Most Popular
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Indonesia’s KF-21 fighter jet deal cut back -- what’s next?
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[KH Explains] Can tech firms' AI alliances take on Nvidia?
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Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
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[Grace Kao, Meera Choi] Has money displaced romance on dates?
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Local filmmakers criticize ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ monopoly of screens
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Korean battery makers heave sigh of relief over 2-year IRA reprieve
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Over 80,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires in Seoul: report
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China again denies alleged torture of S. Korean activist
China has again denied allegations that it tortured a South Korean human rights activist during his four-month arrest, Seoul's foreign ministry said, indicating growing diplomatic tensions over the issue.The denial was Beijing's first official response to Seoul's request for a reinvestigation into claims by activist Kim Young-hwan that he was tortured by Chinese security agents during the early da
Aug. 4, 2012
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U.S. Senate passes bill on NK human rights
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill calling for bipartisan efforts to address North Korea's human rights violations, sending it to President Barack Obama for signature, according to congressional officials.Shortly before leaving Capitol Hill Thursday night for a five-week summer recess, senators approved the legislation on extending until 2017 the authority of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 20
Aug. 4, 2012
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‘N.K. leader orders maiitary bases realignment’
North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong-un appears to have ordered a realignment of some military units, and South Korea’s military is closely watching the North’s move, a Seoul government source said Friday. South Korean intelligence authorities have judged that the North’s recent forward deployment of attack helicopters near the tense Yellow Sea border with the South was part of the realignment, the source said. “Intelligence authorities detected circumstances that the North Korean military is rea
Aug. 3, 2012
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Hyundai visits North for memorial
A group of South Koreans crossed the heavily fortified land border into North Korea Friday to hold a memorial service there for the late chairman of Hyundai Group, the North’s partner in a now-suspended tour program to Mount Geumgang.Fourteen officials of the conglomerate’s North Korean business arm Hyundai Asan, led by president Chang Kyung-chak, entered the North after crossing the border through a transit office near the east coast at 9:30 a.m.The officials are scheduled to hold a brief memor
Aug. 3, 2012
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Kim Jong-un meets visiting Chinese officials
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met a senior Chinese official in Pyongyang, state media said Friday, his first reception of a foreign guest since taking power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il.Kim held talks with Wang Jiarui, the head of the International Liaison Department of China's Communist Party, and other Chinese officials, the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an Eng
Aug. 3, 2012
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Families remain hopeful of finding wartime abductees
Families remain hopeful of finding wartime abducteesKwon Young-hwan was 15 when two armed men forced their way into his home while his family slept. One had a black pistol and the other had a long rifle slung across his shoulder.“They came first to me and asked where my father was,” Kwon, now 76, recalled. It was Aug. 8, 1950, nearly two months after the Korean War broke out.The North Korean soldiers forced his father Kwon Tae-sul, then head of Jung District Office in Seoul, into a car outside
Aug. 1, 2012
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'Torture of Koreans rampant in China'
A former Chinese police officer said Wednesday that physical abuse of criminals, especially Koreans, is rampant in the country. The testimony by Lee Kyu-ho, an ethnic Korean, added fuel to the dispute over allegations that Kim Young-hwan, a South Korean activist, was tortured while detained in China. “They do not take legal process and torture people who are deemed threatening to the Chinese government,” Lee said in a press conference. Lee, 41, said he worked at a police substation in Shenyang
Aug. 1, 2012
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N. Korea approves Hyundai Asan’s commemoration visit
North Korea has agreed to allow a group of South Koreans to visit a mountain resort on its east coast this week for a memorial service for the late chairman of the country’s now-suspended tourism business partner Hyundai Group, company officials said Tuesday.Hyundai Asan, the conglomerate’s North Korea business arm, said it received a notice from the North last Saturday that company officials may visit the Mount Geumgang resort to hold a memorial service for late Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mon
July 31, 2012
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3 foreigners held for sexual abuses
The maritime police here said Monday they arrested three foreign residents who allegedly sexually harassed teenage girls or photographed a specific body part of a woman on a beach in Busan crowded with holidaymakers.Two of the three -- a 34-year-old Bangladeshi and a 30-year-old Vietnamese --- are suspected of sexually harassing teenage girls who were playing in the waters of Haeundae Beach Tuesday, the police said.The third was a 34-year-old man from Myanmar who allegedly took pictures with his
July 31, 2012
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P.M. vows to curb sex crimes against women, children
Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik vowed Tuesday to root out sex crimes against women and children as a recent series of murder and sexual molestation cases sparked public outrage.Earlier this month, a 10-year-old girl was kidnapped, sexually molested and killed after she went missing on her way to school in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. In Jeju, a 46-year-old man was arrested last week for allegedly killing a 40-year-old female tourist and dismembering her body.In the latest incident, a 66-ye
July 31, 2012
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Seoul to support family reunions in 3rd countries
South Korea will increase financial aid for separated families holding privately arranged reunions in third countries with long-lost relatives from North Korea, the unification ministry said Monday.The plan comes as government-arranged reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War have been suspended for years due to the chill in relations between the two Koreas, while an increasing number of separated family members are dying of old age.Some families have sought to hire private agenc
July 30, 2012
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Speculation about suspension of N.K.-China industrial belt
Speculation is rising over a possible suspension of a joint project between North Korea and China to build an industrial belt along their border. Citing a source within the North Korean military, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Sunday reported that China declared a moratorium on the Hwanggeumpyeong economic zone development program last month after Pyongyang insisted on maintaining its troops on the border island to safeguard its interests there. Local farmers reportedly said that a small wat
July 30, 2012
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N.K. leader’s media blitz double-edged sword
Unusual publicity drive improves his image, loosens security awareness in South, experts sayNorth Korea’s media showing a Western-style musical performance and its fledgling leader with his attractive wife visiting a kindergarten and theme park has apparently helped improve its negative image of being belligerent and far from international norms.But at a time when South Korean political parties are striving to court voters ahead of the December presidential election, Seoul should carefully watch
July 30, 2012
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Seoul eases rules on civilians’ DMZ entry
South Korea will ease rules on the civilian off-limit zone near the heavily fortified border with North Korea to allow passers-by to stay in the restricted area for a longer period, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.The sparsely populated zone with about 2,300 residents is located near the southern boundary of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, which was established to serve as a buffer since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.The JCS said it will impl
July 30, 2012
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N. Korean visitors to China rise drastically since last year: data
The number of North Korean visitors to China increased drastically since then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's tour of the North's biggest communist ally early last year, Chinese government data shows. The data on the entry of foreigners obtained Sunday by Yonhap News Agency showed that 152,000 North Koreans entered China in 2011, a sharp rise from 116,000 the previous year. Out of the total,
July 29, 2012
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N. Korea disables key functions in new mobile phones: report
North Korea has disabled video camera and memory card functions in new mobile phones, a news report said Saturday, in what appears to be Pyongyang's latest move to tighten control over the flow of information within and across its borders.The North also removed the Bluetooth function, a protocol that allows mobile phone users to exchange data over short distances, and blocked subscribers from usin
July 28, 2012
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North Korea made Tablet PC ‘Morning’
North Korea has started to distribute its newly-developed tablet PC “Morning,” which was manufactured with North Korea’s own technology, according to a Chinese news report.Even in North Korea, where information is severely controlled, Tablet PCs seem to be popular among people.The tablet is seven inches long, weighs 300g and is useable for five hours when fully charged. However, its specific functions such as internet connection or a camera are as yet unknown.The Chinese IT industry analyzed the
July 27, 2012
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Bigger payout ordered for 1959 execution
An appeals court in Seoul on Thursday ordered the government to pay more compensation to the family of Cho Bong-am, former President Syngman Rhee’s political rival, who was executed on false charges of espionage in 1959. The Seoul High Court set the damage payment at 2.97 billion won ($2.6 million), up 500 million won from a lower court ruling. The family sued the government last year demanding 13.7 billion won after the Supreme Court overturned a guilty verdict on Cho. The former independence f
July 26, 2012
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‘Ex-N.K. military chief wasn’t cooperative’
Former top North Korean military official Ri Yong-ho was dismissed earlier this month for being uncooperative as Kim Jong-un tightened control over the military, the National Intelligence Service revealed Thursday.According to a lawmaker with a seat on the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, the NIS reported that it has gathered intelligence that Ri was dismissed for his “uncooperative attitude.” Regarding Kim Jong-un’s aunt Kim Kyong-hui, the NIS reported that she appears to be acting a
July 26, 2012
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First lady publicity latest sign of N.K. change
Kim Jong-un’s wife visited South Korea in 2005, intelligence agency confirmsNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un continues to shake off the regime’s long-held tradition of secrecy, intriguing watchers eager to find signs of change in the reclusive state. In the latest breakaway, Pyongyang’s state media late Wednesday confirmed that the mystery woman beside the 20-something leader at recent public events is his wife, Ri Sol-ju. Ri has fueled rampant speculation in recent weeks about her identity. She
July 26, 2012