Most Popular
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[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
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[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
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S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
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[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han's 'unlikable' character is result of calculated acting
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US military commander in S. Korea during Gwangju uprising dies
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[Photo News] Seoul seeks 'best sleeper'
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US expert says N. Korea might ignore Trump if he returns to White House
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Yoon vows to advance freedom, welfare to uphold spirit of 1980 pro-democracy uprising
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Kim Jong-il’s eldest son ‘in financial trouble’
MOSCOW (Yonhap News) ― Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong-il, is having financial problems after his own country and China cut off funding over recent doubts he expressed about his younger brother’s grip on power, a Russian newspaper said.According to the latest edition of Argumenty i Fakty, Kim Jong-nam was recently kicked out of his 17th-floor room at a luxurious hotel in Macao because he could not pay the $15,000 that was due. Kim, believed to be in his early 4
Feb. 17, 2012
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Parade, tributes mark 70th birthday of late North Korean leader
Parade, tributes mark 70th birthday of late North Korean leaderNorth Korea celebrated what would have been the 70thbirthday of its leader Kim Jong Il Thursday with a parade presided over by his son and successor, Kim Jong Un.North Korean military vehicles are lined up at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in
Feb. 17, 2012
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Ex-S. Korean official met N. Korean diplomats: source
Yim Tae-hee, a former South Korean presidential chief of staff, recently met with North Korean diplomats in the Chinese capital, a source here said Thursday."Yim and an accompanying person met with two diplomats from the North Korean embassy here from Feb. 2 to 4," the source said."I heard Yim told
Feb. 16, 2012
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S. Korea, China to hold talks on N. Korean defectors
Senior diplomats from South Korea and China are scheduled to hold talks later this month to address outstanding issues between the two nations, including North Korean defectors detained in China, a diplomatic source said Thursday. The talks come as Seoul has urged Beijing not to send back a group of North Koreans detained in China as they hope for South Korean intervention to avoid repatriation to their communist homeland. During the talks, South Korea will “emphasize again that China should not
Feb. 16, 2012
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S. Korean maestro expects 'good news' on Seoul orchestra's performance in N.K.
A renowned South Korean conductor said Wednesday his push along with the Seoul metropolitan government for an orchestra performance in Pyongyang will likely bear fruit soon, raising the prospect of the South Korean musical group's first concert in the North Korean capital in a decade. &n
Feb. 15, 2012
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Report: China agrees to invest $3b in N.K. zone
China has agreed to invest about $3 billion in developing North Korea’s northeastern free trade zone as an export base, a report said Wednesday.The deal was probably reached before or just after the North’s long-time leader Kim Jong-Il died on Dec. 17 of a heart attack, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.China will build an airport, a power plant, a cross-border railway and piers in the North’s Rason economic zone bordering China and Russia by 2020, it said.In return China has secured the rig
Feb. 15, 2012
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North Korea eulogizes late Kim Jong-il
North Korea’s idolizing of its late leader Kim Jong-il intensified ahead of his 70th birthday, calling him generalissimo for his role in turning the communist state into a nuclear power, the state media said Wednesday.The news came one day prior to the late Kim’s Feb. 16 birthday, for which the entire state is to celebrate the event.Pyongyang’s party, military and people’s commissions released a joint declaration through the Korean Central News Agency that the authorities decided to award the ti
Feb. 15, 2012
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Obama urged to press China on N.K. refugees
Kim Jong-un regime in Pyongyang warns of ‘three-generation wipeout’ for defectionAn international human rights group urged U.S. President Barack Obama to pressure Beijing to stop forcefully repatriating North Korean refugees during his talks with China’s Vice President Xi Jinping.The call came as South Korea’s Rep. Park Sun-young of the conservative Liberty Forward Party said 24 North Korean defectors were being held in China ahead of repatriation to their home country.In a letter sent to the Wh
Feb. 15, 2012
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N.K. deserters killed four Chinese: lawmaker
Four armed North Korean soldiers killed a Chinese family of four and robbed their house last Thursday after having deserted from their unit to cross the border with China, a lawmaker claimed on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. Rep. Park Sun-young of the minor conservative Liberty Forward Party also said that another armed soldier entered China across the Tumen River on Monday.Experts said that such desertions underline worsening food shortages and waning troop morale in the impoverished state.
Feb. 15, 2012
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Western cafe and bakery opens in N.K.
A U.S.-based website on Wednesday made public several photos showing the interior of the newly opened Western coffee shop in Pyongyang.The Viennese “Helmut Sachers Kaffee” opened inside the Museum of Korean History near Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang last October through an investment of the Austrian coffee producer and bakery supplier. According to eight pictures included in the posting carried by the North Korean Economy Watch, the shop offers diverse kinds of coffee, such as Wiener coffee, c
Feb. 15, 2012
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N. Korean workers at Kaesong park soften stance toward South: official
North Korean workers at the industrial park jointly operated by the two Koreas have softened their views on the South, a Seoul official said, indicating growing social exchanges despite lingering political tensions on the divided peninsula.More than 50,000 North Koreans work at the complex located in the North‘s border city of Gaeseong, producing clothes, utensils and other goods at 123 South Korean companies operating there. The factory park opened in 2004 amid efforts toward reconciliation fol
Feb. 15, 2012
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Free N.K. Radio undeterred by N. Korean crackdown
Free North Korea Radio will not be deterred in reaching North Korean citizens, despite the authoritarian state’s recent creation of an anti-foreign media unit to crack down on black market radios, the station said. According to a local news report, Pyongyang created Unit 114 in January to remove music CDs and any foreign published media circling among North Korean citizens.This could hamper the activities of the FNKR, which relies on black market radios to send messages to citizens of the impove
Feb. 15, 2012
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South Korean Red Cross proposes talks with North
The South Korean Red Cross on Tuesday proposed working-level talks with its North Korean counterpart to prepare reunions of separated families.The proposal is the first in 15 months after the South Korean government indefinitely postponed inter-Korean Red Cross talks in November 2010, shortly after the North’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeongdo.South Korea’s Red Cross chief Yu Jung-keun said the South’s side on Tuesday sent a message to the North Korean Red Cross through their channel at the border
Feb. 14, 2012
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N. Korean officials pledge allegiance to new leader
North Korean officials swore loyalty to their new leader Kim Jong-un in a rally, the country’s television reported Monday, in the latest public display of support for his dynastic power succession.Kim became the supreme commander of the country’s 1.1 million-strong military soon after the December death of his father, Kim Jong-il. The young leader is believed to be consolidating his power.Ri Yong-ho, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People‘s Army, vowed to safeguard supreme leader Kim Jo
Feb. 13, 2012
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Activists face punishment for unauthorized contact with N.K.
Three South Korean pro-unification activists will face punishment for making illegal contact with North Koreans in China, a Seoul official said Saturday. An official with the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the three civilians, representing a pro-unification activist group called the South Side Committee for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration, will pay the price for violating the law aimed at regulating inter-Korean contact.No South Koreans can visit North
Feb. 12, 2012
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Inter-Korea talks to possibly resume in mid-April: Seoul's unification minister
Inter-Korean talks could possibly resume as early as mid-April, South Korea's unification minister said Friday, hinting at the possibility of holding the first government-level talks with North Korea in almost year."I have an idea that it should be at least mid-April for the South-North talks to res
Feb. 11, 2012
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Seoul Mayor Park denies reports on joining DUP yet
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon denied reports that he will join the main opposition Democratic United Party within the month, calling it premature.The Yonhap news agency reported Friday that Park and South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Du-kwan are to join the left-wing party next Thursday, quoting the South Gyeongsang governor’s office and the provincial branch of the DUP, but both the party headquarters and the mayor denied it.“I currently have no plans to join the DUP next week,” Park told reporters during h
Feb. 10, 2012
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Lawmakers call for FTA benefits to Gaeseong goods
A delegation of South Korean lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties, have urged the South Korean government to support the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea, after visiting there for the first time since the death of North Korea’s long-time leader Kim Jong-il in December.They called on the South Korean government to negotiate with the U.S. and the EU, both of which have free trade agreements with South Korea, to give FTA benefits to products made in the complex with the recognitio
Feb. 10, 2012
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Savings banks bill raises questions
Compensation exceeding legal ceiling apparently designed to woo Busan votersQuestions have arisen over the fairness and legitimacy of a special bill to compensate the victims of last year’s Busan savings banks’ bankruptcy beyond the current deposit loss compensation ceiling.The parliamentary state affairs committee on Thursday approved the bill to make up for 55 percent of financial losses over the legally guaranteed 50 million won ($44,500) for the savings bank depositors and its subordinated b
Feb. 10, 2012
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N. Korea rejects Seoul’s offer of pest control talks
North Korea has apparently rejected South Korea’s proposal to hold inter-Korean talks on pest control at ancient tombs located in the North.The South Korean authorities have contacted the North’s land and environment protection office, the Office of Forestry, through a Red Cross channel on Tuesday, to suggest both authorities meet in late February.However, Pyongyang’s China-based news website Uriminzokkiri, on Thursday said the South is not ready to hold a dialogue because it banned a civilian i
Feb. 9, 2012