The organization, dubbed the Korean economic developmentfederation, aims to support activities of foreign businesses and scholars interested in the special zones in North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.The regime's news wire added that the organiz
Oct. 16, 2013
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After mom's trip, U.S. keeps pressing N. Korea to release American man
The U.S. government kept pressing North Korea Tuesday to free an American citizen after a trip there by his mother did not lead to his release.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said "we remain gravely concerned about" the fate of Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-American man held in the communist nation for almost a year."We continue to urge the North Korean authorities to grant him special amnesty and immediate release," she said at a press briefing. "I don't have any other updates."Bae's
Oct. 16, 2013
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N. Korea ready to make another nuke test anytime: S. Korean envoy
North Korea has "very serious nuclear capabilities" and it is able to conduct another round of nuclear tests "any time," South Korea's nuclear envoy said Tuesday.The communist country has restarted a nuclear reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear center, a provocative move that would provide Pyongyang with enough plutonium to build one atomic bomb a year, according to Seoul's spy agency. Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February. "The assessment on North Korea's nuclear capabilities is ver
Oct. 15, 2013
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Mother of jailed American 'more anxious than ever' to bring son home
BEIJING (Yonhap News) – The mother of an American man jailed in North Korea for nearly one year said Tuesday she is "more anxious than ever" to bring her son home after meeting him during her visit to the North. Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-American known as a Christian missionary, was arrested in North Korea last November on charges of unspecified anti-government activities. In April, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.His mother, Bae Myung-hee, 68, flew to Pyongyang on Thursday to
Oct. 15, 2013
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S. Korea postpones foreign investors' event for Gaeseong complex
South Korea said Monday that it has postponed an investor relations event planned for the end of the month at a joint inter-Korean factory park in Gaeseong.The event that was originally set for Oct. 31 was arranged to attract foreign investors to set up factories at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, which is currently home to only South Korean companies."Seoul sent the message to the North last Friday adding that under present circumstances, the conditions for holding the event cannot be met," a
Oct. 14, 2013
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Foreign firm IR event for Gaeseong delayed
South Korea said Monday that it has postponed an investor relations (IR) event planned for the end of the month at the joint inter-Korean factory park in Gaeseong.The event was originally arranged to attract foreign investors to set up factories at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex that is currently home to 123 South Korean companies.“Seoul sent the message to the North last Friday,” a unification ministry official said. He said the delay reflects the lack of progress made in talks to enhance comm
Oct. 14, 2013
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N. Korea's luxury goods imports surge under Kim Jong-un leadership
North Korea's imports of luxury goods have surged after Kim Jong-un took power, despite chronic food shortages plaguing the country, a South Korean lawmaker said Monday.According to Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Saenuri Party, imports of luxury goods reached US$645.8 million last year, up sharply from an annual import average of around $300 million tallied under the current leader's father Kim Jong-il.The incumbent leader took power after the sudden death of his father in late 2011. Citing d
Oct. 14, 2013
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U.N. to send investigators to Cuba over seized N.K. ship
A U.N. Security Council sanctions committee will send a team of investigators to Cuba later this month to examine the case of a North Korean ship that was caught carrying weapons from the Caribbean nation, a news report said Saturday.The 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang ship was intercepted by Panamanian authorities in July while trying to pass through the Panama Canal with a shipment of weapons suspected to be in violation of U.N. sanctions.North Korea and Cuba have both said that the ship was transp
Oct. 12, 2013
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N. Korea to complete lavish ski resort late next month
North Korea is set to complete construction of a lavish ski resort, touted as one of its young leader Kim Jong-un's pet projects, in late November and will formally open it next January, China's state media reported Saturday.The Masik ski resort, located near the North's east coast city of Wonsan, has been under construction since earlier this year.South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers this week that the North Korean regime has "wasted" $300 million to build leisure and sports facilities, incl
Oct. 12, 2013
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Kenneth Bae's mother thanks N.K. for allowing meeting with son: report
The mother of an American man jailed in North Korea for unspecified anti-government crimes has expressed her gratitude to the North Korean government for allowing her to meet her son in Pyongyang, a news report said Saturday.Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-American known as a Christian missionary, was arrested in North Korea last November on charges of unspecified anti-government activities. In April, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.His mother, Bae Myung-hee, 68, flew to Pyongyang o
Oct. 12, 2013
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U.S. involved in NK trip by Kenneth Bae's mother
The U.S. government said Friday it played a limited role in the ongoing trip to North Korea by the mother of a jailed American man.In North Korea, Bae Myung-hee reportedly met her son, Kenneth Bae, who has been held in the communist nation for nearly a year, on Friday (local time). She arrived there a day earlier.The State Department said it was aware of her visit."The U.S. government did not arrange Mrs. Bae's private trip. We helped her coordinate her trip with the Embassy of Sweden in Pyongy
Oct. 12, 2013
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China, U.S. vow 'effective coordination' on N. Korea: China diplomat
China and the United States remain committed to expanding their "effective coordination" to resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff and reduce tensions over other regional hot issues, a senior Chinese diplomat said Friday. China has been keen to restart the long-stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program, but South Korea and the U.S. insist that a new round of six-party talks will not take place unless North Korea demonstrates its seriousness about denuclear
Oct. 11, 2013