Philip Morris Korea Inc. said Thursday that it will begin selling its tobacco sticks, called Heets, produced at its factory in South Korea later this month.To this point, Philip Morris Korea imported Heets for sale in South Korea. Heets (Yonhap)Philip Morris Korea has expanded its production facility in Yangsan, the first facility in Asia to manufacture heated tobacco units for its tobacco heating device IQOS. Yangsan is a city located about 420 kilometers southeast of Seoul.The share of Heets,

Industry Oct. 11, 2018

The crisp cool breeze of fall brings out the colors of nature. Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, is famous for the demilitarized zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula, and heavy snow in the winter, but at a slightly warmer time of the year, beds of cosmos fill the tension-filled border lands. (Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Through joint effort of Cheorwon County and its residents, the Cheorwon Cosmos 10-ri Road was born three years ago, on a strip of land that used to serve as an old

Travel Oct. 11, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the mausoleum of his father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather Kim Il-sung on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the country’s ruling party, the North’s state media said Thursday.Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang and extended “deep respect and the best wishes” to the statues of the two former leaders of the communist regime, according to the Korean Central News Agency.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and ranking offic

North Korea Oct. 11, 2018

Personnel from the US and international organizations are among the most likely candidates for carrying out the inspection of a North Korean nuclear site proposed by Kim Jong-un during his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, experts say. In May, the communist nation blew up underground tunnels in Punggye-ri, its main nuclear test site, where its sixth and largest test -- which it claimed involved the successful detonation of a hydrogen bomb -- was conducted last September. It invited

North Korea Oct. 10, 2018

South Korea‘s point man on inter-Korean affairs will visit the US next month to explain the current administration’s policy on North Korea and ease widespread skepticism over North Korea’s commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon plans to meet senior US officials and scholars during his visit to Washington set for Nov. 13-17, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed ministry official. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (Yonhap)The o

North Korea Oct. 9, 2018

South Korea has proposed holding a cross-border parliamentary meeting in November in Pyongyang and follow-up gathering next year in Seoul.The proposal was made by South Korean lawmakers who were part of the 160-member delegation that visited Pyongyang last week for the joint celebration of the 11th anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.Earlier this year, National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang had proposed to the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly that the two parliaments hold a joint meeti

North Korea Oct. 8, 2018

A new observatory deck in the Demilitarized Zone that bisects the two Koreas will open to the public later this month, the city of Paju said Sunday.Dora Observatory, situated in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, will be officially relocated to a spot 170 meters northeast of its previous location. New Dora Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap)The relocation process started in late 2016 with an investment of 1 billion won ($884,000). The new venue will be nearly double the size of the former obse

North Korea Oct. 7, 2018

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui will hold rare trilateral consultations with her Chinese and Russian counterparts in Moscow on Tuesday, in what is viewed as an effort to reaffirm their shared stance on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.According to Russia’s Tass news agency, Choe and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov will hold a bilateral meeting Monday, which will be closely followed by a trilateral consultation involving the two and China’s Vice Minister

North Korea Oct. 7, 2018

A group of South Korean government officials, politicians and civic and religious leaders headed to North Korea on Thursday to participate in an event marking the 11th anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.A delegation of 160 people led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and ruling Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Hae-chan arrived in Pyongyang at 9:58 a.m. via the western air route for a three-day trip to Pyongyang

North Korea Oct. 4, 2018

China sold about 2,700 tons of refined oil to North Korea in August, triple the amount it exported to the neighboring country in July, Voice of America said Wednesday, citing the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee. The report highlighted the abrupt surge in oil shipments, saying that the volume is believed to be the largest amount tracked since October 2017, when the committee started recording such trade.According to VOA, the total volume of refined oil exported to North Kore

North Korea Oct. 3, 2018

For North Korea an end-of-war declaration “can never be a bargaining chip” to get the country to denuclearize, and it will not hope for such a declaration if the US does not want it, according to the country’s state media on Tuesday. Experts interpreted the statement as Pyongyang’s call on Washington to stop using such a declaration as a bargaining chip for its complete and verifiable denuclearization, and instead take corresponding steps to the “goodwill measures” the communist nation has taken

North Korea Oct. 2, 2018

In line with the 70th Armed Forces Day, President Moon Jae-in highlighted strong national defense and the alliance with the US on Monday, as the allies cooperate toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. “Now we have launched our ambitious journey toward lasting peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The path we are walking on is a path that no one has walked before, and so it is hard to predict what difficulties lie ahead. And therefore, strong defense is more important than ever,” the

Defense Oct. 1, 2018

The third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke new ground in inter-Korean ties, experts said, giving South Korea an opportunity to move beyond its role as a “mediator” in the US-North Korea nuclear talks. The South’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the Seoul government would now be able to take on a more “active role” based on the “meaningful” results of the inter-Korean summit. “(The summit agreement) has provided a foundation for both Ko

North Korea Sept. 20, 2018

The leaders of the two Koreas on Wednesday vowed to revive the now-suspended tours to North Korea’s eastern slopes of Kumgangsan and bolster humanitarian cooperation with the establishment of a permanent meeting area for families separated by 1950-53 Korean War. “The South and North have decided to negotiate normalizing the Kaesong industrial complex and tour programs to Kumgansan and the issue of forming a special joint economic zone near the West Sea and a joint tourism zone near the East Sea,

North Korea Sept. 19, 2018

The leaders of the two Koreas will visit North Korea’s sacred Paektusan early Thursday, before wrapping up their third summit, according to Cheong Wa Dae. “President Moon accepted Chairman Kim Jong-un’s request to visit Paektusan (with him),” Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, said at the main press center in Pyongyang. According to the spokesman, they will take a flight from Sunan International Airport to Samjiyon Airport near the mountain and ride a bus to a

North Korea Sept. 19, 2018