Most Popular
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Indonesia’s KF-21 fighter jet deal cut back -- what’s next?
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[KH Explains] Can tech firms' AI alliances take on Nvidia?
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Korean battery makers heave sigh of relief over 2-year IRA reprieve
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Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
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Over 80,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires in Seoul: report
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Local filmmakers criticize ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ monopoly of screens
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Will China's self-sufficient dream in HBM come true?
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S. Korean Navy fires warning shots against N. Korean fishing boats
South Korea's Navy fired warning shots against North Korean boats operating south of the western sea border, military officials said, after raising the alert status in response to a number of ships violating the demarcation line over the past week.The North Korean boats retreated to north of the border upon the warning shots, officials said.The latest move comes as a growing number of North Korean
Sept. 21, 2012
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Tortured activist defers taking his case with China to U.N.
A South Korean rights activist who claims he was tortured while in the custody of Chinese security agents early this year has put off a plan to take his case to the United Nations, a coalition of civic groups representing the activist said Thursday. Activist Kim Young-hwan was released in July after 114 days in detention in China. Since his release, Kim has claimed in Seoul he was tortured by Chinese investigators with beatings and electric shocks. China flatly denied torturing Kim. Kim had said
Sept. 20, 2012
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Healing school to open for young defectors
An organization dedicated to helping North Korean defectors plans to open a school next month to educate and heal the physical and psychological wounds of young refugees from the North.Named after a flower called forget-me-not in English, Mulmangcho School will be run by Dream Makers for North Korea, led by former lawmaker Park Sun-young. “Our aim is to provide art therapy in the form of poetry, music, and fine arts in the vast plains of Mother Nature, away from the hustle-and-bustle of Seoul,”
Sept. 19, 2012
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Seoul to take over firms’ assets in North’s tour zone
Seoul is considering buying South Korean firms’ assets in the Geumgang tour zone in North Korea as part of its widening efforts to help local firms financially distressed by the suspension of inter-Korean trade and economic cooperation.The Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean issues, has recently conveyed its willingness to purchase South Korean firms’ assets in the North’s Mount Geumgang resort areas in a meeting of subcontractors for Hyundai Asan, the local partner firm for the now
Sept. 19, 2012
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N.K. to allow business cash payments
New rule is part of Pyongyang’s reform measures to shore up moribund economyNorth Korea is moving to introduce a full-scale cash-payment system for transactions among light-industry state firms in the latest apparent move to revamp its planned economy, a source in the communist state said.The measure, seen as aimed at boosting industrial efficiency by ensuring greater autonomy for non-backbone businesses, could pose risks by loosening the long-standing state control, analysts say. The adoption o
Sept. 19, 2012
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Ex-S. Korean gov't backs secret network for POWs in N. Korea: expert
A former South Korean government provided support to a secret network of civilians working to rescue South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) in North Korea, a journalist-turned-scholar here said Tuesday."I believe the network is still running," Melanie Kirkpatrick, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C., said in an interview.The former veteran journalist was introducing her new bo
Sept. 19, 2012
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North Korean defector policy faces overhaul
The Seoul government is seeking to enhance its overall policy to support North Korean defectors amid growing criticism that it has not been effectively carried out with many still struggling to adapt here.Calls have persisted that the authorities should craft more systematic and efficient programs for the defectors, whose number has topped 24,000, in order not to waste taxpayers’ money.“The government is making multi-faceted efforts to complement (the existing) policy while in the process of evo
Sept. 16, 2012
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Group of writers from N. Korea joins PEN International
A group of writers who defected from North Korea gained membership on Friday to PEN International, a London-based worldwide association of writers pursuing freedom of expression, the group said.PEN International approved the establishment of a PEN center for writers who fled North Korea during the 78th PEN International Congress held in the South Korean tourist city of Gyeongju, southeast of Seoul
Sept. 14, 2012
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N. Korea may try to launch another satellite in 2015: researcher
North Korea's satellite program appears to have made steady progress, though it remains primitive, and the communist country may try for another launch in 2015, according to an analysis by a U.S.-based researcher Friday. North Korea's much-hyped rocket launch ended in failure in April. Pyongyang claims the launch was aimed at putting a satellite into orbit, but Seoul, Washington and other nations
Sept. 14, 2012
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Korea to deploy indigenous combat drone by 2015
South Korea has been developing an indigenous combat drone with the aim of deploying it by 2015 to raise combat capabilities against North Korea’s artillery and missile provocations, a state-funded aerospace company said Thursday. The Korea Aerospace and Industries Ltd. unveiled the unmanned combat drone dubbed “Devil Killer” in a seminar, which displayed military equipment developed by South Korean defense firms with attendance of 400 military officials, arms sellers and experts.Measuring 1.5 m
Sept. 13, 2012
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N. Korea a reason to block U.S. defense budget cuts: lawmaker
The United States should avert looming automatic military spending cuts partly in order to avoid gaps in dealing with contingencies in North Korea, according to a Republican congressman.At issue is an automatic spending cut called sequestration, which takes place if Congress cannot reach a budget agreement."Sequestration would cut the military to its smallest size since before the Second World War
Sept. 13, 2012
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Former defector presses N.K. to let him see children
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― A South Korean economist who defected to the North and back again pleaded Tuesday for a meeting with his two daughters after a U.N. group said they were arbitrarily detained by the communist state.Oh Kil-nam, 70, said that he was enticed to move to North Korea in 1985 when he was in Germany on promises of employment and treatment for his wife Shin Suk-ja’s hepatitis.Oh said the family instead endured rigorous indoctrination and that he was tasked with luring more South Koreans
Sept. 12, 2012
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N. Korean fishing boats retreat after violating West Sea border
Seven North Korean fishing boats crossed the tense western maritime border with South Korea twice on Wednesday, but moved back into the North’s waters after a South Korean naval boat broadcast warning messages, military officials said. The North Korean fishing boats sailed 1.5 kilometers into the South’s waters around 7:30 a.m., but retreated after South Korean patrol boats broadcast a warning, officials at Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. At the time, a North Korean government boat also brie
Sept. 12, 2012
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Is North Korea experimenting with change?
PYONGYANG (AP) ― Deep in the North Korean countryside, in remote villages that outsiders seldom reach, farmers are now said to be given nearly one-third of their harvests to sell at market prices. Collective farms are reportedly being reorganized into something closer to family farms. State propagandists are expounding the glories of change under the country’s new young leader.In the rigidly planned economy of this Stalinist state, could this be the first flicker of reform?A string of long-doubt
Sept. 12, 2012
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‘Diplomacy, not military intervention, is China’s option for N. Korea instability’
In case of a contingency in North Korea, China is likely to resort to diplomacy rather than military intervention, which would risk its ties with Seoul and Washington, as well as its economic and strategic interests, a security expert said.Cheong Seong-chang, a research fellow at think tank Sejong Institute, challenged the argument by many that Beijing may send troops to the North should there be the possibility of its ally falling under the influence of the U.S. or others deemed hostile.“The cl
Sept. 12, 2012
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North Korea refuses Seoul’s flood aid offer
North Korea on Wednesday refused South Korea’s offer of flood relief aid, crushing emerging hopes for a thaw in tense relations between the two Koreas. The North changed its position only two days after expressing its intention to accept Seoul’s proposal for assistance made on Sept. 3.The Unification Ministry said it sent a list of items for shipment Tuesday including 10,000 tons of flour, 3 million packets of noodles, and medical equipment. The North sent a letter on Wednesday afternoon saying,
Sept. 12, 2012
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N. Korea refuses to accept South's flood aid: official
North Korea refused to accept South Korea's flood relief aid Wednesday as the two countries failed to nail down what types of aid items should be given, a Seoul official said.The Seoul official said the North cabled a notification earlier in the day that reads, "We do not need such aid."Earlier on Monday, Pyongyang said through its Red Cross that it was ready to accept flood aid from the South.Seo
Sept. 12, 2012
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N. Korean fishing boats retreat after violating Yellow Se
A group of six to seven North Korean fishing boats briefly crossed a tense maritime border with South Korea in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, but retreated after a South Korean patrol boat broadcast a warning message, military officials said.The warning message was broadcast when the fishing boats crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) border and strayed into South Korean waters at around 11:10 a.m."
Sept. 12, 2012
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NGO launches campaign on N.K. rights in Geneva
People for Successful Corean Reunification, a non-profit group, said it launched a campaign against North Korea’s rights abuses in Geneva on Monday to coincide with a United Nations Human Rights Council session. North Korean human rights is not on the agenda for the U.N. session that runs through Sept. 28, but past meetings have taken up a resolution condemning the repressive regime’s public executions, prison camps and torture.Based in Seoul and Washington, PSCORE was founded in 2006 by a group
Sept. 10, 2012
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Unification Church delegation did not discuss inter-Korean ties: businessman
A delegation of Unification Church officials who visited North Korea to accept condolences over the death of church founder Rev. Moon Sun-myung did not discuss inter-Korean ties with the North during their two-day stay in the communist country, a church-affiliated businessman said Saturday.The delegation, including Moon’s seventh and youngest son, Moon Hyung-jin, and Park Sang-kwon, the president of the church-invested Pyeonghwa Motors in North Korea, returned to South Korea through the South’s
Sept. 9, 2012