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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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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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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‘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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N. Korea vows to end denuclearization talks
North Korea pledged on Wednesday to end any efforts at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, just hours after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution condemning the country's December rocket launch, according to North Korea's state-run news outlet."Due to the U.S.'s worsening policy of hostility toward North Korea, the six-party talks and the joint September 19 statement were rendered null and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was put to an end," the North's foreign ministry sai
Jan. 23, 2013
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U.N. expands sanctions on N. Korea for rocket launch
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution against North Korea Tuesday, condemning its December rocket launch and expanding sanctions.The 15-member council voted unanimously to approve the 20-point resolution, a compromise that ended a month-long tug-of-war, mainly between the United States and China.The binding resolution calls for freezing the assets of six more North Korean entities, including the Korean Committee for Space Technology and the Bank of East Land, and a travel ban on four ad
Jan. 23, 2013
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U.N. to sanction N. Korea space agency: diplomat
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― The UN Security Council will order sanctions against North Korea’s space agency in a resolution to be passed this week condemning the secretive state’s ballistic launch, a diplomat said Monday.The resolution, which also targets other government entities and individuals linked to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, could be passed by the 15-member council as early as Wednesday.The United States and China have been negotiating the new measures since North Korea staged its
Jan. 22, 2013
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China backs ‘one country, two systems’ for unified Korea
China wants South Korea to form a loose-knit federation of “one country, two systems” with North Korea for an eventual unification between the two Koreas, a prominent Chinese expert said Tuesday.Pan Zhenqiang, a retired People’s Liberation Army major general, warned that any unification effort based on the collapse of North Korea would bring “greater disastrous effects” than the deteriorating security situations that have taken place in Libya and Syria.The two Koreas have still technically been
Jan. 22, 2013
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North Korea sends ‘ultimatum’ to U.S. on nuke issue: newspaper
North Korea delivered an “ultimatum” to the United States on the nuclear issue that calls for a negotiated settlement to outstanding security concerns, a paper representing Pyongyang’s interests said Monday.The Chosun Sinbo, the official paper of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, claimed the Kim Jong-un government sent the message to Washington, but did not elaborate on the exact date, the delivery means or contents of the message.Kim took power in late 2011, after the sudden
Jan. 22, 2013
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N.K.’s grain, fertilizer imports from China fall sharply
North Korea imported significantly less grain and fertilizers from China last year, mainly due to improvements in overall food conditions in the country, local sources said Tuesday.Kwon Tae-jin, a research fellow at the Seoul-based Korea Rural Community Corp., said data compiled from January through November showed North Korea’s grain imports from its neighboring country reaching 257,931 tons.This represents a 26.8 percent decrease from 352,282 tons tallied for the same 11 month period in 2011.“
Jan. 22, 2013
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High hopes for inter-Korean resources tie-up
With Seoul’s incoming government looking to thaw cross-border ties, it should capitalize on the North’s ample mineral reserves to help revive its crumpling economy and beef up energy supplies at home, said Choi Kyung-soo, president of the North Korea Resources Institute. Despite daunting risks associated with political instability, he cast joint mining projects as a key tool to quell criticism over the South’s unilateral concessions to the wayward regime. President-elect Park Geun-hye has also p
Jan. 22, 2013
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U.N. to sanction N. Korea space agency: diplomat
The U.N. Security Council will order sanctions against North Korea's space agency in a resolution to be passed this week condemning the secretive state's ballistic launch, a diplomat said Monday.The resolution, which also targets other government entities and individuals linked to North Korea's nuclear weapons program, could be passed by the 15-member council as early as Wednesday.The United States and China have been negotiating the new measures since North Korea staged its missile launch on De
Jan. 22, 2013
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Pyongyang loosens restrictions on foreign cellphones
North Korea is loosening some restrictions on foreign cellphones by allowing visitors to bring their own phones into the country. However, security regulations still prohibit mobile phone calls between foreigners and locals.For years, North Korea required visitors to relinquish foreign cellphones at the border until their departure, leaving many tourists without an easy way to communicate with the outside world.The ritual of handing over phones was part of an exhaustive security check that most
Jan. 21, 2013
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U.N. Security Council set to pass resolution against North
A draft resolution calling for tougher sanctions against North Korea's December rocket launch is being circulated among members of the U.N. Security Council, who are poised to pass it as early as Wednesday, a Seoul diplomatic source said Monday."To my knowledge, the draft resolution will be put to a vote early this week and adopted on Wednesday or Thursday (Seoul time), unless there is another variable," said the source with direct knowledge of the U.N. debate. The Security Council is set to con
Jan. 21, 2013
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N. Korea allows foreign visitors to bring mobile phones: report
North Korea, one of the world's most reclusive countries, has started to allow foreign visitors to bring their own mobile phones into the country, a Chinese media outlet said Monday.China's state-news Xinhua News Agency said North Korean authorities lifted the ban on foreigners bringing their mobile phones to Pyongyang when visiting, citing an Egyptian technician working for the North Korean-Egyptian joint venture company Koryolink. The lift took place on Jan. 7, Xinhua said. In order to bring t
Jan. 21, 2013
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Clinton, Kishida share commitment to strong U.N. action against N. Korea
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, agreed Friday that the U.N. Security Council should work out a strong measure against North Korea for its December rocket launch "as expeditiously as possible." "On North Korea, we shared our joint commitment to strong action in the U.N. Security Council," Clinton said at a joint press conference with Kishida after their talks here. It was the first meeting between the two since Japan embraced the conservative g
Jan. 19, 2013
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N. Korea may allow more foreign media outlets
North Korea may open its borders to more foreign news media as part of its efforts to increase contact with the outside world, a senior official of the Associated Press (AP) said Friday after a visit to the communist country.AP was allowed to open a bureau in North Korea in January last year, becoming the first Western media outlet in the country. Other foreign media that had been allowed in the country before were all from the old Soviet Union, its successor Russia and China."I suspect that the
Jan. 18, 2013
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N.K. to hold meeting of low-ranking party leaders
North Korea said Friday it will hold the first meeting of low-ranking party leaders in more than five years, during which analysts expect the country to highlight its push to build economic might.“A meeting of secretaries of cells of the Workers’ Party of Korea will be held with splendor in Pyongyang,” the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said in an English dispatch, without disclosing the date of the meeting. The meeting, which brings together leaders of the party’s smallest organiz
Jan. 18, 2013
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Inter-Korean exchanges drop sharply under Lee
People-to-people exchanges between the two Koreas have been drastically reduced during the Lee Myung-bak government’s five-year term, government data showed Friday.Seoul officials attributed the decrease to a series of North Korean provocations including the two attacks in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans. But some criticized the government for its “inflexible” policy toward the North. The number of North Koreans who visited the South over the last five years was 724, about one-sixth of the fig
Jan. 18, 2013
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'Significant progress' in U.N. talks on N. Korea, timing of deal
Regional powers have managed to produce "significant progress" in their drawn-out talks on how to punish North Korea for its latest rocket launch, multiple diplomatic sources said Thursday.But nobody can pin down the exact timing of a deal, a source in Washington said."It's true that there has been significant progress in the discussions at the U.N. Security Council," one source told Yonhap News Agency. "Members of the council are working to finalize the consultations. There is a common percepti
Jan. 18, 2013
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Continued rocket launches by N. Korea more likely than nuke test: expert
North Korea's young leader is more likely to opt for additional rocket launches than pulling out a nuclear test card in the foreseeable future, a renowned U.S. expert said Thursday.The chances of a nuclear test are "still less than 50-50," Frederick Fleitz, formerly a CIA official, told Yonhap News Agency.Fleitz worked at the CIA for 19 years, dealing with weapons intelligence, nonproliferation and arms control.In the early 2000s, he also worked as chief of staff to John Bolton and Robert Joseph
Jan. 18, 2013
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Japan urges swift U.N. action against N. Korea
Japan's top nuclear envoy on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to act "sooner rather than later" in punishing North Korea for its long-range rocket launch in December."We agreed that the Security Council, on behalf of the entire international community, must take appropriate action," Shinsuke Sugiyama told reporters after talks in Seoul with his South Korean counterpart, Lim Sung-Nam."We are hopeful that the Security Council is responding in an appropriate manner sooner rather than later,"
Jan. 17, 2013
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U.N. urges focus on N.K. rights record
GENEVA (AP) ― The U.N.’s top human rights official said Monday that as many as 200,000 people are being held in North Korean political prison camps rife with torture, rape and slave labor, and that some of the abuses may amount to crimes against humanity.For that reason, said Navi Pillay, the world body’s high commissioner for human rights, nations must mount an independent probe into North Korea’s human rights record. The U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. General Assembly, which includes a
Jan. 15, 2013
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N. Korea appears to struggle to shed negative image
North Korea actively received foreign guests and increased exchanges with the outside world this year, Pyongyang watchers said Tuesday, raising speculation that the North is trying to shed its negative image triggered by last month's rocket launch.The watchers said there have been an unusually large number of foreigners visiting Pyongyang, beginning on Jan. 7 with the arrivals of an economic trade-promotion delegation from China, and the four-day tour by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Former N
Jan. 15, 2013