Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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U.S. urges N.K. to refrain from raising tension
The U.S. urged North Korea to cease escalating tension on Wednesday after the communist country was found to have been setting up military bunkers on a border island in the scuffle-prone West Sea. The facilities on Galdo Island, some 2.5 kilometers north of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto naval frontier, are thought to be home to 122-millimeter multiple rocket launchers or guard posts to track the movement of South Korean marines and patrol boats. Seoul’s Defense Ministry criticized the mo
May 27, 2015
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Regional powers agree to enhance pressure on N. Korea
South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Wednesday to ratchet up pressure and sanctions on North Korea, while continuing efforts to bring the communist nation back to talks.Top nuclear envoys of the regional powers, in a Seoul meeting, concurred that advancement in the North's nuclear capability is "serious" and shared a "sense of urgency" in addressing the problem."In order to deal with it, (we) agreed to put stronger pressure (on Pyongyang) and make active efforts for dialogue," Hwang J
May 27, 2015
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S. Korea urges N. Korea to negotiate Gaeseong complex issues
South Korea's unification ministry called on North Korea on Wednesday to meet to discuss the operation of a joint industrial complex in the North amid a row over a wage hike.On Friday, the North accepted the South's tentative offer to pay wages at the current level for the about 53,000 North Korean workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the border city of the same name. The move allows the two sides to buy time for talks on the more sensitive issue of Pyongyang's unilateral wage hike.The
May 27, 2015
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N.K. building military bunkers on border island
North Korea is building “several” military bunkers on a border island in the skirmish-prone West Sea that pose a “grave threat” to South Korea, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The facilities on Galdo Island, some 2.5 kilometers north of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime frontier, are expected to house 122-millimeter multiple rocket launchers or guard posts to monitor the movement of South Korean marines and patrol vessels. With a range of 20 kilometers, the weapons were mobil
May 26, 2015
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[News Focus] Questions linger over viability of six-party talks
Amid a flurry of efforts to resume the long-stalled multilateral talks on North Korea’s denuclearization, questions are being raised over whether the six-party framework is still viable and if there are any better alternatives.The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held talks bilaterally in Seoul Tuesday before their trilateral meeting on Wednesday. Also on Tuesday, senior Chinese and Japanese diplomats met in Beijing to discuss the restart of the talks among the two Koreas,
May 26, 2015
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S. Korea refers N. Korea to U.N. sanctions panel over SLBM
South Korea has referred North Korea to a U.N. sanctions committee over its recent test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.On May 9, North Korea claimed it successfully carried out an SLBM test underwater, renewing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. If confirmed, the test would be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any launch by North Korea that uses ballistic missile technology.South Korea has sent a letter to the U.N. Secur
May 26, 2015
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NK leader hails scientists involved in SLBM test-firing
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised scientists who were involved in what the North claimed was a successful test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, the North's media said Tuesday.Kim held a photo session with scientists, technicians and workers who made contributions to its recent test-firing of the SLBM, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency."The acquisition of the SLBM firing technique is another historical event which fully displayed the dignity and might of K
May 26, 2015
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N. Korea building military camps on border island: Seoul
North Korea is building military camps for shore batteries on a tensely guarded Yellow Sea border island, the South's military authorities said Tuesday."Five bunker-shaped camps have been built on the island of Gal," a military officer said, requesting anonymity, citing the North Korean island just above the de-facto inter-Korean western sea border of the Northern Limit Line."The North is expected to either deploy 122-millimeter multiple rocket launchers there or to use them as guard posts," he
May 26, 2015
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Pressure grows for inter-Korean breakthrough
Pressure is growing on Seoul to lead a breakthrough in relations with North Korea as inter-Korean ties remain chilly five years after Seoul imposed sanctions in retaliation for a deadly torpedo attack.About 100 members of a South Korean progressive group on Sunday called for improvement in the bilateral relations, and lifting of the so-called May 24 sanctions that were imposed after the North’s attack on the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March 2010, which killed 46 sailors.Business officials
May 25, 2015
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China says its ambassador doing 'normal' jobs in N. Korea
The Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Li Jinjun, has been doing his "normal diplomatic activities" in Pyongyang, China's foreign ministry said Monday, despite the absence of a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Li. Li, who took up the post in March and presented his credentials to North Korea's ceremonial leader, Kim Yong-nam, has not yet met with the North Korean leader amid strained ties over the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons. Li's predecessor, Liu Hongcai, met t
May 25, 2015
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S. Korea firms to pay wages for N. Koreans at joint factory park
South Korean firms in an inter-Korean factory park in North Korea plan to pay wages to their North Korean employees this week, a government official said Monday.The move came days after Pyongyang accepted Seoul's tentative offer of wage payments for North Korean workers at the factory park in North Korea's border city of Kaesong at a previously agreed level until separate consultations are held.The deal on Friday would allow South Korean firms to pay the wage based on the US$70.35 per month that
May 25, 2015
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Seoul conditionally willing to discuss sanctions on N.K.
Seoul said Sunday it is willing to discuss the issue of its sanctions on North Korea if Pyongyang agrees to resume long-stalled inter-Korean talks.Seoul slapped a set of sanctions on North Korea on May 24, 2010, some two months after the North torpedoed the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. The so-called May 24th Measure bans all inter-Korean exchanges, except for an inter-Korean industrial complex and humanitarian aid.Pyongyang has asked Seoul to lift the sanctions before
May 24, 2015
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Female activists cross inter-Korean border from North Korea
A group of foreign women activists crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border from North Korea on Sunday, voicing hope for peace and reconciliation for a divided peninsula.About 30 female activists from around the world, including U.S. activist Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, marched down from the North to the South across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to mark the International Women's Day for Disarmament.About 30 female activists from around the world, inclu
May 24, 2015
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N. Korea proposes inter-Korean probe into warship sinking
North Korea on Sunday repeated its demand for an inter-Korean probe into the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010, which the South believes was the North's doing.In March 2010, North Korea torpedoed the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors, according to South Korean authorities.After an investigation assisted by international experts, the South announced the communist nation was responsible for the torpedo attack just south of their high-tension border i
May 24, 2015
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North Korea risk hits stocks of firms operating in communist country
Uncertainties surrounding North Korea and the government's blanket sanctions have weighed down stock prices of local firms operating in the communist country, a market researcher here said Sunday.FnGuide claimed long-running tension between the two Koreas has caused sharp fluctuations in share prices, making stocks of many businesses with production lines in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border town of the same name worth less now than five years earlier.Five years ago, Seoul ann
May 24, 2015
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North Korea says nukes defensive in nature
North Korea defended its possession of nuclear weapons Sunday, saying it is "a means to protect peace and security in the region, not an object of contention."Earlier this week, Pyongyang claimed it has developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on a missile, further escalating tensions with Seoul."The North's nuclear weapons can never be an object of accusations as it is a means to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the nation," an unnamed spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Re
May 24, 2015
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'Purged' official absent in Kim Jong-un's field visit
North Korea's defense chief who South Korea believes was purged last month was not present during one of leader Kim Jong-un's routine field inspections, the North's state media suggested Sunday.Earlier this month, South Korea's intelligence agency said Hyon Yong-chol, the chief of North Korea's People's Armed Forces, was executed with an anti-aircraft gun in April.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim Jong-un inspected the command of the Large Combined Unit 264 in North Hamkyong Provinc
May 24, 2015
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[Herald Interview] ‘N.K. may not put nukes on sub missile'
JEJUDO ISLAND ― North Korea may not place a nuclear warhead on a submarine-launched ballistic missile, as the underwater launch goes against the principle that only its supreme leader has “central control” of its nuclear arsenal, a U.S. scholar claimed Friday.Peter Hayes, executive director of the U.S.-based Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, noted that the North’s underwater platform does not have stable means for communication, making it difficult for its ruler Kim Jong-un to
May 22, 2015
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Brother of N. Korean leader visits London for Eric Clapton concert
A brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited London and attended a concert by Eric Clapton, according to a Japanese news report and a source. Kim Jong-chul, older brother of the North's leader and known as a big fan of Clapton, was caught on camera while attending the concert at Royal Albert Hall in London on Wednesday, Japan's TBS television station reported. Dressed in a T-shirt and a leather jacket, Kim was with what appeared to be his girlfriend, it said. Kim Jong-chul, the older
May 22, 2015
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South Korea, Australia united against North Korea's threats
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Australian counterpart said Thursday they were firmly united against threats from North Korea, urging the international community to send a strong warning against the North's provocations."It's not a regional risk but also a global risk," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said at a joint press briefing with Yun after their talks here.She said Australia is working closely with South Korea, the United States, and other partner countries for peace and se
May 21, 2015