Most Popular
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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Is NewJeans headed for a long 'break'?
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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[KH Explains] Hyundai-backed Motional’s struggles deepen as Tesla eyes August robotaxi debut
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Kim Jong-un offers condolences to his key aide's death
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has offered "profound" condolences over the death of his key aide who handled inter-Korean affairs, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.On Wednesday, Kim visited the mortuary of Kim Yang-gon, a secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, who died on Tuesday in a car accident, according to the Korean Central News Agency.North Korea held a state funeral for Kim, who is called "the closest comrade-in-arms" of the North Korean leader, earlier in the day.The KC
Dec. 31, 2015
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North Korea forging ahead with excavation of new nuclear test tunnel: 38 North
North Korea is forging ahead with excavation of a new tunnel at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday.New high-resolution commercial satellite imagery shows a canopy set up at the entrance of the new tunnel to shield against falling debris as well as mining cart tracks used to transport spoil from excavation, 38 North said in a report."The presence of the mining cart tracks shows that excavation is continuing with no indication of when it will be completed,"
Dec. 31, 2015
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North Korea's senior official handling inter-Korean affairs dies
North Korea's top party official handling inter-Korean affairs has been killed in a traffic accident, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday. He was 73.Kim Yang-gon, the head of the United Front Department at the ruling Workers' Party, died in car accident at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.The KCNA called Kim "the closest comrade-in-arms" of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying that North Korea will hold a state funeral for Kim on Thursday, to be headed
Dec. 30, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Top N.K. official in charge of Seoul ties dies
Kim Yang-gon, a top North Korean official in charge of cross-border affairs, was killed in a car accident, the North’s state media reported Wednesday, drawing attention to the impact of his death on inter-Korean relations. He was 73.Kim Yang-gon (Yonhap)The North’s Korea Central News Agency said that Kim, a secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party and director of the party’s United Front Department, died at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday following the accident, without elaborating.T
Dec. 30, 2015
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Korea says up to 1.8 mln North Koreans use markets per day
South Korea's intelligence authorities said Sunday they estimate that up to 1.8 million North Koreans use markets a day, in the latest sign that North Koreans rely on markets for survival despite crackdowns. It means more than seven percent of North Korea's 24 million people use markets in a country where a decades-old food rationing system for ordinary people has collapsed. The authorities said the number of markets has grown to about 306 across the country, providing North Koreans access to
Dec. 27, 2015
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N. Korean diplomat visits London to lobby against international pressure over human rights
A senior North Korean diplomat visited Britain earlier this month to lobby against international pressure on Pyongyang over its human rights record, an official said Friday.The Dec. 9-11 visit to London was part of a European trip that also took Kim Son-gyong, director-general for European affairs at the North's Foreign Ministry, to Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Poland.While in London, Kim held meetings with Fiona Bruce, a member of parliament who co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group
Dec. 26, 2015
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S. Korea investigators return from Philippines after probe into murder of citizen
Investigators returned from the Philippines on Friday after looking into the recent shooting death of a South Korean man, adding they have found key evidence to narrow down the suspects.A 57-year-old South Korean, identified only by his surname Cho, was shot to death by four unidentified, armed assailants on Sunday at his house in Batangas, some 100km south of Manila.The incident raised the number of South Koreans killed in the Southeast Asian country to 11 this year. Police said they have
Dec. 25, 2015
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Park checks military readiness against N. Korea
President Park Geun-hye checked military readiness against possible North Korean provocations as she made a rare visit to a military base near the border with North Korea, an official said Thursday.Park, wearing a military jacket, commended the soldiers at the military division in Yeoncheon near the central section of the border, for their "resolute" response to North Korea's shelling attacks on Aug. 20, presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk said.Combined with a land-mine attack earlier in the m
Dec. 25, 2015
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Koreas' women call for efforts to improve inter-Korean ties
South and North Korean women have called for efforts to bring reconciliation and peace to the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.About 60 South Korean women from 35 female activists' organizations visited the North's border city of Kaesong Wednesday for a set of cultural events with their North Korean counterparts.Participants raised the need to cherish an inter-Korean agreement in August to defuse military tension and implement it thoroughly to open a "fresh turning phase"
Dec. 24, 2015
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North Korea denounces Obama for military tensions
North Korea fiercely accused the Obama administration Thursday of deliberately raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, while refraining from criticizing South Korea.Recounting security-related events in Korea this year, the Korean Central News Agency claimed a military crisis has returned to Korea due to Washington's "hostile policy" on Pyongyang."The current U.S. administration's policy on the DPRK and its implementation is the most hostile and ferocious in the history (of the U.S. government
Dec. 24, 2015
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Koreas reach deal on land use fee at Gaeseong complex
South and North Korea have reached an agreement on the land use fee amount for South Korean firms operating a joint industrial park across the border, the Unification Ministry announced Thursday.The deal calls for South Korean firms at Gaeseong Industrial Complex to pay $0.64 per square meter every year, it said.The complex in the North's border city of Gaeseong opened in 2004 as a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation. A total of 124 South Korean firms are running factories with about 54,000 No
Dec. 24, 2015
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North Korea leader inspects joint training by military units
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected joint drills conducted by the military's two units, ordering the Korean People's Army to intensify combat drills, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.Kim observed "actual maneuvers" between the KPA's large combined units 526 and 671, expressing satisfaction over their flawlessness in defensive and offensive capacities, according to the Korean Central News Agency. It did not specify the date of Kim's visit."Practical drills should be conducted so often
Dec. 24, 2015
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Korea's civilian inter-Korean exchanges double this year
South Korea's civilian exchanges with North Korea more than doubled this year from a year earlier following an inter-Korean deal in August to ease tension, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.The value of humanitarian aid from local civic groups to North Korea reached 11.2 billion won ($9.55 million) from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17, up 107 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.The two Koreas reached a rare deal on Aug. 25 to defuse military tension and p
Dec. 23, 2015
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Pyongyang may seek summit talks with Seoul next year: report
North Korea may seek a package deal with South Korea, including a push for summit talks, ahead of its key party congress next year, a report showed Wednesday.The Workers' Party of Korea plans to hold its first congress in more than three decades in May next year when the North's leader Kim Jong-un is likely to unveil a new line of policies and conduct a major reshuffle."The possibility cannot be ruled out that the North may seek a package settlement, even including 'inter-Korean summit talks,' e
Dec. 23, 2015
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S. Korea to intensify efforts on N. Korean nuke
South Korea will make various types of efforts in the coming year to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, Seoul's top diplomat said Wednesday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se stressed the need to revive the six-party talks, which have been suspended for seven years, and use the mechanism in a "creative" way to change the course of the North. He cited "various formats or methods" including trilateral meetings between South Korea and other regional powers such as the U.S., China, and Japan."I thin
Dec. 23, 2015
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Over 2,500 North Koreans forced to work in Mongolia, Poland
More than 2,500 North Korean workers have been forced to work in Mongolia and Poland under poor working conditions with their human rights being violated, a South Korean civic group said Wednesday.About 1,800 North Korean workers are being forced to work mainly in Mongolia's construction sector or in sewing factories while around 800 North Koreans are employed in Poland in the shipbuilding and construction sectors, according to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights.Marzuki Darusman,
Dec. 23, 2015
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N. Korea rebukes Canada for taking issue with its ruling against pastor
North Korea slammed Canada Tuesday for taking issue with the North's "fair" ruling over a Canadian pastor who has been sentenced to hard labor for life in the North.Last week, North Korea's highest court sentenced Lim Hyeon-soo, a Korean-Canadian pastor, to life in prison, citing his "subversive plots" against the communist country.Lim, 60, has been detained in the North since he entered the North via China on a humanitarian mission in late January. Canada has called for the North to release him
Dec. 22, 2015
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N.K. to face greater dilemma over its nuke policy in 2016
North Korea is expected to face a greater dilemma next year over its policy of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and its economy, a local think tank said Tuesday, noting that it would struggle to find a way out of it through provocative moves such as nuclear and missile tests. The dilemma may further deepen as the North is likely to face a “serious” shortage of food, caused by this year’s severe droughts, lack of international aid and sanctions over its nuclear and missile development, a
Dec. 22, 2015
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North Korean defectors' jobless rate falls to 4% this year
The unemployment rate for North Korean defectors declined to the 4-percent level this year thanks to the government's support programs for their resettlement, a report showed Tuesday.The jobless rate for North Korean defectors stood at 4.8 percent as of November, down from 6.2 percent a year earlier, according to a report from the Unification Ministry. South Korea's unemployment rate hit 3.5 percent for 2014.The defectors' unemployment rate has been on the decline since it reached 9.7 percent in
Dec. 22, 2015
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N. Korea, China sign accord on sports exchanges for next year
North Korea and China have signed an accord on sports exchanges for next year, a Chinese state-run media reported on Monday, in a sign that the allies push ahead with exchanges despite canceled concerts by an all-female North Korean band. The accord was signed between Son Kwang-ho, vice minister of North Korea‘s sports ministry, and Yang Shuan, deputy secretary of the General Administration of Sports of China, in Beijing on Sunday, according to the report by a newspaper published by the Chinese
Dec. 21, 2015