Most Popular
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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Ministry denies blame for Jamboree debacle
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Pianist Cho Seong-Jin named Berlin Philharmonic's artist-in-residence
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Ahn urges N.K. to give up nuclear weapons
Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo called on North Korea Thursday to give up its nuclear weapons and return to six-party disarmament talks as he seeks to boost his image as an advocate for strong national security. “North Korea should give up its nuclear weapons,” Ahn said during a foreign policy briefing at his Seoul office. “(The North) should promptly return to the six-party talks to start processes for resolving nuclear issues.”Earlier this month, Ahn visited front-line barrack
Nov. 14, 2012
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Minister Yu urges N. Korea to embrace change, dialogue
Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik urged North Korea to break a “vicious cycle of sanctions and isolation” by changing course and engaging in dialogue with the South. With leadership shifts taking place across the region, neighbors will have a chance to “break with their passive concept of maintaining the status quo” and reassess their policy so as to help resolve the standoff with the nuclear-armed state and realize the peninsula’s unification, he said in a forum Tuesday.“North Korea must no longer
Nov. 14, 2012
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N. Korea has better harvest but faces food shortages
ROME (AP) ― North Korea increased its production of staple foods for the second year in a row, thanks in part to better use of fertilizers and plastic sheeting to protect crops, but its citizens are still suffering from a serious lack of key proteins and fats in their diets, a U.N. report said Monday.A U.N. team visited all nine agricultural provinces of the communist state in September and October during the main cereal harvest and estimated that even with the increase ― a 10 percent improvemen
Nov. 14, 2012
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Returning to N.K.: Defectors double back
North Korean defectors Kim Kwang-hyok and Ko Jong-nam dreamed of a life free from repression and hunger. Nearly four years later they found themselves at the bottom of the social ladder, suffering from financial difficulties, prejudice and social isolation.That was the “miserable life” in the South the couple described at a news conference in Pyongyang on Nov. 8 after they returned to the North with their 2-year-old son Se-han. According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim, 2
Nov. 14, 2012
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N. Korea carries out tests for missiles: think tank
North Korea has conducted motor tests to improve its long-range missiles after a failed launch in April, a U.S. think tank said Monday after reviewing new satellite images.Since the embarrassing flop in April, the communist regime appears to have carried out at least two tests of large motors needed for rockets and worked on a launch platform, the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said.The institute examined commercial images of the Sohae satellite launch station between April and
Nov. 13, 2012
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U.N.: N.Korea has better harvest but faces shortages
ROME (AP) -- North Korea increased its staple foods production for the second year in a row but its citizens are still suffering from a serious lack of key proteins and fats in their diets, a U.N. report said Monday.A U.N. team visited all nine agricultural provinces of the communist state in September and October during the main cereal harvest and estimated that even with the increase _ a 10 percent improvement over last year _ North Korea will need to import 507,000 metric tons of cereals to m
Nov. 12, 2012
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N. Korean defectors nabbed for smuggling drug from China
Two North Korean defectors have been arrested for smuggling drugs from China for distribution in the local market, with dozens of South Koreans also detained for illegal use, police said Monday.The defectors from the North, whose identities were withheld by the police, were arrested on suspicion of smuggling 80 grams of methamphetamine from the Chinese city of Dandong through the port of Incheon, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, on June 11, and selling it to dozens of South Koreans, according t
Nov. 12, 2012
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Students voice their desire for reunification in music video
Young North Korean defectors and South Korean students unveiled a music video this week voicing their calls to overcome ideological division and work together toward genuine reunification. Highlighting their shared challenges including cutthroat competition for jobs, “That Day (of Reunification)” has been released through the YouTube site (http://youtu.be/t090rTnrZGY).It starts with a scene where a North Korean defector struggles to live in the competitive capitalist society just like his peers
Nov. 8, 2012
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Reinvigorated Obama to approach N.K. afresh
Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to more flexibly implement his two-track approach on North Korea, pressing it to give up nuclear arms while promising rewards for a shift toward openness and reform. The Democrat president’s re-election will likely facilitate cooperation with South Korea and other regional partners in curbing the communist state’s nuclear ambitions.A potential game changer is the South’s December presidential election to replace Lee Myung-bak, the hardline
Nov. 7, 2012
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N. Korea threatens war on Korean Peninsula at the U.N. session
A North Korean diplomat, addressing the U.N. General Assembly, warned Monday that a war can break out any time on the Korean Peninsula due to mounting military tensions.“The situation on the peninsula is on the brink of explosion and nobody knows when the war will break out,” North Korea‘s deputy ambassador to the U.N. Ri Tong-il said.He accused the U.S. of continuing to exacerbate the situation with “increased hostilities” against Pyongyang. Ri said his communist nation is a nuclear state and t
Nov. 6, 2012
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N. Korea plagued by drug-resistant tuberculosis: S. Korean aid group
North Korea is being plagued by a widespread and difficult strain of tuberculosis and needs urgent measures to curb it, the chairman of a South Korean aid group said Monday.“The spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is so serious that North Korea is judged to be missing the crucial ‘golden time’ to root out tuberculosis,” Stephen Linton, the chairman of Eugene Bell Foundation, said in a news conference.The chairman of the charity foundation dedicated to medical aid for the reclusive country
Nov. 5, 2012
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Huge N. Korea hotel begun in 1980s might open soon
The 105-story, pyramid-shaped hotel that has stood over North Korea's capital city like a mountain for more than 20 years just might be on the verge of opening for the first time. Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel will ``partially, probably'' open in the middle of next year, Reto Wittwer, CEO of international hotel operator Kempinski AG, said Thursday at a forum in Seoul. Kempinski will manage the hotel, which Wittwer said will open with shops, offices, ballrooms, restaurants and 150 rooms. The
Nov. 2, 2012
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Rumors suggest N.K. leader’s brother seeking asylum
Speculation is growing about the whereabouts of Kim Jong-nam, the elder brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with one rumor suggesting that he is seeking asylum in Seoul in the face of an assassination threat.The ill-fated son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has recently been absent from the public eye. Citing informed sources, local media have reported that Kim has requested asylum through the South’s intelligence channels from a third country. The rumor surfaced on a social
Nov. 1, 2012
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Pollution in Pyongyang worse than in Seoul: report
The average level of air pollutants in Pyongyang was found to be higher than that in Seoul, with other environmental problems also present in the socialist country such as poor water quality and the rapid decline of forests, a report showed Thursday.According to the report compiled by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) together with the North's environment ministry, the average sulfur dioxide concentration in Pyongyang stood at 0.009 parts per million (ppm) in 2008, higher than the 0.
Nov. 1, 2012
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U.N. chief says willing to visit N.K.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he is mulling a visit to North Korea as part of efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.“As the U.N. secretary-general, I am ready to play every role required to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. I consider visiting North Korea as soon as conditions are met,” Ban said in a speech during the National Assembly plenary session.“I hope North Korea’s new leadership will be a responsible member of the international community by re
Oct. 30, 2012
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N. Korean leader’s wife rumored to be pregnant
The latest photo of Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has led some to speculate that the hermit kingdom’s first lady is pregnant.North Korea’s state paper Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday published a photo of Ri attending a concert with her husband this week. In the photo, Ri is sporting a visibly rounded belly, and her face appears to be swollen. “Ri’s face is swollen and her body is larger compared to the last time (she appeared in public). She is also wearing a coat which concea
Oct. 30, 2012
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N. Korean leader's wife makes first public appearance in 50 days
Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, attended a concert with her husband this week, the country's state media said Tuesday, the first time she has appeared in public in more than 50 days.Ri and Kim attended a performance by the Moranbong Band on Monday, which marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Kim Il Sung Military University, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Ri had not appeared in public since Sept. 8, leading to speculation she could
Oct. 30, 2012
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N. Korean leader makes first public appearance in 15 days
(Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has refrained from public outings this month, made his first public appearance in 15 days, reports said Monday, dissipating speculations over possible problems in the new leadership.The North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station and Radio Pyongyang reported that Kim attended the unveiling ceremony of statues of late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il that was held to celebrate Kim Il-sung Military University's 60th anniversary.The public appeara
Oct. 29, 2012
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S. Korea activists release anti-North leaflets
PAJU, South Korea (AFP) -- South Korean activists floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border with North Korea on Monday, a week after the North threatened military action over a similar propaganda exercise.Around a dozen activists released seven balloons carrying 50,000 leaflets from a park in the border town of Paju, north of Seoul, amid heavy security involving some 100 police officers.There were minor scuffles with local residents who sought to block the balloon launch for fear of Nor
Oct. 29, 2012
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N. Korea starts work on Rason economic zone office
North Korea said Friday it has started to build a management office for a special economic and trade zone to be jointly developed and operated by the North and its strongest ally, China.According to the Korea Central News Agency, dozens of high-ranking officials from the both countries attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the office building of the Rason Economic and Trade Zone Management Committee.The North has been ramping up efforts to develop special economic zones in Rason, the North's no
Oct. 27, 2012