Most Popular
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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Is FTC's conglomerate listing a boon or bane for Hybe?
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NewJeans to headline palace show
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Coupang's Kim Bom escapes chaebol chief designation again
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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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CIO chief nominee to explain allegations at confirmation hearing
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Yoon vows to run country 'rightly' on Buddha's birthday
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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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U.S. urges N. Korea to accept U.N. recommendations on human rights
The United States urged North Korea on Wednesday to take steps to improve its human rights record in accordance with recommendations in a landmark U.N. report on the situation.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) report reflects the international community's "consensus view that the human rights situation in North Korea is among the world's worst.""We urged North Korea to take concrete steps as recommended by the Commission of Inquiry to improve the hu
Feb. 19, 2015
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N. Korea's 'Byeongjin' policy showing modest results: U.S. expert
North Korea's food situation and its overall economy appear to be stable despite increased sanctions on the communist regime -- an indication that Pyongyang's policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear and economic development is working, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.Scott Snyder, a senior researcher on Korea at the Council Foreign Relations, cited the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) saying in its latest assessment that the North's food production is estimated at 5.94 million tons i
Feb. 19, 2015
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N. Korea slams S. Korean foreign minister over nuke issue
North Korea on Wednesday lashed out at South Korea's foreign minister over his recent meeting with the U.S. secretary of state to enhance cooperation to solve the North's nuclear issue. The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said the strengthening of cooperation between Seoul and Washington is aimed at bolstering the United States' efforts to invade the North. The criticism came out after Yun Byung-se, South Korea's foreign minister, met with U.S. Secreta
Feb. 18, 2015
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Landmark U.N. report on N.K. human rights stands strong despite Shin's retraction: Kirby
A landmark U.N. report on human rights abuses in North Korea stands strong despite the recent retraction by a high-profile North Korean defector of some of his accounts of the hardship in the communist nation, the former head of a U.N. investigative panel said Tuesday.Michael Kirby, a retired Australian judge who headed the Commission of Inquiry (COI) established by the U.N. to look into the North's human rights violations, made the remark at a seminar marking the first anniversary of the COI re
Feb. 18, 2015
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China sent no delegation to birthday anniversary of Kim Jong-il
China sent no delegation to the birthday anniversary of North Korea's late leader, Kim Jong-il, China's foreign ministry said Tuesday. North Korea commemorated the birthday of Kim, father of current leader Kim Jong-un, on Monday, with an event named the "Day of the Shining Star." Asked whether China sent a delegation to the North Korean event, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying replied that officials at the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang attended the event. "Yesterday was the Day o
Feb. 17, 2015
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Seoul, Russia to hold talks on N.K. nukes next week
South Korea's top nuclear envoy will visit Russia next week for discussions on resuming the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.Hwang Joon-kook, Seoul's chief nuke negotiator, will depart to Moscow on Monday for a three-day visit to hold talks with Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morgulov Igor, Russia's top nuke envoy, according to the foreign ministry."They plan to discuss recent developments on the Korean Penin
Feb. 17, 2015
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Park urges N. Korea to embrace reform, dialogue
North Korea should heed a former Mongolian leader's recent call for Pyongyang to embrace reform and openness, President Park Geun-hye said Monday, in the latest push for inter-Korean dialogue.Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, who ruled Mongolia from 1990 to 1997, told local media that security comes from a fat wallet, not nuclear programs, and that North Korea should choose the path of reform and openness if it wants to feed its people.Park said Mongolia, Vietnam and Myanmar are on track for development a
Feb. 16, 2015
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N. Korean businessmen in China struggle to make cash: sources
North Korean businessmen working in northeastern Chinese border cities are struggling to find profitable ways to make money, hit by political ramifications following the execution of leader Kim Jong-un's uncle and a cooling Chinese economy, multiple sources close to the matter said Monday. Since the once--powerful uncle of Kim, Jang Song-thaek, was executed in December 2013 on charges of treason, corruption and others, North Korea has gradually summoned its businessmen in China who are believed
Feb. 16, 2015
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Park urges N. Korea to embrace reform, dialogue
North Korea should heed a former Mongolian leader's recent call for Pyongyang to embrace reform and openness, President Park Geun-hye said Monday, in the latest push for inter-Korean dialogue.Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, who ruled Mongolia from 1990 to 1997, told local media that security comes from a fat wallet, not nuclear programs, and that North Korea should choose the path of reform and openness if it wants to feed its people.Park said Mongolia, Vietnam and Myanmar are on track for development a
Feb. 16, 2015
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N. Korea promotes dozens of military officials on late leader's birthday
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un marked his late father's birthday on Monday with an order to promote dozens of top military officials and a visit to a mausoleum in Pyongyang.Kim conferred the rank of colonel general on Choe Kyong-son, commander of special forces and the title of lieutenant general on So Tae-ha, who represented the North in talks with Japan over Japanese nationals abducted decades ago, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.Twenty-five other military officials were
Feb. 16, 2015
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N.K. ‘most significant source’ of Asian instability
A senior U.S. official called North Korea “the most significant source of instability” in East Asia last week as military tensions continued to rise on the peninsula amid Pyongyang’s hardened rhetoric against South Korea and the U.S.“I believe the most significant source of instability in the region is North Korea and its reckless pursuit of a larger and larger nuclear program and the missiles to deliver those weapons around the world,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a
Feb. 15, 2015
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N. Korea cancels Arirang mass games for 2015: tour agency
North Korea has canceled its annual signature dance and gymnastic performances scheduled for this year, a Chinese tour operator said, amid continued quarantine measures against Ebola. "We have received confirmation from our partners in Pyongyang that the Arirang Mass Games will not be taking place this year," Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based travel agency specialized in trips to the isolated North, said in a brief release posted on its website Saturday.The Arirang Mass Games are highly choreog
Feb. 15, 2015
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U.S.-N.K contact at truce village on decline: USFK official
Contact between North Korea and outside world at the truce village of Panmunjom has been decreasing over the past two decades, partly due to the regime changes in the communist country, an official at United States Forces Korea said Sunday."After Kim Il-sung died, we saw the number of contacts we had at Panmunjom (with North Koreans) be reduced, and after the summit in 2000, we saw it reduced even more," said Stephen Tharp, Chief of Strategic Outreach of the USFK, told Yonhap News Agency."And th
Feb. 15, 2015
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N. Korean assembly chairman to visit Russia this year
The chairman of North Korea's parliament plans to visit Russia this year, a Russian news report said Friday, following the recent news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's plan to visit the neighbor in May. Choe Thae-bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, will visit Moscow sometime this year, the Korean-language Voice of Russia said, quoting a high-ranking Russian parliamentary official who attended a banquet celebrating the birthday of former leader Kim Jong-il a day earlier in Nort
Feb. 14, 2015
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N. Korea to further 'light, precise' weapon development
North Korea's ruling communist party has adopted a resolution calling for the nation to focus more on developing cutting-edge weapons, Pyongyang's media reported Friday.The decision came at a meeting of the Central Committee's Political Bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the party's establishment and Korea's liberation from Japan's 35-year-long colonial rule, the official Korean Central News Agency said.The North's leader Kim Jong-un attended the session h
Feb. 13, 2015
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Improve everything: New N.K. slogan
North Korea unveiled Thursday an exclamation mark peppered list of 310 new political slogans covering every conceivable topic, from the glories of the ruling Kim dynasty and mushroom cultivation to the importance of dependable wives and “offensive” sports.Oh, and the perennial need to wipe out U.S. imperialist scum.Political slogans are an intrinsic part of the relentless, daily propaganda formula that North Koreans are weaned on almost from birth.Those published by the official KCNA news agency
Feb. 12, 2015
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S. Korea regrets North's military retaliation threat
South Korea voiced regret Thursday over North Korea's threat of military retaliation a day earlier, warning Seoul will sternly respond to any military provocations by the regime.The remarks by a unification ministry official came after North Korea's committee dealing with inter-Korean affairs threatened military action Wednesday.In a special statement released by the Korean Central News Agency, the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said that "The South Korean authorities will not be able to escape
Feb. 12, 2015
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N. Korea vows efforts to improve people's livelihoods
North Korea's key governing party organs have released a set of campaign slogans calling for painstaking efforts to improve the livelihoods of its citizens, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.The Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea announced the 310 slogans to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the country from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule as well as the founding of the governing party, according to the Korea Central News Agen
Feb. 12, 2015
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N.K. leader urges troops to get combat-ready: Seoul minister
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has actively toured military units to encourage his troops to be fully prepared to fight as part of efforts to consolidate his regime, Seoul's defense minister said Wednesday."Since November when the North began to stage winter drills, Kim has visited military units 10 times. While leading some aggressive exercises, he has encouraged the military to complete their readiness this year to fight," Defense Minister Han Min-koo told lawmakers.While carrying out an incr
Feb. 11, 2015
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S. Korea raps N. Korea over condemnation of PM nominee
South Korea expressed displeasure Wednesday with North Korea's verbal attack on Lee Wan-koo, the nominee to become the South's prime minister.The unification ministry said the ongoing confirmation hearing on Lee is an internal matter."It's regrettable that North Korea criticizes a nominee for (South Korea's) official position," ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said at a press briefing.The two Koreas have already agreed to discontinue criticism and slandering each other and not to intervene in
Feb. 11, 2015