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Yoon, Lee end first talks with differences, agree to meet more
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What is Hybe’s next move?
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China outpaces Korea in smaller OLED shipments for 1st time
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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[Herald Interview] Mom’s Touch seeks to replicate success in Japan
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Police to open alleged stalking probe over pastor over Dior bag scandal
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'Queen of Tears' finale sets record viewership ratings as tvN's most-watched series ending
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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[News Focus] Lee tells Yoon that he has governed without political dialogue
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Seoul to deploy more military doctors to fill med prof void
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N. Korean defectors' wages are 67% of national average: data
The average wage of a North Korean defector in South Korea stands at 67 percent of what local workers in general take home each month, data by the National Assembly Budget Office showed Sunday.The parliamentary office said North Korean escapees earned 1.54 million won ($1,380) per month in 2015, much less than the 2.29 million won for the country as a whole in the one-year period.The latest findings showed that while overall economic circumstances of defectors have been improving, a gap still ex
July 31, 2016
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Malta has stopped issuing work visas for N. Koreans: foreign minister
Malta has stopped issuing work visas to North Koreans and is effectively ejecting those already in the country, South Korea's foreign minister said, as countries around the world are taking steps to halt the flow of money into the communist country's nuclear and missile programs. Speaking to Yonhap News Agency on the sidelines of a meeting of heads of overseas diplomatic missions in Rome on Saturday, Yun Byung-se said the Maltese government has decided to take firm steps in relation to human rig
July 31, 2016
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N.K. student defects to S. Korean diplomatic mission in Hong Kong
A North Korean student has taken refuge in South Korea’s consulate in Hong Kong after breaking away from a team taking part in an international math contest, local news reports said Friday.The 18-year-old male student, whose identity remains unknown, reached the diplomatic mission on July 16, according to local newspaper Ming Pao. A North Korean student delegation participates earlier this month in the International Mathematical Olympiad at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. (Yo
July 29, 2016
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Two N. Korean armed deserters arrested after shootout with Chinese security forces: source
Two North Korean deserters who robbed villages in China's Jilin Province have been arrested after a shootout with Chinese security forces, a source with direct knowledge of the incident said Friday. The source who lives near the Sino-China border region told Yonhap News Agency that the two were part of a group of five who illegally crossed the border near the North Korean city of Hyesan last Saturday and robbed people living in two rural villages at gunpoint.They were holed up at a house in the
July 29, 2016
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Pyongyang publicly executed 6 officials responsible for April
North Korea publicly executed six officials in charge of supervision of its workers overseas in May following the defection of 13 workers at a North Korean-run restaurant in China a month earlier, a local Pyongyang watcher said Friday. "North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered six officials, including intelligence officials, to be executed publicly on May 5 due to their lack of control over overseas (North Korean) workers," Choi Seong-yong, chairman of the Abductees' Family Union, claimed, citing
July 29, 2016
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U.S. urges end to destabilizing rhetoric after N.K. diplomat warned U.S. crossed 'red line'
The United States called on North Korea to refrain from destabilizing actions after a senior Pyongyang diplomat said the U.S. has "crossed the red line" and declared war on the communist nation.Han Song-ryol, director-general of the U.S. affairs department at the North's Foreign Ministry, made the remark, blasting the U.S. imposition of sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for his roles in the country's human rights abuses, according to AP."The Obama administration went so far to have th
July 29, 2016
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North Korean athletes arrive in Rio for Olympics
North Korean athletes competing at the upcoming Rio de Janeiro Olympics arrived in the Brazilian city Thursday.The main contingent of the delegation left Pyongyang on Tuesday and stopped over in Paris before landing in the host city of the Aug. 5-21 Summer Olympics.About 50 members of the delegation arrived at Galeao International Airport at round 8:30 a.m. and were greeted by Yun Yong-bok, the country's senior sports official who told Yonhap News Agency that he'd arrived in Rio last Saturday.Yu
July 29, 2016
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N. Korea behind latest online mall hacking: police
South Korean police said Thursday that North Korea was behind the latest hacking of a leading online shopping mall, which led to the leak of personal information of some 10 million customers.The remark came after police conducted a detailed probe into the server of Interpark Corp., after an unidentified entity broke into it and stole customer-related information in May.Police said the Internet Protocol addresses used by the hackers were identical to those used by North Korean hackers in previous
July 28, 2016
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KDI report says fallout of sanctions gradually visible in N. Korea
North Korea's economy could face stronger shocks if international sanctions on the communist country persist, a report said Thursday.North Korea is under the toughest U.N. sanctions ever over its fourth nuclear test and its long-range rocket launch earlier this year.The sanctions call for, among other things, the mandatory inspection of all cargo going into and out of the North, and a ban on the country's exports of coal and other mineral resources to cut off North Korea's access to hard currenc
July 28, 2016
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N. Korea constructs new military facility near Pyongyang: report
North Korea has built a large-scale military facility near its capital city for training purposes, the U.S.-based Radio Free Asia reported Thursday. Citing Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, RFA said the military facility situated south of Pyongyang is made up of a training ground with an obstacle course, vehicle driving training ground and firing range.Melvin made the claim after analyzing Google Earth satellite imagery of the communist country.
July 28, 2016
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'N. Korean defector seeks refuge via Hong Kong'
A North Korean defector has come to seek refuge at the South Korean consulate in Hong Kong, local media reported Wednesday. Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and other news outlets have said that the defector was presumed to be a member of a North Korean delegation to an academic competition at a local university, which was held about two weeks ago. (Yonhap)Security was seen bolstered around the Korean consulate in the Far East Finance Centre in Harcourt Road, Admiralty.Neither the South Kor
July 28, 2016
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Scores of Kim Jong-il badges found at hotel near Incheon airport
Police said Thursday they are investigating scores of Kim Jong-il badges found at a hotel near Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway.Grand Hyatt Incheon, located right next to the airport, reported to police at around 6:25 a.m. that the coin-sized lapel pins were found in front of the hotel. There were a total of 196 badges, according to police.The production and distribution of lapel pins bearing the images of North Korea's two late leaders, Kim Il-sung and his son, Kim Jong
July 28, 2016
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Malta effectively deports N. Koreans, 3 defected to S. Korea: sources
Three North Koreans who worked in the European Union country of Malta but were forced out defected to South Korea last summer, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.Two North Korean restaurant workers disappeared last summer and one North Korean construction worker went missing in the first half of this year. They are presumed to have defected to the South, according to local residents of the island nation and the intelligence community. The defection, if true, may indicate that a growi
July 28, 2016
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S. Korea, U.S. agree to make intensive efforts to cut off cash flows into N. Korea
South Korea and the United States agreed Wednesday to make intensive efforts in the coming months to cut off cash flows into North Korea so as to limit Pyongyang's ability to develop nuclear weapons, a top South Korean official said.The agreement was reached when South Korea's deputy national security advisor, Cho Tae-yong, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken held the third round of high-level strategic consultations on North Korea policy in Washington."We agreed on the need to furth
July 28, 2016
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N. Korea sends leaflets via Hangang River for 1st time
A pack of propaganda leaflets sent from North Korea via the Hangang River were found Tuesday, marking the first time such leaflets had been sent via the waterway, the South Korean military said Wednesday.According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the leaflets distorted the 63rd anniversary of the Korean War Armistice agreement -- which fell on Wednesday -- claiming it as the day the communist nation achieved victory against the united forces of the U.N. and the South Korean military. They also said
July 27, 2016
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N. Korea experts support unification tax: poll
A majority of South Korean experts on inter-Korean ties believe the introduction of a "unification tax" is necessary to prepare for a unified Korea, a survey showed Wednesday.They agreed that a reunification itself is in the interest of South Korea, but they were divided on an ideal format, according to the Hyundai Research Institute.The think tank, affiliated with Hyundai Group, conducted the poll on 93 pundits from July 11-19. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.08 percentage points at a 95
July 27, 2016
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S. Korea says sanctions most effective tool to rein in N. Korea's nuclear program
Imposing sanctions will be the most effective way to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions as decades of inter-Korean talks failed to induce any positive changes in the reclusive country, South Korea's unification ministry said Wednesday. South Korea reiterated its firm stance toward the North in response to North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's remarks made a day earlier at a press meeting held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in the Laotian capital. At the meeting Ri said,
July 27, 2016
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N. Korea importing bear bile from China for party officials: report
North Korea has been importing a large amount of bear bile, used in traditional Asian remedies, from China for key officials of the ruling Workers' Party, a media report said Wednesday, citing testimonies by defectors.A defector, who was not named, told Radio Free Asia that there is a flow of bear gallbladders into North Korea from China.The source said transactions generally take place in China's border city of Suifenhe in Heilongjiang Province.RFA said that gallbladder trade is able to be cond
July 27, 2016
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N. Korea sends propaganda leaflets via Han River
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday they found strongly worded North Korean leaflets in the Han River, the first distribution of such propaganda materials via a waterway. On July 22, the Korean military collected scores of tightly air-filled vinyl bags carrying North Korean leaflets which contained threats of the North's possible attacks on the South using the intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, a spokesman for Seoul's JCS said in a press briefing. "North Korea intention
July 27, 2016
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N. Korea fired 31 ballistic missiles in past 5 years
North Korea has launched a total of 31 ballistic missiles in the past five years under Kim Jong-un, twice the number of missiles test-fired when his late father was in power, the defense ministry here said Wednesday.North Korea has test-fired 16 short-range Scuds with a range of 300 to 1,000 kilometers, six mid-range Rodongs that can fly 1300-1500 km, six intermediate-range Musudans with a range of 3,500-4,000 km and three submarine-launched ballistic missiles since late 2011. The incumbent lead
July 27, 2016