Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead
(Yonhap News)Funeral set for Dec. 28; Jong-un hailed as heir; Lee talks with ObamaNorth Korea’s iron-fisted ruler Kim Jong-il, who had long drawn international attention for his unceasing nuclear ambitions, died of a heart attack on a train ride on Saturday, the communist state’s state media reporte
Dec. 19, 2011
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N. Korean leader's slush fund manager reappears in public
The head of a shadowy North Korean agency charged with managing slush funds for leader Kim Jong-il has again appeared in public after five months.Recent footage from the North's state television network showed Jon Il-chun standing closer to Kim than Kim's heir apparent son, Kim Jong-un, on an inspec
Dec. 19, 2011
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US aid a step toward Korea nuke talks
The United States is poised to announce a significant donation of food aid to North Korea this week, the first concrete accomplishment after months of behind-the-scenes diplomatic contacts between the two wartime enemies. An agreement by North Korea to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment pr
Dec. 19, 2011
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‘N.K. agrees to suspend uranium enrichment’
North Korea has agreed to suspend its enrichment of uranium for nuclear weapons, local reports said Saturday. Citing an unidentified diplomatic source, Yonhap News reported the two countries reached the agreement during recent talks held in Beijing. The sides “reached the agreement based on North Korea’s pledge to implement initial measures of denuclearization that include a suspension of its uranium enrichment program,” Yonhap said. The United States, in return, has agreed to provide up to 240,
Dec. 18, 2011
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U.S., N. Korea agree on 240,000 tons of food assistance: sources
The United States agreed to provide up to 240,000 tons of food aid to North Korea in recent talks held in Beijing, diplomatic sources in Seoul said Saturday, noting the agreement could help ensure progress at a fresh round of nuclear negotiations scheduled for later this month.The sides, the sources
Dec. 17, 2011
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‘U.S. in no hurry for food aid to N. Korea’
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The United States will not rush to make a decision on either food aid for North Korea or further high-level talks, officials said Thursday amid expectations of progress in efforts to start full-scale nuclear negotiations.Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, started discussions Wednesday in Beijing with North Korean officials over the possibility of food aid, which Washington formally describes as “nutritional assistance.”The North is repre
Dec. 16, 2011
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US and N.Korea hold food aid talks in Beijing
BEIJING (AP)-U.S. officials say food aid to North Korea could resume depending on whether Pyongyang can provide the necessary monitoring assurances in talks between the sides that began Thursday in Beijing.The United Nations and U.S. charities say aid is badly needed, but the U.S. government is conc
Dec. 15, 2011
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Website offers rare glimpse of North Korea TV
From his office in Seoul, former North Korean soldier Lim Young-sun runs a website offering a rare glimpse of state television in the North to show what the country he fled two decades ago is really like.Lim’s Unification Broadcasting (SPTV) streams Korean Central Television, a risky business in Seoul where disseminating North Korean propaganda could see him fall foul of South Korea’s tough National Security Law.While the site (sptv.co.kr), the only one of its kind in the South, so far has an au
Dec. 14, 2011
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Young N. Korean defectors produce short film in Seoul
Young North Korean defectors recently completed shooting a short film in Seoul that aims to show young South Koreans that they are the same, said a film producer who helped them make the movie.Choi Ji-hoon, producer at With Culture, a culture marketing company, met the North Korean defectors in their late teens to early 20s at a film class for students at Durihana International School as part of the company’s volunteering work. The school opened in 2009 in southern Seoul for North Korean defecto
Dec. 14, 2011
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‘N.K. light water reactor a safety risk’
Expert says Pyongyang has yet to miniaturize warhead for missilesNorth Korea’s light water reactor is a safety concern because of the country’s lack of expertise in the area, according to U.S. scientist Siegfried Hecker, who first revealed the existence of North Korea’s uranium centrifuge facility to the world in November 2010.“My largest concern is going to be the safety of that reactor. The light water reactor has very different critical requirements from gas-graphite reactors. And North Korea
Dec. 14, 2011
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N. Korea's leader-in-waiting unlikely to push for reform
North Korea's leader-in-waiting is unlikely to pursue reform and openness as he needs to strengthen his power base during a transitional period, a former senior intelligence official said Wednesday. (Yonhap News)Kim Jong-un is being groomed to succeed his father Kim Jong-il as the country's nex
Dec. 14, 2011
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North Korea permits Chinese firm to run Geumgang tour: report
North Korea has given approval to a Chinese tourism company to do business at Mount Geumgang resort, news reports said on Tuesday.The Unification Ministry is trying to verify the reports, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson Park Soo-jin told The Korea Herald.It would be the first foreign company permitted by Pyongyang to run the resort tour business since South Korea’s Hyundai Asan suspended it in 2008.The company had had exclusive rights to run tours until they were revoked in April, but its bus
Dec. 13, 2011
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Senior N.K. diplomat visits China
BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― A senior North Korean diplomat handling U.S. affairs arrived in Beijing Tuesday, spurring speculation over a possible meeting with Washington’s special envoy for Pyongyang.Ri Gun, director general for North American affairs at North Korea’s foreign ministry, was seen heading to Pyongyang’s embassy in Beijing after arriving at an airport in the Chinese capital.His visit comes during a lull in nuclear talks with Pyongyang.Since July, South Korea and the U.S. have each held
Dec. 13, 2011
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N.K. introduces Western coffee shop in Pyongyang
North Korea has introduced a Western coffee shop in Pyongyang, a source said Tuesday, the latest case of embracing foreign cuisine in a country grappling with chronic food shortages.The North has been struggling to keep outside influences from seeping into the isolated country out of fear that they could eventually pose a threat to leader Kim Jong-il’s autocratic rule.The North has routinely called on its 24 million people to guard against Western influences, describing them as part of psycholog
Dec. 13, 2011
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N. Korea permits foreign company to run business at its scenic resort
North Korea has allowed a Chinese company to do business at its scenic mountain resort, a source said Tuesday, in an apparent attempt to revitalize the resort at the center of a dispute with South Korea.The company plans to organize a cruise tour to Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast for Chines
Dec. 13, 2011
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New round of nuke talks with N.K. unlikely this year: official
Prospects are dim for South Korea and the United States to hold a new round of bilateral meetings with North Korea, though diplomatic efforts are under way to organize fresh talks, a senior government official said Sunday.Since earlier this year, Seoul and Washington have held two rounds of one-on-one negotiations with North Korea to get the communist nation to take concrete steps to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization before restarting the broader six-party nuclear talks.The media ha
Dec. 11, 2011
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N.K. chief orders foreign foods be called by original names
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has ordered that the country’s people call foreign foods, such as hamburgers and waffles, by the names used in the countries of origin, rather than coining new Korean terms for them, a source said Sunday.Under the instruction, North Koreans will no longer refer to a hamburger using the Korean term meaning “double bread with minced meat” and a waffle as “roasted bread cake,” the source said. Kim issued the instruction during a visit to street stands selling such fo
Dec. 11, 2011
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Christmas lights plan ruffles N.K. feathers
South’s military to set up seasonal decorations for first time since 2004North Korea is once again threatening South over plans to light Christmas decorations on the border.On Sunday, North Korea said that lighting of Christmas decorations at Aegibong in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province could result in an “unpredictable situation.”Aegibong is located about 3 kilometers from North Korean lines, and Pyongyang has long criticized the Christmas lights at the location as being part of Seoul’s psychological w
Dec. 11, 2011
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N.K. warns against South’s Christmas tree lighting
A North Korean propaganda media outlet warned South Korea on Sunday of an "unpredictable situation" if Seoul lights up a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near their tense border.It had been an annual tradition for South Korea to light up the Christmas tree on top of a hill called Aegibong near the
Dec. 11, 2011
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Inter-Korean dialogue essential: U.S. envoy
Davies discusses joint stance on North Korea nuclear negotiationsThe U.S. special envoy to North Korea said in Seoul Thursday that an inter-Korean dialogue was “essential” for the U.S. to move forward in the resumption of the six-party talks.Glyn Davies, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, met with South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Lim Sung-nam and other government officials to have consultations on the future course of action, amid efforts to resume the stalled six-part
Dec. 8, 2011