Most Popular
-
1
Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
-
2
Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
-
3
Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
-
4
Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
-
5
Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
-
6
Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
-
7
Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
-
8
Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
-
9
‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
-
10
Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
-
N.K. nuke strategy moves toward ‘limited use’: scholar
North Korea’s nuclear strategy may be moving toward “limited use” with its growing nuclear stockpiles to further strengthen deterrence against conventionally superior adversaries including the U.S., an American expert said Thursday.Joel Wit speaks during a forum in Seoul. (Yonhap)Joel Wit, a senior fellow with the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, also noted that over the last decade or so, Pyongyang’s strategy has been based on the
Nov. 12, 2015
-
North Korean front-line commander replaced after inter-Korean conflict
North Korea has replaced a front-line military commander who played a direct role in the country's deadly landmine blasts near the border in August and a following exchange of live fire with the South, sources said Thursday."Immediately after the landmine and shelling provocations, North Korea replaced the commander of the second corps Kim Sang-ryong with Pang Tu-sop in late August," one of the government sources said. In the reshuffle, Kim was assigned as the commander of the 9th corps, station
Nov. 12, 2015
-
Package talks with North Korea on nuke, peace treaty may be option: expert
The United States needs to consider package talks with North Korea on its nuclear program and a peace treaty as an alternative to the failed denuclearization first policy, an American expert said Thursday. The new approach is worth trying despite some risks, including the North's demand for an immediate end to the South Korea-U.S. alliance, according to Joel Wit, a former Washington negotiator with Pyongyang. Speaking at a forum in Seoul, Wit pointed out that there is a consensus that the Obama
Nov. 12, 2015
-
North Korean leader sent his key aide to top school for re-education
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent his key confidant to the country's top school for re-education, South Korea's intelligence officials said Thursday, in an apparent lenient punishment that could set the stage of his political comeback in the coming months, if not years."Choe Ryong-hae is receiving education at Kim Il Sung Higher Party School," an official said, referring to the top institution named after the country's founder, Kim's late grandfather.The school in Pyongyang is the top ins
Nov. 12, 2015
-
North Korea leader attends state funeral of military marshal
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a state funeral of an iconic military marshal, while a party secretary did not show up amid rumors that he might have been removed from power, the North's media said Thursday.On Wednesday, North Korea held the funeral of Ri Ul-sol, marshal of the Korean People's Army, who died of lung cancer at the age of 94 on Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Also present at the funeral were senior party and military officials, including Hwang Py
Nov. 12, 2015
-
Senior Chinese official rules out possible visit by North Korea's Kim to Beijing
A senior Chinese official who recently held talks with North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, ruled out the possibility of a visit by Kim to Beijing next year, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday after meeting with the Chinese official. Liu Yunshan, the fifth-ranked official of the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy, made the remarks during a meeting with a group of South Korean lawmakers in Beijing earlier in the day, said Rep. Suh Chung-won of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party. Since Li
Nov. 12, 2015
-
Trump calls North Korean leader 'madman' armed with nuclear weapons
U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "madman" armed with nuclear weapons, accusing the administration of President Barack Obama of ignoring the problem.Trump made the accusation during a Republican presidential TV debate Tuesday night, talking about threats to the United States and blasting the landmark deal on Iran's nuclear program as "one of the worst contracts ever signed.""First of all, it's not only Russia. We have problems wit
Nov. 12, 2015
-
North Korea leader could use next year's rare party meeting to announce true reforms: German expert
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could announce a dramatic policy change, comparable to economic reforms that China and Vietnam embraced in the 1980s, when he convenes a rare meeting of the ruling Workers' Party next year, a German expert said Wednesday.North Korea announced late last month that the seventh Congress of the Workers' Party will be held in early May next year. It would mark the first party congress in 36 years after the last such meeting was held in 1980, when Kim's grandfather and
Nov. 12, 2015
-
North Korea-China trade on decline amid icy ties
Trade between North Korea and China has gone down in the first half, data showed Wednesday, due mainly to the weakening diplomatic ties between the two allies.North Korea's exports to China reached US$1.17 billion in the January-June period, down 10.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association.Falling global prices of raw materials hurt the North's exports as well, the association said.The North's imports of Chinese goods also plunged
Nov. 11, 2015
-
Amb. Sung Kim: U.S. 'happy to meet' with North Korean 'anytime, anywhere'
The United States would be happy to meet with North Korea "anytime, anywhere" if the communist nation is ready to talk about giving up its nuclear program, Washington's chief envoy for the nuclear issue said Tuesday.Amb. Sung Kim, special representative for North Korea policy, said, however, during a Wilson Center discussion that the U.S. has seen no signs of willingness to hold such meaningful negotiations that would lead to concrete, irreversible denuclearization steps."I think for us it's pre
Nov. 11, 2015
-
U.N. envoy calls for global attention to North Korea human rights abuses
The global community should take further actions against North Korea's grave human rights violations as the situation has not improved despite international pressure, a United Nations investigator has said.Last December, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution calling on the Security Council to refer North Korea's human rights abuses to the International Criminal Court. It is poised to adopt a similar resolution next month.Marzuki Darusman, U.N. special rapporteur on the human ri
Nov. 11, 2015
-
Ruling party chief: North Korean regime's days are numbered
South Korea's ruling party chief has claimed North Korea may collapse in three years, a sensitive comment that could anger the communist country amid lingering tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, said his argument is based on the notion that the Soviet Union collapsed 73 years after the Communists took power."It has become seven decades since Kim Il-sung regime took power. So three years are left," the ruling party chief said at a speech on Monday
Nov. 10, 2015
-
North Korea sees need to identify fate of separated families: Seoul official
South Korea's top pointman on unification said Tuesday that North Korea shares the need to identify the fate of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, though it has yet to push for a new round of family reunions.Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said that about half of some 66,000 South Koreans separated from their families have expressed a wish to confirm the fate of their relatives living in the North."The North also shares the need to identify whether their separated family members ar
Nov. 10, 2015
-
U.S. advised to be alert for North Korea's signals of willingness for engagement: expert
North Korea could send signals of willingness to re-engage the United States as the communist nation appears to have realized that all of its diplomatic efforts to break out of isolation have failed, a former senior American diplomat said Monday.Stapleton Roy, who served as ambassador to Beijing, made the remark during a Wilson Center discussion, citing "a prominent former" Chinese official he met when he visited China as a member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy delegation."
Nov. 10, 2015
-
North Korean marshal’s death indicates more personnel shake-ups
North Korean state media said Monday that leader Kim Jong-un had on Sunday conveyed his condolences for a deceased military marshal whose funeral committee set off speculation over the political health of ranking officials. Ri Ul-sol, also a close assistant to the sitting ruler’s late grandfather Kim Il-sung, died from lung cancer Saturday at age 94. The young Kim, who presides over his 170-member funeral committee, visited the Central Hall of Workers in Pyongyang housing Ri’s body, met with his
Nov. 9, 2015
-
Civilian inter-Korean exchanges on the rise: data
The number of South Koreans visiting North Korea has shot up since the two Koreas reached a deal in August to spur inter-Korean civilian exchanges, government data showed Monday.The number of South Koreans who traveled to the North reached 418 in the January-September period, excluding those who moved in and out of the joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong, according to the data by the Unification Ministry.But in October alone, the number of such people came in at 880 as th
Nov. 9, 2015
-
45 countries sponsor new U.N. resolution on North Korea human rights
A total of 45 countries sponsored a new U.N. General Assembly resolution that centers on calling for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for human rights violations, the draft resolution showed.The proposed resolution, led by the European Union and Japan, was introduced to the General Assembly's Third Committee on Oct. 30. Other co-sponsors included South Korea, the United States, Britain, Australia and Germany, according to the resolution.The nine-page draft is largely sim
Nov. 9, 2015
-
North Korean leader offers condolences to military marshal
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed his condolences to an iconic military official who died of lung cancer this weekend, saying his death is a great loss to the party and the army, Pyongyang's media said Monday.The North's leader on Sunday visited the mortuary of Ri Ul-sol, marshal of the Korean People's Army, who passed away at the age of 94 on Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.North Korea plans to hold a state funeral for him on Wednesday.The KCNA said that Kim pa
Nov. 9, 2015
-
N.K. leader to lead funeral of deceased marshal
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is set to personally oversee the funeral of Ri Ul-sol, a close aide to the young ruler’s deceased grandfather and a retired military marshal who died at the age of 94 from lung cancer Saturday, state media reported Sunday. The “state funeral” will take place Wednesday after receiving mourners for three days from Sunday afternoon, the official Korean Central News Agency said, adding that his body is laid at the Central Hall of Workers in the capital. Born in 1921 i
Nov. 8, 2015
-
N. Korea mourns military marshal
Ri Ul-sol, an iconic North Korean politician and military official, died of lung cancer last week, the country's state media reported Sunday.The North announced that it will hold a state funeral for Ri, who was 94, and that leader Kim Jong-un will lead a preparatory committee.He was an anti-Japanese guerrilla in the early 1900s, working with Kim Il-sung, who later founded the communist nation."He dedicated his all to the sacred cause of liberating the country by participating in the glorious ant
Nov. 8, 2015