Most Popular
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[H.eco Forum] H.eco Forum calls for transition to clean, carbon-free energy
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‘Gimflation’ in S. Korea as dried seaweed prices grow on rising global demand
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[Exclusive] LACMA admits it needs further research on donated Korean paintings
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Yoon to resume diplomatic activity via 3-way summit with Japan, China
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[Herald Interview] Korean adoptees embark on journeys to find roots
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S. Korea's gender pay gap worst in OECD
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[Bridge to Africa] Africa-Korea partnership: Why it matters for future
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South Korea unveils W26tr support program for chip industry
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SM, YG Entertainment’s K-pop groups benefit from troubles at Hybe
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Illit’s agency sues Ador CEO Min Hee-jin for defamation
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N.K. nuclear site shows increased activities
North Korea has increased activities at its underground nuclear site, military sources said Monday, in what could be preparations for another atomic test ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s upcoming Asia trip.“The Punggye-ri nuclear test site has shown increased movement of vehicles and forces compared to the past,” a senior military official said, asking for anonymity. “South Korean and U.S. forces have been closely monitoring the latest development to detect signs of another test.” The late
April 21, 2014
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Pyongyang denounces Obama’s upcoming trip
North Korea lashed out at U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday for planning to visit South Korea this week, calling it a dangerous trip.North Korea’s Foreign Ministry claimed the two-day trip that will begin on Friday has been planned to “escalate confrontation and bring dark clouds of a nuclear arms race” to the region.“It is the policy stand of (North Korea) to redouble the efforts to bolster up justifiable deterrence for self-defense in every way to resolutely counter the U.S. hostile action
April 21, 2014
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N.K. slams Obama's 'dangerous' Asia tour
North Korea warned Monday that an upcoming Asian tour by US President Barack Obama could escalate military tensions, as South Korean media cited intelligence reports of increased activity at the North's main nuclear test site.Obama's April 23-29 tour includes visits to Japan and South Korea, the two main US military allies in Asia and key partners in the effort to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said the "reactionary and dangerous" trip would
April 21, 2014
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U.S., China bridge 'differences' on resuming nuclear talks with N.K.
BEIJING (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of the United States and China held in-depth talks last week, bridging their differences on ways to resume long-stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, according to China's foreign ministry Monday. China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks three days after U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies held three rounds of talks with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in New York and Washington last week. Asked about Chi
April 21, 2014
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S. Korea's railway chief makes rare train travel to N.K.
BEIJING (Yonhap) -- The chief of South Korea's state-run railway company boarded an international rail and headed for North Korea on Monday, making a rare train travel to Pyongyang from Beijing to attend an international conference concerning transport between Europe and Asia.Choi Yeon-hye, president and CEO of the Korea Railroad Corp., and four other officials got visas from the North Korean Embassy in Beijing shortly after arriving here from South Korea earlier in the day, according to one of
April 21, 2014
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Seoul allows KORAIL chief to visit North Korea
South Korea has allowed the chief of its state rail operator to visit North Korea this week for an international rail conference, the unification ministry said Sunday.The ministry said it approved a trip to Pyongyang by Choi Yeon-hye, president and CEO of the Korea Railroad Corp., and four other officials for a meeting of the Organization for Co-Operation between Railways set for April 24-28.The rail conference is meant to boost international cooperation between railway operators, the source sai
April 20, 2014
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[Uniquely Korean] Pro-North Korean forces: Legacy of divided peninsula
Last June, Rep. Lim Su-kyung of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy was at the center of a sour ideological debate after calling North Korean defectors “apostates.” A former high-profile pro-unification activist, Lim was once called the “flower of reunification” by Pyongyang for her unauthorized participation in the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang as a university student.The 44-year-old lawmaker made the remarks during an impromptu meeting with a defect
April 16, 2014
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Park’s unification drive dwarfs ministry
As President Park Geun-hye continues her pitch for unification as a potential “bonanza,” one government organ that would conventionally be at the vanguard of the drive appears to be increasingly inconspicuous: the Unification Ministry. With foreign affairs and security being the conservative president’s fortes, Cheong Wa Dae has gradually been taking over the ministry’s traditional role ― along with its influence. While regular, administrative tasks associated with inter-Korean affairs remain bu
April 16, 2014
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N. Korea denounces Seoul's refusal of joint probe into drones
North Korea on Wednesday denounced Seoul's refusal of its demand for a joint investigation into three drones found in South Korea, saying a preliminary result that pointed at Pyongyang's involvement is a "malicious slander."South Korea's defense ministry last week said the drones recently discovered in inter-Korean border areas were produced and sent by North Korea for spying purposes, though the conclusive evidence has yet to be found.On Tuesday, the North's powerful National Defense Commission
April 16, 2014
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S. Korea spurns N. Korea's call for joint probe into drones
South Korea rejected on Tuesday North Korea's demand that the rival Koreas conduct a joint investigation into drones that Seoul said Pyongyang sent to the South for spying purposes. South Korea said Friday that it believes North Korea was the origin of three unmanned aerial vehicles that crashed in the South, though conclusive evidence has yet to be found, adding it will continue investigations into the drones in a scientific manner to ensure that the drones belonged to North Korea."In no case
April 15, 2014
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N. Korean leader pays tribute to founder on birthday
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid respects to his grandfather and founder of the communist country on Tuesday marking his 102nd birthday, the North's state media said.Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the body of Kim Il-sung, along with his son and former leader Kim Jong-un, lies in state, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.The founding father died in 1994, and his birthday is one of the most important holidays in North Korea.In his visit to the palace, the yo
April 15, 2014
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NK human rights issue should be addressed in six-way talks: Kirby
North Korean human rights abuses should be formally discussed at the six-party talks, even though the talks focus mainly on the communist nation's nuclear program, the head of a U.N. investigation team said Monday.Michael Kirby, chief of the Commission of Inquiry, stressed that the North Korean human rights issue should be addressed in every dialogue with Pyongyang.He pointed out, however, it is still uncertain when the six-party talks will resume. The talks were last held in December 2008, join
April 15, 2014
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S. Korea, U.S., Japan lower bar for nuclear talks with N. Korea
South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to lower the bar on conditions for resuming long-stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter said Monday, saying Pyongyang must show its sincerity through the same pledges it made in a scuttled aid-for-disarmament deal with the U.S. more than two years ago. The agreement was reached at the trilateral talks in Washington last week among top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. They list
April 14, 2014
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Seoul repatriates body of sailor to N.K.
South Korea handed over to North Korea the body of a man found dead off South Korea’s southern coast where a Mongolian cargo ship carrying North Korean sailors sank earlier this month, an official said Monday.The repatriation took place at the border village of Panmunjom inside a military buffer zone that separates the two Koreas, according to the government official.The move came three days after North Korea confirmed the man’s identity. On Friday, South Korea asked North Korea to help identify
April 14, 2014
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Seoul counters Pyongyang’s drone denial
Seoul on Monday dismissed Pyongyang’s denial of its responsibility for sending three drones across the border, reiterating that the communist state should stop its provocative acts and “groundless” slander against the South.“Anyone who looks at the drones can be almost certain that the North is responsible for sending them. But the North is now denying it and it is inappropriate for it to continue slandering the South,” Seoul’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Kim Min-seok told reporters.“The North
April 14, 2014
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North Korea hosts first international marathon
PYONGYANG (AP) ― The streets of North Korea’s showcase capital were filled with runners from all over the world on Sunday for the annual Pyongyang marathon, which was open to foreign amateurs this year for the first time. Tens of thousands of North Koreans lined the streets to applaud, cheer and sometimes high-five the runners, who were followed by a truck blaring patriotic music. They stood and roared as North Korea’s Pak Chol, who completed the men’s event in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 26 seconds
April 14, 2014
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S. Korea repatriates body of sailor to N. Korea
South Korea handed over to North Korea the body of a man found dead off South Korea's southern coast where a Mongolian cargo ship carrying North Korean sailors sank earlier this month, an official said Monday.The repatriation took place at the border village of Panmunjom inside a military buffer zone that separates the two Koreas, according to the government official.The move came three days after North Korea confirmed the man's identity. On Friday, South Korea asked North Korea to help identify
April 14, 2014
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N. Korea warns S. Korea will pay dear price for slander
North Korea warned Monday that it will force South Korea to pay a dear price for its criticism of the North's dignity, the latest in a series of verbal threats against the South.The rival Koreas agreed in February to halt cross-border slander during their first high-level talks in seven years.Still, the North has since claimed South Korea hurled mud at the North's leadership and its social system with the communist country citing, among other things, anti-Pyongyang leaflets.For years, North Kore
April 14, 2014
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N.K. blasts Park’s unification pledge
North Korea’s top governing body on Saturday blasted President Park Geun-hye’s reunification policy as a “psychopath’s daydream” in its first official response to the so-called Dresden Declaration. “The Dresden Declaration is a nonsensical statement made by an anti-reunification element who deceived the public with hypocrisy and deception as she offered no solution, ignorant of the present state of the North-South relations,” the powerful National Defense Commission said.In an address in Dresden
April 13, 2014
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Six-party countries step up diplomacy over N.K. denuclearization talks
Seoul, Washington and Beijing are intensifying diplomatic efforts as they wrestle to rein in North Korea’s nuclear threats and find middle ground in reopening a long-stalled six-nation forum aimed at disarming the communist country. Hwang Joon-kook, Seoul’s new special representative for Korean peninsular peace and security affairs and top envoy to the six-party talks, returned home after separate trips to Washington and Beijing over the last week. In Washington, Hwang and his U.S. and Japanese
April 13, 2014