Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
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Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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Civil servant’s death linked to workplace bullying
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[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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Hanwha, HD Hyundai vie for Poland’s $2.7b submarine program
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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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N. Korea has final review on draft resolution for year-end party plenary
North Korea has discussed a draft resolution expected to be adopted at the close of an ongoing key party meeting, its state media reported Friday, amid expectations the document could include its foreign policy line for the new year. The North convened a fourth day of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's 8th Central Committee on Thursday, during which participants "concluded sectional workshops and consultative sessions," according to the official Korean Central News
Dec. 31, 2021
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Top N. Korean officials join discussions on major policies for 2022 at party plenary
North Korea had high-profile discussions on key policy issues for 2022 during a year-end plenary session of the Workers' Party, with senior officials, including those in charge of inter-Korean relations and foreign affairs in attendance, according to its state media Thursday. The North convened a third day of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the party's 8th Central Committee on Wednesday, during which "sectional workshops" continued from the previous day to "map out plans according to
Dec. 30, 2021
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Defectors’ remittances to N. Korea down 18% in 2021 amid pandemic: NGO
Remittances from North Korean defectors to their families living across the inter-Korean border fell by 18.2 percent while Pyongyang has maintained a border lockdown for two years and strengthened controls over its society, Seoul-based nongovernmental organizations said in a joint report. The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights and North Korea Social Research conducted a mixed in-person, online, and telephone survey of 407 North Korean defectors living in South Korea between November
Dec. 29, 2021
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NK leader orders 'important revolutionary measures' for rural development
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over the second-day session of a key party plenary to discuss rural development measures, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday amid its drive to tackle nagging economic woes. During the meeting held Tuesday, Kim "set forth medium- and long-term development strategies and major tasks for attaining the grand goal of rural development in line with the realistic conditions and the requirement of the times," according to the North's offici
Dec. 29, 2021
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N.Korea convenes key party meeting to discuss ‘strategic, tactical’ policies
North Korea on Monday kicked off a key party meeting to discuss and decide major “strategic and tactical policies” for the next year, with the attendance of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. The North Korean leader presided over the fourth plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea upon the authorization of the politburo, North Korean media reported Tuesday. The meeting has been held in public four times this year mainly with an emp
Dec. 28, 2021
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Seoul urges N. Korea to start new year by opening door for dialogue
South Korea's unification ministry on Monday urged North Korea to start the new year with a step for dialogue and cooperation, as Pyongyang is set to convene a key party meeting this week to discuss domestic and foreign policy issues. North Korea earlier announced the ruling Workers' Party will hold a plenary meeting of its central committee "in the last third of December" to "discuss and decide on work plans for the new year." "The plenary has been usually held for on
Dec. 27, 2021
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N. Korea expands online education for workers: state media
North Korea is spurring online education at major universities as part of efforts to train "intellectual-type workers" with science and technology expertise, according to its state media Monday. The North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said around 100,000 workers are currently enrolled for online classes across the country, including 10,000 newly registered this year. North Korea has been highlighting its efforts to develop the remote education system as a tool to help workers
Dec. 27, 2021
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End-of-war: No reason for US to back ‘end-of-rainbow’ pursuit
The Biden administration is skeptical of Seoul’s diplomatic initiative to utilize an end-of-war declaration as a standalone measure to reboot nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. Essentially, Washington’s doubts of the Moon Jae-in administration’s proposal have grown as North Korea began to raise the costs for declaring an end to the Korean War. The US interprets North Korea’s move as in line with its apathy toward resuming nuclear negotiations and the denucleari
Dec. 23, 2021
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N. Korea's economy tanks 4.5% in 2020 on sanctions, pandemic
SEJONG -- North Korea's economy shrank 4.5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due to international sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The drop in the reclusive country's real gross domestic product (GDP) represents a turnaround from a 0.4 percent increase a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The statistics agency attributed the decline to international economic sanctions for its weapons program and border lockdowns stemming from th
Dec. 23, 2021
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China's top envoy to N. Korea to return home after delay due to COVID-19
Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun will leave Pyongyang following a seven-year stint, according to the North's state media Thursday, with his departure having been delayed apparently due to tight border control to stave off the COVID-19 pandemic. The envoy met with Choe Ryong-hae, a member of the North Korean ruling party's politburo presidium, and other ranking officials at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang for a farewell, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) s
Dec. 23, 2021
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End-of-war declaration: What are US conditions, sequence, timing?
Seoul has stressed time and again that its approach to North Korean issues are in sync with that of the US, but the allies appear far apart on Moon Jae-in administration’s latest play -- declaring the end of the Korean War. The Biden administration essentially prefers to discuss an end of war declaration as a part of a broad and comprehensive process toward complete denuclearization and permanent peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula. Washington also wants to see upfront steps toward d
Dec. 22, 2021
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Biden bans nonhumanitarian aid to N. Korea for human trafficking
US President Joe Biden has banned the provision of nonhumanitarian aid to North Korea for fiscal year 2022, accusing the reclusive state of human trafficking, according to the White House. It marks the 19th consecutive year for a US president to take such a measure against Pyongyang. In a presidential memorandum for the secretary of state, posted on the White House website Tuesday (Washington time), Biden said the US will not provide "nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance" or
Dec. 22, 2021
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Cold wave to hit N. Korea as it prepares to mark leader's 10 years in power
North Korea issued a cold wave alert Wednesday, forecasting strong winds and heavy snow over the weekend amid keen attention from the outside world about whether leader Kim Jong-un will again visit Mount Paektu on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his ascension to power. Extreme cold weather is expected from Friday night to Sunday, with the temperature in the region of Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, likely to drop to as low as minus 35 C to 40 C on Saturday mornin
Dec. 22, 2021
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N. Korea's child mortality estimated at 17 per 1,000 in 2020: UN report
North Korea's mortality rate for children under age 5 was estimated at 17 per 1,000 births last year with a 3.2 percent annual rate of reduction over the past three decades, a recent UN report showed. The number is down from 43 in 1990 and 60 in 2000, according to the Level and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2021. The global average of under-five mortality rate came to 37 per 1,000 in 2020, while the comparable figure for South Korea declined from 16 in 1990 to eight in 2000 and three last
Dec. 22, 2021
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Ending the Korean War: Risky gambit, with little chance of payoff
Will an end-of-war declaration bring us one step closer to a peaceful and nuclear-free Korean Peninsula? In Washington, there is a divergence of opinion on the utility of an end-of-war declaration as a means to reboot nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. But the majority sees more risk than opportunity, with adverse ramifications for the security of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korea-US alliance, American deterrence and the status of the United Nations Command. There is also concern
Dec. 21, 2021
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Over 24,000 video messages await delivery to separated families in N. Korea
Families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in South Korea have produced more than 24,000 video messages for their long-lost relatives in the North, but almost all of them have yet to be delivered, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday. Of the 24,077 video letters produced since 2005, including 1,004 created this year, only 20 of them were sent to North Korea in 2008 following inter-Korean Red Cross talks the previous year, according to the ministry. South Korea has been pushing to hold r
Dec. 21, 2021
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N. Korea's military staging wintertime drills, S. Korea says
North Korea's military is conducting a wintertime exercise, as South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring related moves, Seoul's defense authorities said Tuesday. "We believe that wintertime drills by North Korea's military are under way," Col. Kim Jun-rak, the spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told reporters. The North usually kicks off a regular military training in December, which continues through early spring often involving artillery firing drills.
Dec. 21, 2021
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N. Korean leader 3rd most searched politician online in 2021: data
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the third most searched politician by internet users worldwide this year, data showed Tuesday. Online searches for Kim totaled a monthly average of 1.9 million, behind US President Joe Biden, who topped the list with 7 million searches, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with 2 million, according to German data analytics firm Statista. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked fourth with 1.4 million searches. The most searched keyword related to t
Dec. 21, 2021
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[Hwang’s China and the World] Dealing with North Korea in 2022, not very optimistic
Understanding the other half of the Korean Peninsula, North Korea, is literally arduous as its ‘Arduous March’ reminds. From the emotional 2018 when the peninsula was overwhelmed with the Panmunjeom Declaration to the disappointing meeting at Singapore, today we are standing in the middle of North Korea’s impassiveness and indifference. On the motionless circumstance, there exists a possibility of North Korea’s provocation. It seems unpredictable but also might be
Dec. 20, 2021
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S. Korean govt. cautious on possible change in political status of N. Korean leader's sister
South Korea's unification ministry responded cautiously Monday to reports of a possible change in the stature of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, days after she was seen standing alongside members of the powerful politburo of the North's ruling party during a memorial event last week. Kim Yo-jong, apparently influential in the secretive regime, was spotted between members and alternate members of the politburo during a memorial event for her father and late North Korean leader Kim Jong
Dec. 20, 2021