Most Popular
-
1
[H.eco Forum] H.eco Forum calls for transition to clean, carbon-free energy
-
2
[Exclusive] LACMA admits it needs further research on donated Korean paintings
-
3
AI Seoul Summit adopts declaration on safe, innovative, inclusive AI
-
4
Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to US, others: Pentagon official
-
5
[Bridge to Africa] Africa-Korea partnership: Why it matters for future
-
6
[Herald Interview] Korean adoptees embark on journeys to find roots
-
7
[Graphic News] Medical tourists visiting Korea reach record high
-
8
Revote on Marine probe bill to be held next week
-
9
Embryo activist: Baby's lawsuit takes on S. Korea climate inaction
-
10
Illit’s agency sues Ador CEO Min Hee-jin for defamation
-
S. Korean employers at Kaesong complex indignant over North's
A group of South Korean companies operating at a joint-venture factory park in North Korea has filed a formal complaint that the communist country's sudden decision to take a longer New Year's holiday seriously hurt their business, officials said Monday.Currently, 123 South Korean firms are operating at the joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong, producing garments and other labor-intensive products. Despite cross-border tension, the park has been running without any restric
Jan. 7, 2013
-
[Newsmaker] 'Not great' time for N.K. troubleshooter
Despite Washington’s discomfort with the timing, Bill Richardson may end up playing troubleshooter for yet another American detainee in North Korea when the former New Mexico governor wraps up his trip to the communist country later this week. This time, he is bringing an even bigger carrot: Google Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt, an apostle of global Internet freedom and its role in lifting people out of poverty and persecution. In the North, precious few of the elite are granted access to the Web.
Jan. 7, 2013
-
N. Korean leader sends sweets to kids to mark his birthday
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a bunch of candy to every young child in the poverty-stricken country to celebrate his birthday, the North‘s state-run media reported Monday.The Korean Central Broadcasting Station picked up in Seoul said Kim sent bags filled with candy and other confectionaries to children attending elementary school, kindergarten and day care centers.The presents mark the first time that Kim has given candy on his birthday after inheriting power following the sudden death o
Jan. 7, 2013
-
U.S. politician, Google boss leave for Pyongyang
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt left Beijing for North Korea on Monday, defying the U.S. government's advice not to visit there.Diplomatic sources said the delegation departed for Pyongyang on a scheduled Air China flight and the CA121 flight should land at Sunan International Airport later in the afternoon.In a meeting with reporters at the airport, Richardson made clear that the visit has nothing to do with the U.S. government and that he is not represen
Jan. 7, 2013
-
Pyongyang calls Seoul's chief security advisor a 'traitor'
North Korea strongly denounced South Korea's national security advisor Sunday, calling him a traitor and a bad element who, it said, only worked to justify Seoul's hostility toward Pyongyang.The harsh criticism came two days after a local daily here published a recent interview with the top presidential advisor for national security, Chun Young-woo, in which he claimed the incumbent South Korean government has fundamentally changed the nature of relations between the divided Koreas.The North's C
Jan. 6, 2013
-
Execution of inter-Korean cooperation fund below 10%
South Korea’s execution of its inter-Korean cooperation fund remained below 10 percent last year for the fourth straight year, government data showed Sunday.Last year, the government spent 69.4 billion won ($65.2 million), or 6.9 percent of the 1.006 trillion won set aside for the inter-Korean cooperation fund, according to the data from the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.The fund was created in 1991 to support humanitarian and economic exchanges between the divided Kor
Jan. 6, 2013
-
U.S. irked by Google chief’s N.K. plans
WASHINGTON (AP) ― Google chief Eric Schmidt’s plan to visit North Korea has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of opposing a champion of Internet freedom engaging with one of the most intensely censored countries.But the Obama administration is wary for a reason: It fears Schmidt’s trip could give a boost to North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong-un, just when Washington is trying to pressure him.North Korea in December launched a long-range rocket in violation of U.N. Security C
Jan. 6, 2013
-
N.K. steps up reconciliatory signals
North Korea is stepping up its peace offensive following its leader’s New Year speech that called for an end to confrontational relations with Seoul.The communist country’s official media have churned out reports and editorials in the past week stressing the goal of national reunification and calling for inter-Korean reconciliation. The overture appears to target an expansion in industrial cooperation and resumption of food handouts and economic assistance from Seoul that are essential to prop u
Jan. 6, 2013
-
KCNA unveils renovated web site before Google head's trip
WASHINGTON -- Apparently, North Korea has something new to show off to Google chairman Eric Schmidt -- a renovated website for its main propaganda apparatus.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday unveiled the new version of its website, http://www.kcna.kp, hosted on servers in Pyongyang.It features a much better design and many sophisticated functions, including link services among text articles, photos and video clips.It provides Korean, English, Chinese, Spanish and Japanese news serv
Jan. 5, 2013
-
U.S. gov't not happy with Google chairman's trip to N. Korea
The U.S. government expressed displeasure Thursday over a planned trip by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt to North Korea, saying especially the timing is not "helpful."The State Department confirmed that it is "obviously aware of the trip" by Schmidt and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who has close personal ties with the communist nation."Frankly, we don't think the timing of this is particularly helpful, but they are private citizens and they are making their own decision," department spo
Jan. 4, 2013
-
BBC may broadcast into North Korea: reports
The BBC World Service is considering broadcast programs targeting North Korean people, according to news reports.Washington has requested the U.K. government to back the plan to help open up the reclusive country to the outside world, Independent newspaper and Yonhap News reported. Barack Obama’s administration is encouraging the Foreign Office to back plans to establish a BBC Korean service to help open up the most secret country on earth.The officials believe “the BBC’s reputation for impartia
Jan. 3, 2013
-
[Newsmaker] Google’s Schmidt may visit N.K.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, is likely to visit North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission, sources said Thursday. A Seoul official confirmed an Associated Press report that Schmidt will travel to the reclusive country along with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. “He planned to visit North Korea earlier but the schedule was delayed in consideration of the sensitive mood to do with the North’s long-range rocket launch,” a Seoul official said. “I understand the visit is pur
Jan. 3, 2013
-
U.S. House passes resolution against N. Korea for its rocket launch
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan resolution condemning North Korea's latest rocket launch, but the Senate has yet to work on it, a congressional source said Wednesday.The House passed the resolution by voice vote without any objection on Tuesday, added the source.The non-binding resolution characterizes the North's long-range rocket launch on Dec. 12 as a "flagrant violation of specified U.N. Security Council resolutions."North Korea is already under U.N. sanctions that
Jan. 3, 2013
-
Google exec chairman to visit N. Korea
Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public.The trip would be the first by a top executive fro
Jan. 3, 2013
-
N. Korean defector arrivals fall by nearly half in 2012
The number of North Koreans who fled from poverty and political oppression in the communist country and defected to the South nearly halved last year compared with the previous year due mainly to tightened border security there, government data showed Wednesday.A total of 1,508 North Koreans defected from their country and entered South Korea during 2012, compared with the corresponding figure of 2,706 in 2011, according to the data released by Seoul’s Unification Ministry.The 2012 figure is the
Jan. 2, 2013
-
North Korea enters aging society: data
North Korea has moved into an aging society with the portion of its elderly taking up more than 8 percent of the population and women in their 70s outnumbering their male counterparts, data showed Tuesday. The number of North Koreans aged over 65 reached 2.09 million as of Oct. 1, 2008, or 8.7 percent of the 24.05 million in total population, according to the country’s Population Census, published by the North’s Central Statistic Bureau in 2008 with assistance from the United Nations Population
Jan. 2, 2013
-
N.K. cracks down on knowledge smugglers
HUNCHUN, China (AP) ― The warning came from Kim Jong Un, the North Korean ruler who sees his isolated nation, just across the border from this busy Chinese trading town, as under siege. The attack, he said, must be stopped.“We must extend the fight against the enemy’s ideological and cultural infiltration,’’ Kim said in an October speech at the headquarters of his immensely powerful internal security service. Kim, who became North Korea’s supreme leader after the death of his father a year ago,
Jan. 2, 2013
-
Bill on N. Korean children set for Obama's signature
A bill on protecting "stateless children" from North Korea was sent to President Barack Obama's desk Tuesday for his signature after both chambers of Congress passed it.The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill, entitled "An Act to develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from North Korea, and for other purposes."The bill, also dubbed "North Korean Child Welfare Act of 2012,"notes that hundreds of thousands of North Korean children suffer from malnutrition in the c
Jan. 2, 2013
-
Kim Jong-un issues verbal New Year's message, the first by N.K. leader in 19 years
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday issued a verbal New Year's message, marking the first time in 19 years that such a message has been read by the North's leader on its television and radio.In the message broadcast by the North's Korean Central TV and Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Kim called for efforts to resolve inter-Korean tension by following through on previous inter-Korean joint declarations. He also vowed to prioritize agriculture and light industry in his economic policy
Jan. 1, 2013
-
N. Korean leader says rocket launch boosts 'great national self-esteem'
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un again hailed this month's largely successful launch of a long-range rocket, saying the launch boosted "great national self-esteem," the North's official media said Monday.Kim delivered the remarks to scientists, technicians, workers and officials involved in the Dec. 12 launch that put a satellite into orbit at a banquet which he hosted on Sunday, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported.The young leader "once again warmly congratulated those people on suc
Dec. 31, 2012