Most Popular
-
1
No plan to let doctors with foreign licenses practice here anytime soon: PM
-
2
Science Ministry expresses regret over Japan’s pressure on Naver
-
3
Hostilities get out of hand as YouTuber murders another outside courthouse
-
4
Yoon interacts with public for 1st time since election defeat
-
5
[Weekender] Pet food makers bet big on ‘recession-free’ pet food market
-
6
N. Korea says to deploy new multiple rocket launcher starting this year
-
7
Lee Sun-kyun's posthumuous film to hit theaters in August
-
8
Seoul transit pass for travelers to be available starting July
-
9
State-led adoption system to be established to ensure adoptees' well-being, minimize overseas adoption
-
10
Bithumb to pay W40b taxes for crypto airdrop winners
-
[Herald Interview] ‘Cold War 2.0 would benefit North Korea’
JEJUDO ISLAND ― The reemergence of the Cold-War political structure amid the East-West standoff over the Ukraine crisis could benefit North Korea as it would put the isolated state under the protective umbrella of one of the two competing blocs, said a North Korea expert.During an interview with The Korea Herald, Rudiger Frank, professor at the University of Vienna, also pointed out that “Cold War 2.0” would pose a policy challenge to South Korea as it would limit Seoul’s bilateral diplomacy wit
June 1, 2014
-
Japan to dispatch officials to N. Korea for abductee probe
Japan will send officials to North Korea while Pyongyang reinvestigates the fate of Japanese nationals it abducted in the Cold War years, a senior politician said Sunday.Dispatch of the mission is part of an accord made last week by the the two countries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic ties and they contact each other through their embassies in Beijing at present.Since North Korea in 2008 agreed to reopen investigations but failed to keep its
June 1, 2014
-
North Korea gives SKorean missionary life sentence
North Korea said Saturday it has sentenced a South Korean Baptist missionary to hard labor for life for allegedly spying and trying to set up underground churches, the latest in a string of missionaries to run into trouble in the rigidly controlled North.North Korean state media said the missionary was tried Friday and admitted to anti-North Korean religious acts and ``malignantly hurting the dignity'' of the country's supreme leadership, a reference to the ruling Kim family. The rival Koreas ha
May 31, 2014
-
N. Korea ignores S. Korean sea border in selling fishing rights to China
North Korea included part of South Korea's territorial waters near the inter-Korean western sea border when selling its fishing rights to China, military sources here said Saturday."Part of our waters in the Yellow Sea was included in the area that the North is allowing Chinese vessels to fish in," said a military officer in Seoul, requesting anonymity. "Upon learning this, we've notified China of such a fact and asked them to be careful not to cross the northern limit line (NLL) into the South,
May 31, 2014
-
Japan’s move raises concern of weakened pressure on N.K.
Japan’s moves to improve ties with North Korea are triggering concerns that they would hamper the ongoing multilateral efforts to prevent Pyongyang’s provocative behavior and denuclearize the communist state.On Thursday, both Tokyo and Pyongyang announced their agreement to set up a special panel to investigate the abduction of Japanese nationals and lift Tokyo’s independent sanctions against Pyongyang when the probe opens.The agreement came as Seoul, Washington and even Beijing joined forces to
May 30, 2014
-
N. Korea attacks S. Korea, U.S. over military drills
North Korea's new top diplomat has attacked South Korea and the United States over their joint military drills as he made a debut on the international diplomatic stage, Pyongyang's state news agency said Friday. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong also claimed that war drills and other provocative acts by Seoul and Washington reached a point where North Korea could not sit idle, though he did not elaborate on what actions Pyongyang could take. Ri, who assumed his job in April, made the c
May 30, 2014
-
U.N. to open field office for N.K. rights in S. Korea
The United Nations plans to open a field office in South Korea this year which will monitor human rights violations in North Korea, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it has accepted a request by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to set up an office in South Korea.A foreign ministry official said that the U.N. selected South Korea as the most suitable place for the office, given its geographical closeness, language and accessibilit
May 29, 2014
-
N.K. rail official named vice premier
North Korea has named an official believed to be a senior rail official as its vice premier, the country’s state news agency said Thursday, the latest in a series of personnel reshuffle in the communist country.North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament issued a decree last Thursday that Rim Chol-ung, 52, who served as a senior railways ministry official, was appointed as vice premier, the Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch.The dispatch did not give any further details.Rim’s appointm
May 29, 2014
-
Inter-Korean ties at crossroads amid mixed signals
After a year and a half since President Park Geun-hye took office, relations between the two Koreas appear to be hanging in midair as the North escalates military tension while sending conciliatory signals at the same time. The communist state has in recent months threatened a fourth nuclear test, fired artillery shells toward southern waters, and churned out acerbic criticism against Seoul and Washington over their joint military drills and summit. Yet Pyongyang last week said it would join thi
May 28, 2014
-
N.K. sees no improvement in S. Korea ties
North Korea said Wednesday it does not expect its relations with South Korea to improve so long as President Park Geun-hye remains in office in Seoul.The North’s main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, accused Park of plunging inter-Korean ties to their lowest point ever and called her North Korea’s sworn enemy.“Nothing will be resolved in inter-Korean relations as long as Park remains” in power, the newspaper said, as it called for the end of Park’s rule. Her single five-year term is set to end in 2018.
May 28, 2014
-
Seoul to prepare for DMZ peace park
South Korea’s point man on North Korea said Wednesday that Seoul will make gradual preparations to break ground for a peace park inside the heavily fortified border with North Korea.Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said the proposed peace park will lay the basis for peace and cooperation on the divided Korean Peninsula, though he acknowledged challenges.He did not elaborate on a specific time frame for the project as he made the comments in an international forum on the peace park.His comments
May 28, 2014
-
China starts building new border bridge to North Korea: report
BEIJING (Yonhap) ― China has begun building a new cross-border bridge to North Korea over the Tumen River, according to China’s state media Wednesday, in the latest sign that economic relations between the two nations remain stable despite the North’s nuclear ambitions. The 804-meter-long bridge linking the Chinese border town of Tumen to North Korea is expected to open in 2015 or 2016 “as a new route for bilateral trade,” Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities. Last week, a local
May 28, 2014
-
S. Korea to prepare for peace park in border with N. Korea
South Korea's point man on North Korea said Wednesday that Seoul will make gradual preparations to break ground for a peace park inside the heavily fortified border with North Korea. Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said the proposed peace park will lay a basis for peace and cooperation on the divided Korean Peninsula, though he acknowledged challenges. He did not elaborate on a specific time frame of the project as he made the comments in an international forum on the peace park. His co
May 28, 2014
-
China starts building new cross-border bridge to N. Korea: report
China has begun building a new cross-border bridge to North Korea over the Tumen River, according to China's state media Wednesday, in the latest sign that economic relations between the two nations remain stable despite the North's nuclear ambitions. The 804-meter-long bridge linking the Chinese border town of Tumen to North Korea is expected to open in 2015 or 2016 "as a new route for bilateral trade," Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities. Last week, a local media report sai
May 28, 2014
-
N. Korea calls for U.S. troops to halt hostile acts in border village
North Korea has urged U.S. forces to stop their alleged hostile acts against the communist country near a neutral village on the inter-Korean border, the state news agency said Tuesday.The North Korean military's top security officer in Panmunjom on Monday accused the U.S. forces of conducting surveillance and espionage against the North by setting up a huge steel watchtower in the village separating the rival Koreas, according to the Korean Central News Agency.The officer also claimed that the
May 27, 2014
-
N. Korean nuclear envoy, U.S. experts hold informal talks in Mongolia
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy met with U.S. experts late last week for informal talks in Mongolia over the resumption of stalled multilateral discussions on the North's nuclear program, a diplomatic source in Beijing said Monday. The informal talks in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar on Friday were apparently aimed at reviving the deadlocked six-nation talks, but it was not immediately known whether any progress was made, the source said on the condition of anonymity. The Friday talks in
May 26, 2014
-
WFP seeks Seoul’s help in feeding N.K. babies, moms
The U.N. World Food Program is seeking Seoul’s involvement in its program to fight acute malnutrition among babies and mothers in North Korea, which suffers from dwindling funding amid political tension.The world’s largest humanitarian agency is in consultation with the South Korean government over the 2-year-old program to provide health care to some 2.4 million North Korean women and their children until age 2. President Park Geun-hye vowed support for the “1,000 days” project in her speech in
May 25, 2014
-
South Korea invites North Korean Catholics for Pope's mass in Seoul
South Korea has invited members of North Korea's Catholic community to attend the upcoming mass to be held by Pope Francis in Seoul, officials here said Sunday.They said representatives of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea and the Archdiocese of Seoul met with members of the North Korean Catholic Church in Shenyang, China, on May 18 and 19, and invited them to attend the papal mass.Pope Francis will celebrate the mass at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on Aug. 18 and deliver a message for
May 25, 2014
-
QPR defender to join S. Korean camp after watching
South Korean defender Yun Suk-young will finally report to the country's pre-World Cup camp on Sunday, after the London-based Queens Park Rangers refused to release him ahead of a key club match.The Korea Football Association said Yun will join the rest of the country's 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, late in the afternoon on Sunday. He will be the last player to arrive at the NFC, as the country prepares for the June 12-July 1
May 25, 2014
-
North Korean leader Kim visits electrical machine plant: report
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a visit to an electrical machine factory that earlier leaders of the communist state helped open, Pyongyang's state media reported on Sunday.The Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul, said Kim visited the Chonma Electrical Machine Plant, accompanied by other officials. The KCNA noted that the area where the plant is located is "closely associated with the footprints of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il," the current leader's grandfather and father.The repo
May 25, 2014