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Yoon vetoes bill for special probe into young Marine's death
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SNU alums nabbed for digital sex crimes
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AI Seoul Summit adopts declaration on safe, innovative, inclusive AI
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Samsung replaces semiconductor chief amid heightened AI race
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Dog days are over? Popular dog trainer embroiled in workplace bullying dispute
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[Up close in Yeouido] Trump hinting at US troop removal in South Korea ‘election-time talk’
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Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to US, others: Pentagon official
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[Exclusive] LACMA admits it needs further research on donated Korean paintings
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[H.eco Forum] H.eco Forum calls for transition to clean, carbon-free energy
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[Editorial] Cross-border trade
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S. Korea to call UNSC meeting if N. Korea conducts nuke test: diplomat
South Korea is ready to request the U.N. Security Council hold an emergency meeting if North Korea follows through on its plan to conduct a nuclear test, a senior Seoul diplomat said Friday.Predicting when North Korea will carry out the nuclear test is difficult, but the North's threats of a third nuclear test have kept officials in South Korea on tenterhooks.South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan is scheduled to visit New York early next week to preside over the Security Council's open deb
Feb. 8, 2013
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U.S. using rocket launch to develop missile defense system: N.K. media
A North Korean media outlet on Friday claimed that the United States is using the Unha-3 rocket launch as an excuse to develop its own missile defense system, as part of its grand plan to dominate the world.Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, said in an article monitored in Seoul that Washington aims to create a global missile interception network to ensure its continued military supremacy.A missile defense system aids in the detection, tracking, and destruction of att
Feb. 8, 2013
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N.K. sends mixed signals
In a familiar tactic of coupling saber-rattling and peace overtures, North Korea called for the incoming Seoul government’s efforts to put cross-border relations back on track amid signs of its impending nuclear test. The Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based mouthpiece for the communist regime, said Wednesday that the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue hinged on Seoul’s attitude under President-elect Park Geun-hye. “In the wake of the United Nations Security Council sanctions, the new government’s behav
Feb. 7, 2013
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U.S. Congress re-introduces bill on banning N. Korea food aid
A senior U.S. senator has proposed a farm bill that includes a provision making any food aid to Pyongyang from Washington more difficult, congressional and diplomatic sources said Wednesday.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) re-introduced the five-year bill last month with the provision attached.If passed in both chambers of Congress, it would prohibit the U.S. government from providing food assistance to North Korea without a presidential waiver.Last year, the Senate passed the same versi
Feb. 7, 2013
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Park proposes emergency meeting with political parties to discuss N.K. nuclear tension
South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye on Wednesday proposed an emergency meeting with the country's ruling and opposition parties to discuss the issue of North Korea's apparently imminent nuclear test, a spokeswoman said."President-elect Park proposes an emergency meeting with the ruling and opposition parties to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula," Park's spokeswoman Cho Yoon-sun said in a news briefing.The proposal comes as North Kore
Feb. 6, 2013
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Rumors of cannibalism in N. Korea spreading
Rumors of cannibalism in North Korea have resurfaced, a U.S. daily newspaper reported. The Washington Post article titled “The Cannibals of North Korea” reported rumors that people are mysteriously disappearing, and that others are eating their own children due to extreme starvation.This is not the first time that rumors of cannibalism have been reported. In 2009, “Nothing to Envy,” written by reporter Barbara Demick, said North Koreans avoided meat soup sold on the street, kept children from wa
Feb. 6, 2013
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N. Korea not 'suicidal' enough to attack U.S.: Perry
North Korea could conduct a nuclear test soon with either plutonium-based devices or highly enriched uranium, or with both, "a destabilizing event" that would prevent the United States from returning to negotiations but would not threaten the country, a former U.S. secretary of defense said Wednesday.Pyongyang has vowed to conduct its third nuclear test in retaliation for the U.N. Security Council's resolution condemning its Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch, and there have been a series of signs
Feb. 6, 2013
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Kerry, Yang agree to action against N. Korea's pending nuke test
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, agreed Tuesday that the world's two supreme powers need to work together to deal with North Korea's threats to carry out another nuclear test.The two discussed North Korea and other pending issues over the phone "for quite a while," Kerry's department said."They agreed on the importance of continuing to work to strengthen U.S.-China relations, notably including in the economic, trade and investment sphere. They also dis
Feb. 6, 2013
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N.K. may stage multiple nuke tests
President Lee Myung-bak believes North Korea could detonate multiple devices when it goes ahead with a nuclear test expected in the coming weeks or even days.In an interview published Tuesday in the Chosun Ilbo daily, the outgoing president also acknowledged the huge challenge the international community faces in seeking to wean Pyongyang off its nuclear weapons program.The North has signaled that it will carry out a “higher level” nuclear test very soon, in a defiant response to UN sanctions im
Feb. 5, 2013
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N.K.’s nuke test feared to hamper Park’s hope to engage Pyongyang
If North Korea conducts a third nuclear test, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye’s pledge for engagement with the communist regime would be revoked, experts said Tuesday, urging Pyongyang to change its policy of confrontation.Tense inter-Korean relations following the North’s two military attacks on South Korea in 2010 have worsened with Pyongyang’s recent threat to carry out a nuclear test. Park has pledged to seek more engagement with North Korea than her predecessor. “If North Korea u
Feb. 5, 2013
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Punggye-ri ideal location for nuclear weapons tests: experts
North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test complex is an ideal place to conduct underground atomic detonations due to its geological features and isolated location, South Korean observers said.Observers in the military and government said Pyongyang selected the region and started constructing the site likely over two decades ago, although the certain date is not known. From the 1990s onward, the South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies have been closely observing the site. The site was used by the
Feb. 5, 2013
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N. Korea threatens ruthless strike back if nuke facilities are attacked
North Korea will "ruthlessly strike" back if the United States launches preemptive attacks on its nuclear facilities, a media report from the isolated communist country said Tuesday.The report by the Minju Chosun, a newspaper published by the North's Cabinet, is the latest in a series of harsh rhetoric the country's state-run media has been unleashing in recent weeks amid signs that it would soon conduct another atomic test.“If the United States and warmongers attack and try to weaken us, such e
Feb. 5, 2013
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Kim Jong-Un and the mystery smartphone
A picture of North Korea‘s Kim Jong-Un with a smartphone has triggered fevered speculation about which brand is favoured by the leader of one of the world’s most repressive nations.The photo released by the North‘s state media showed Kim presiding over a meeting with top national security advisers last week -- a meeting believed to have been focused on Pyongyang’s threat to conduct an imminent nuclear test.It also showed a black smartphone on the table next to Kim‘s arm -- as well as a lit cigar
Feb. 5, 2013
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U.N. Council to take strong action against N. Korea's nuke test
The U.N. Security Council will take “very stern and strong” action should North Korea carry out another nuclear test, Seoul’s top envoy to the international organization warned Monday.In a meeting with reporters, Kim Sook, who holds the rotating UNSC chairmanship this month, said Pyongyang’s third atomic test in its Punggye-ri site in the country’s northeast was imminent.“The stances of the 15 UNSC member states are united and firm. If North Korea carries out another nuclear test, (I) anticipate
Feb. 5, 2013
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N.K. nuclear threats put Beijing to test
As North Korea’s third nuclear test looms large, China is coming under all too familiar pressure to convince its unruly ally to change course or lend impetus to the next batch of international sanctions. Beijing has for decades been propping up Pyongyang by supplying food, fuel and other necessities and providing political backing in the face of its provocations. With stability being its top priority in the region, China’s patronage has also helped boost its clout over its reclusive neighbor.Tho
Feb. 4, 2013
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Seoul, Washington seek strong deterrence against N.K. nukes
South Korea will push for a stronger joint nuclear deterrence strategy with Washington should Pyongyang conduct a third nuclear test, a senior government official said Monday.The two allies agreed last year to forge a “tailored deterrence strategy” by 2014 to cope with increasing threats from North Korea’s nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.“We may have to talk about sure, strong measures when we negotiate with the U.S. (over the deterrence strategy) in the future. We should m
Feb. 4, 2013
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N. Korea internally promoting latest long-range rocket as ballistic missile
North Korea exhibited the fuselage of what is presumed to be the long-range rocket it launched in December, and explicitly called it a ballistic missile, despite its claims to the outside world that the Unha-3 was part of its peaceful space development program, a report said Monday.The report by Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun quoted North Korean sources as saying that the fuselage was displayed under the name “Hwasong-13” among the exhibitions of the country’s missile lineup in an exhibition h
Feb. 4, 2013
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Image shows inside of N.K. nuclear weapons test facility
The Defense Ministry on Monday unveiled an image of the internal structure of an underground site in North Korea presumed to have been used for its second nuclear test in May 2009.The image depicts a spiral-shaped horizontal tunnel with nine doors in the western part of the Punggye-ri test site in the country’s northeast, officials said. It was captured from a documentary film broadcast by the North’s Korean Central TV in September 2010. Ministry officials said the image underscored a “strong, s
Feb. 4, 2013
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N. Korea denounces latest U.N. resolution as grave obstacle to its economic development
North Korea denounced the latest U.N. sanctions imposed for December's long-range rocket launch as a "grave obstacle" to its efforts to rebuild the tattered economy, saying such sanctions won't work and will only harden its resolve to further strengthen its self-defense power.Last month, the U.N. Security Council toughened sanctions on the communist nation for carrying out a long-range rocket launch in December in violation of U.N. resolutions over concern such a firing could be used to develop
Feb. 4, 2013
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Kerry discusses N. Korea with his S. Korean counterpart
New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan talked over the phone Sunday in which they agreed that North Korea will face "significant consequences" in case of continued provocations.Kerry and Kim agreed on the need to "ensure that North Korea understands that it will face significant consequences from the international community if it continues its provocative behavior," according to Kerry's department.The joint warning came amid reports that Pyongyang's
Feb. 4, 2013