Most Popular
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
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N.K. cutoff of hotline doesn’t hamper work at Gaeseong
Border crossings by South Koreans working at the Gaeseong industrial complex in North Korea proceeded without incident on Thursday amid growing concern over their safety following Pyongyang’s severance of a military hotline on the previous day.In the morning, three groups of South Koreans crossed the land border separately through the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine office in Paju, north of Seoul, Seoul officials said.They received entry approval by phone from a North Korean complex manageme
March 28, 2013
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Foreign minister calls on Japan to ‘start off on the right foot’
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se urged Japan on Thursday to “start off on the right foot”to repair bilateral ties ― a thinly veiled swipe at Tokyo’s approval of textbooks laying claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo. Yun made the remarks a day after South Korea lodged a strong protest with Japan over the approval of high school textbooks that “still contain Japan’s unjustifiable claims to Dokdo.” “As for bilateral relations with Japan, it is always important for the two sides to start off on th
March 28, 2013
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N. Korea manipulates image of military exercise
A close inspection of a picture portraying North Korea’s latest military exercise reveals signs of manipulation, U.S. media reported. According to the Atlantic magazine, two out of eight hovercrafts approaching the east coast of Korea in the photo appear to have been digitally added.The two vessels at the front of the image share identical shapes and have similar patterns of surf flying up the side. The other two at the furthest were also found to be identical. AFP, which distributed the photo f
March 28, 2013
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N. Korea imports massive amount of Chinese silver in Jan.: data
North Korea imported an unusually massive amount of silver from China in January, possibly in relation to leader Kim Jong-un's birthday that month, sources and China's customs office said Thursday.Data from China's customs office showed that North Korea imported 661.71 kilograms of Chinese silver for $653,128 in January.The monthly import is unusually enormous given that the North took in only $77,593 worth of precious metal and other jewels for the whole of 2012. The corresponding amount for 20
March 28, 2013
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S. Korean commuters enter N. Korea without military hotline
South Koreans commuting to an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's Kaesong crossed the border without a hitch on Thursday, despite the North's severance of a military hotline with the South on the previous day, officials said.On Wednesday, Pyongyang, citing hostility from the United States and South Korea, abruptly cut off its western coastal military hotline with Seoul, which is responsible for guaranteeing the safety of South Korean personnel commuting to and from Kaesong, raising
March 28, 2013
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N. Korea pulls plug on military hotline, closes border office
North Korea on Wednesday severed its military hotline with the South and closed a communication office near the border in protest against recent U.N. sanctions, ongoing Seoul-Washington military drills and their other “hostile” acts. The South’s Unification Ministry immediately urged Pyongyang to retract the decision, which it said will hamper smooth operation of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex by complicating its workers’ entrance and exit. “Increasing U.S. nuclear threats against us and a fran
March 27, 2013
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N. Korea cuts inter-Korean military hotline
North Korea said Wednesday that it will cut a military hotline with South Korea, the latest in a string of provocations that include the North's unilateral severance of an inter-Korean Red Cross hotline about two weeks ago."The Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army solemnly declared that... Due to the reckless acts of the enemies, the north-south military communications which were set up for dialogue and cooperation between the north and the south has already lost its significance," the No
March 27, 2013
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U.S. dismisses N. Korea's threats as 'pattern' to raise tensions
The White House made clear Tuesday that it would not overreact to North Korea's military threats, saying the rogue nation is "following a pattern" to escalate tensions."We do look at this as part of a pattern, and we respond in the way that we always have," press secretary Jay Carney said at a press briefing. He was responding to North Korea's latest warning that its would put artillery and rocket forces on the highest level of combat posture against the U.S. and South Korea.Carney reiterated th
March 27, 2013
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N. Korea to hold party meeting this month for 'important issue'
Ratcheting up hostile rhetoric against Seoul and Washington, North Korea announced a plan to hold a plenary meeting of its party "to discuss an important issue," its official media said Wednesday.According to the report by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of (North) Korea announced a day earlier its decision to convene a plenary meeting later this month.The meeting aims "to discuss and decide an important issue for
March 27, 2013
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N.K. puts artillery in combat-ready posture
North Korea on Tuesday put into “combat-ready posture” its missile and artillery units that are capable of striking South Korea, the U.S. and other “hostile targets,” its state media said.“The Supreme Command is putting all of its field artillery including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units into the No. 1 combat-ready posture,” the top command said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.The statement enumerated specific targets such as the U.S. mainland, Hawa
March 26, 2013
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‘Don’t look to Myanmar for hints of N.K. future’
Change is in the air in Northeast Asia. Over the past year or so, new leaders took over in China, Russia, Japan and in both South and North Korea. Unprecedented change has unfolded in Southeast Asia as well, especially in Myanmar, formerly called Burma.But do not get your hopes up that a succession in leadership in North Korea might result in the kind of sweeping reforms now taking place in Myanmar since elections in November 2010 transferred power for the first time in 20 years to a civilian go
March 26, 2013
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North Korea training teams of ‘cyber warriors’
North Korea training teams of ‘cyber warriors’Investigators have yet to pinpoint the culprit behind a synchronized cyber attack in South Korea last week. But in Seoul, the focus is fixed on North Korea, which South Korean security experts say has been training a team of computer-savvy “cyber warriors” as cyberspace becomes a fertile battleground in the nations’ rivalry. Malware shut down 32,000 computers and servers at three major South Korean TV networks and three banks last Wednesday, disrupti
March 26, 2013
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Activating Korea’s own Helsinki process
The Korean version of the Helsinki process has begun to move forward, with the U.N. Human Rights Council’s March 21 decision to establish a Commission of Inquiry for the “grave, widespread and systematic” human rights violations in North Korea. David Alton, a member of the British House of Lords, emphasized the need for a “Helsinki process with a Korean face” to address egregious human rights conditions in North Korea. The establishment of the COI can be construed as setting in motion the Korean
March 26, 2013
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Kim‘s military inspections intended to show off defense capabilities: analysts
Kim‘s military inspections intended to show off defense capabilities: analystsNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s successive military visits are intended to show off the country‘s defense capacities as South Korea and the United States are conducting two major military drills in March, analysts in Seoul said Tuesday.On Tuesday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency reported Kim made a visit to military units for the fourth day in a row. According to previous KCNA reports, Kim inspected military e
March 26, 2013
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N. Korea says military to enter combat ready posture
North Korea's military will put its missile and artillery units into combat ready posture in order to protect its sovereignty, the country's state news media said Tuesday."From this moment, the Supreme Command puts all of its field artillery including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units into the No. 1 combat ready posture," the Korean People's Army's Supreme Command said in a statement carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency. The artillery units target the U.S.mainlan
March 26, 2013
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Defectors, activists hail U.N. probe into N.K. human rights
Defectors, experts and activists on Monday hailed the recent approval of a U.N. panel to probe human rights breaches in North Korea as a landmark step in a long battle to end the oppressive regime’s cruelties. The U.N. Human Rights Council last week unanimously approved a formal inquiry mechanism, which they said would mark the “most credible, systemic and comprehensive probe ever” into rampant abuses there. “The Commission of Inquiry is a victory for all North Korea human rights activists inclu
March 25, 2013
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China won't turn its back on N. Korea: pundit
While U.S. officials say China may be rethinking its policy on North Korea, skepticism lingers about the possibility that Beijing will finally turn its back on the communist ally.Experts point out that China still has strategic, historical and ideological reasons to help North Korea stay alive."First, China's main interest in North Korea is not denuclearization; it is ensuring that the North Korean government does not fall," John Pomfret, a veteran U.S. journalist known for expertise on China is
March 25, 2013
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China punishes N. Korea as U.S. asks for more
BEIJING (AP) ― China is trying to punish ally North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests, stepping up inspections of North Korean-bound cargo in a calibrated effort to send a message of Chinese pique without further provoking a testy Pyongyang government.Freight handlers and trading companies at ports and cities near the North Korean border complain of more rigorous inspections and surprise checks that are raising the costs to doing business with an often unpredictable North Korea. Machinery,
March 24, 2013
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[Graphic News] Seoul’s aid shrinks as North ties chill
South Korea’s assistance to North Korea in 2012 fell to the lowest level in over a decade with the cross-border ties chilled by Pyongyang’s continued provocations and Seoul’s policy of linking aid to efforts at openness and denuclearization. The Park Geun-hye government on Friday issued its first approval of humanitarian aid to the North despite heightening tension over its nuclear test. Charity Eugene Bell was given permission to deliver tuberculosis medicine worth 678 million won ($605,000) to
March 24, 2013
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N.K. nuke trade fears resurface
North Korea’s nuclear test last month wasn’t just a show of defiance and national pride; it also is advertising. The target audience, analysts say, is anyone in the world looking to buy nuclear material.Though Pyongyang has threatened to launch nuclear strikes on the U.S., the most immediate threat posed by its nuclear technology may be North Korea’s willingness to sell it to nations that Washington sees as sponsors of terrorism. The fear of such sales was highlighted last week, when Japan confi
March 24, 2013