Articles by Choi Si-young
Choi Si-young
siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com-
[Newsmaker] N. Korea touts economic progress as party anniversary nears
North Korea on Monday celebrated its economic achievements as it geared up for the anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party on Saturday, at a time when its economy is faltering under UN-led sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic and the aftereffects of recent floods. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency and its state newspaper released extensive coverage of what it called a “remarkable” recovery from the floods, saying hundreds of new homes and pu
North Korea Oct. 5, 2020
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Air Force seeks name for fighter jet
South Korea’s Air Force is looking for a name for its next-generation fighter jet, known by the project name KF-X. Citizens can submit one candidate name each by the end of this month, and three winners will receive the Air Force Chief’s recognition awards and model aircraft. The KF-X project is the largest undertaking ever by the Korean military, with some $15 billion earmarked for investment until production. The prototype will be released early next year, with another five year
Defense Oct. 4, 2020
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[Newsmaker] N. Korea seen moving intercontinental ballistic missile: report
South Korean and US intelligence have spotted North Korea moving an intercontinental ballistic missile, along with four mobile launchers, at an auto plant on the outskirts of Pyongyang, a Seoul official told a local media outlet on Saturday. “The missile is larger than the one they fired in 2017 and we believe they will showcase that at a military parade on Oct. 10,” the official said. North Korea fired its first ICBM, Hwasong-15, in 2017 and appears set to stage a show of force on
North Korea Oct. 4, 2020
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Koreans seek time alone at COVID-hit Chuseok
Chuseok has traditionally been a time for families to gather, enjoy time together and share good food. Many visit their rural hometowns for ancestral rituals and reunions with other family members and relatives. But this year, as long-distance trips and large gatherings are being discouraged as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus, many have been forced to adjust their plans. For some, that is not such a bad thing. Those yearning for respite from work, in particular, look forward to
Social Affairs Sept. 29, 2020
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N. Korea breached inter-Korean military pact: experts
A day after South Korea’s presidential office described North Korea’s killing of a Seoul fisheries official as a violation of the “spirit” of the inter-Korean military pact and not the accord itself, experts on Friday heaped strong criticism on the top office. North Korea on Tuesday shot dead the official in the West Sea north of the inter-Korean maritime border and is thought to have burned the body there. South Korean intelligence suspects the man was attempting defect
North Korea Sept. 25, 2020
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Moon’s call for end-of-war declaration ‘out of sync’ with US: experts
President Moon Jae-in called for help to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War in his UN address, but the US appeared wary, with the State Department highlighting “unified response” to North Korea, and a former US security official describing the overture as “out of sync” with the US stance. “We are committed to close coordination on our unified response to North Korea,” the State Department told Voice of America on Wednesday, without elaborating if Washin
North Korea Sept. 24, 2020
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New defense chief to travel to US to resolve disputes
South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook will attend an annual security meeting with the US in mid-October, military sources confirmed Wednesday. He is expected to facilitate the stalled defense cost-sharing negotiations and review the plan for Seoul to take over wartime operational control from Washington. Despite a year of negotiations, Korea and the US have yet to conclude an agreement for the upkeep of US troops here, largely because they have failed to work out differences over Washin
Defense Sept. 23, 2020
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USFK relaxes quarantine rules
United States Forces Korea said Wednesday it had decided to downgrade by a notch the peninsula-wide health emergency declaration to Bravo, the second level of the four stages of guidelines, citing “favorable” coronavirus conditions here. The change is effective nationwide from 4 p.m. Thursday, except for some areas in the Greater Seoul area, including Incheon and Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Travel to the Greater Seoul area still remains off-limits for personnel except for official d
Defense Sept. 23, 2020
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Effort to denuclearize N. Korea should go on: Trump
US President Donald Trump said countries should continue to work to denuclearize North Korea, in written greetings delivered to the 2020 International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference on Monday. For the IAEA event, which opened Monday and runs through Friday in Vienna, the US leader also discussed Iran, saying it was important to make sure it commits to its nonproliferation promises and seeks no nuclear weapons. The US was moving to sanction individuals and groups tied to
North Korea Sept. 22, 2020
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NK resumes missile cooperation with Iran: report
North Korea and Iran have resumed long-range missile cooperation, which includes the transfer of critical parts, Reuters reported Monday, citing a senior US official who did not provide detailed evidence. The official, who was speaking of a broader US plan to sanction people and entities linked to Iran’s weapons programs, did not elaborate on when Pyongyang and Tehran first started working together, or when they stopped and began again, according to the report. North Korea and Iran have
North Korea Sept. 21, 2020
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S. Korea expresses ‘deep regret’ as Japan’s Abe visits wartime shrine
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed deep regret over former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead. The shrine honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals. Visits there by ranking Tokyo officials have often provoked the ire of neighboring countries such as South Korea and China, which suffered from Japan’s brutal war crimes. “We express our deepest concern and regret that Abe paid a
Foreign Affairs Sept. 20, 2020
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NK silent as Moon speaks of peace deal
President Moon Jae-in said Saturday that the Pyongyang Joint Declaration should be fulfilled, in a message commemorating the second anniversary of the inter-Korean peace deal signed by him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sept. 19, 2018, at their third summit that year. “The reason the deal has yet to be realized was that there were hurdles, both domestic and foreign. Nevertheless, we have an unwavering commitment to peace,” Moon wrote on Facebook, adding that the “seeds
North Korea Sept. 20, 2020
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‘NK likely to mark Oct. 10 anniversary with something big’
North Korea will likely celebrate its founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party on Oct. 10 with “something big” potentially showcasing missiles at a military parade amid the stalled nuclear talks with the US, Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Wednesday. “The North Koreans are going to come out potentially with scores of solid propellants, medium range missiles, maybe Pukguksong-2s,” he told a teleconference
North Korea Sept. 17, 2020
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17% of S. Koreans have confidence in Trump: poll
Only 17 percent of South Koreans said they have confidence in US President Donald Trump, down from 46 percent last year in what was the sharpest on-year decline, among 13 countries surveyed, US think tank Pew Research Center said Tuesday. The 13 countries include Japan, Canada and 10 European countries. The prolonged defense cost-sharing talks, in which South Korea is under pressure to accept a dramatic hike in its contribution toward the upkeep of the 28,500 American soldiers stationed her
Foreign Affairs Sept. 16, 2020
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US optimistic on nuclear talks with NK: Pompeo
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the US was optimistic that it would make progress in its stalled nuclear talks with North Korea. “As for North Korea, which you mentioned, we did have hopes that we could make further progress, that Chairman Kim would go in a different direction, but I’m still optimistic,” Pompeo told the president of the Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank, in an online conversation. “There’s still lots of work going on, wor
North Korea Sept. 16, 2020
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