The Korea Herald

U.S. lawmaker: New bill will be as painful to N. Korea as banking sanctions

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― A new financial sanctions bill for North Korea, which has just passed the U.S. House of Representatives, will be as painful to Pyongyang as the banking restrictions that hit the communist regime hard in 2005, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman said.Rep. Ed Royce (R-California), who initiated the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act, made the remark in an interview with Yonhap, stressing that the only time Pyongyang paid serious attention to what the U.S. said was

North Korea July 30, 2014

U.S. lawmaker: New bill will be as painful to N. Korea as banking sanctions

N.K. suspends Soviet fighters after crashes

Three North Korean MiG19 fighters have crashed this year, leading to the suspension of flight drills involving the aircraft, South Korea’s military sources said Wednesday.The supersonic MiG-19 aircraft is a Soviet second-generation fighter developed in 1953. Some 400 MiG variants are still in service in the communist North, accounting for about half of its fighters.“At least three of the MiG19s crashed during training missions ― one earlier this year, the others last month and earlier this month

North Korea July 30, 2014

China-N.K. relations face bumpy road

Relations between North Korea and China face a bumpy road as Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions continue to chip away at their decades-long alliance while Beijing increasingly courts Seoul for greater strategic and economic cooperation. Their “blood alliance” born out of the 1950-53 Korean War has been eroded by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests and other military provocations in recent years. It suffered a major blow in December when the Kim Jong-un regime executed Jang Song-thaek, the leader’s

North Korea July 30, 2014

Admiral: World getting ‘numb’ to N.K. missiles

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Amid concerns about its development and testing of nuclear weapons, North Korea may be lulling the world into largely accepting its advances in missile technology, the admiral in charge of American forces in Asia and the Pacific said Tuesday.Adm. Samuel Locklear told a Pentagon news conference that he is concerned by North Korea’s frequent testing of ballistic missiles. Locklear heads U.S. Pacific Command, and his responsibilities include military relations with longtime U.S. a

North Korea July 30, 2014

Africa looks to take page from Saemaul movement

Nineteen officials from six African countries pledged to spur rural reform and boost their local economies by taking a page from Korea’s development book at a seminar hosted by the Korea International Cooperation Agency on Tuesday. The state grant aid agency has been running the two-week session for officials from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda who are in charge of the Millennium Villages Project, which aims to help rural African communities shake off poverty. Kim Young-m

Foreign Affairs July 29, 2014

Africa looks to take page from Saemaul movement

U.S. official visits Seoul over Russia, Iran sanctions

A key U.S. official on sanctions policy visited Seoul on Monday as the West gears up for a further economic squeeze on Moscow in the wake of the downing of a Malaysian airliner, officials here said. Peter Harrell, deputy assistant secretary for counter threat finance and sanctions in the State Department’s economic and business affairs bureau, will hold a briefing session on Tuesday on U.S. sanctions against Russia and Iran for officials from the foreign, finance and industry ministries and bank

Foreign Affairs July 28, 2014

World sees Korea as technology powerhouse: survey

Citizens of 17 major nations regard South Korea as a technology powerhouse that ascended from the ashes of a devastating war, a survey showed Friday. The Foreign Ministry released results of a worldwide survey on the image of the country. It commissioned Samjong KPMG LLC, an accounting and consulting house, to poll 6,000 people aged 18 or older in countries including Germany, India, Vietnam, Mexico, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa for one month from mid-October. It excluded the U.S., China, Japan

Foreign Affairs July 25, 2014

Japan, China held talks to discuss summit: report

Senior officials from China and Japan met early this month in Beijing to explore the possibility of a summit on the margins of an economic conference later this year, a news report said Thursday.The Japanese delegates from the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau held talks with officials including Xiong Bo, a deputy director-general for Asian Affairs at Beijing’s Foreign Ministry, Kyodo News reported. The Tokyo diplomats delivered Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hopes for a formal m

Foreign Affairs July 25, 2014

After surviving reshuffle, Yun faces heavier diplomatic agenda

After weathering recent cabinet shake-ups, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is coming under pressure to improve testy relations with South Korea’s neighbors by untangling a matrix of diplomatic and geopolitical interests.Relations between Korea and Japan are at their lowest ebb in decades. An erratic Pyongyang continues to develop atomic weapons, whereas six-nation denuclearization talks remain in their sixth year of dormancy. Yet the Sino-U.S. rivalry is growing fierce, propelled by fast-evolving

Foreign Affairs July 23, 2014

After surviving reshuffle, Yun faces heavier diplomatic agenda

N. Korea executed at least 17 citizens in 2013: report

North Korea executed at least 17 of its citizens in 2013 and six in the first half of this year, mostly for political motives and nonviolent crimes, a civic group said Monday, pointing to rampant breaches of human rights in the communist country. In an annual report on the death penalty, the Brussels-based rights group Hands Off Cain said at least 4,106 executions took place in 22 countries last year. Topping the list is China with at least 3,000, followed by Iran with 687, Iraq with 172, Saudi

North Korea July 22, 2014

Pakistan at crossroads of security threats, economic potential

More than 30 years after South Korea and Pakistan established diplomatic ties, a notable change took place this year marking their improving relations. In April, Chung Hong-won became Korea’s first prime minister to travel to Islamabad. This was followed by a visit by Kang Chang-hee, then speaker of the National Assembly, who led a delegation of members of both ruling and opposition parties in January. Their trips came as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was inaugurated in June 2013, b

Foreign Affairs July 21, 2014

Pakistan at crossroads of security threats, economic potential

[Herald Interview] ‘Learning, preparedness key to disaster risk reduction’

This is the 10th installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.The Sewol ferry disaster in April raised global alarm over disaster prevention and crisis management. A public furor persists over the government’s flawed response, while the state auditor billed it a “man-made debacle” resulting from a concoction of official negligence, corruption and corporate greed. Despite the continuing grief and misery at the rescue scene, Korea should now work to ra

Foreign Affairs July 20, 2014

[Herald Interview] ‘Learning, preparedness key to disaster risk reduction’

N.K. threatens to ‘reconsider’ joining Asian Games

Pyongyang on Friday threatened to reconsider its plans to take part in the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon after inter-Korean talks fell apart with both sides shifting the blame onto each other. The working-level meeting in the truce village of Panmunjeom ended Thursday without any accord or date for the next gathering. Key items on the agenda were the North Korean team’s lodging, transportation and other arrangements for its stay. As the two sides struggled to reach a compromise, the North’s de

North Korea July 18, 2014

U.N. panel presses Japan on sex slavery

A U.N. panel has ratcheted up pressure on Japan to resolve the issue of its wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women and criticized its recent attempt to undermine past apologies, Seoul officials said Thursday. The U.N. Human Rights Committee consisting of 18 independent experts from around the world held a two-day deliberation on a report monitoring Japan’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Geneva until Wednesday.During the session, the panel called

Foreign Affairs July 17, 2014

Two Koreas discuss North’s participation in Asian Games

The two Koreas held a meeting Thursday to discuss the envisioned participation by North Korean athletes and cheerleaders in the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon. A three-member delegation from each side opened the talks at about 10:15 a.m. at Freedom House on the southern part of the truce village of Panmunjeom. It was led by Kwon Kyung-sang, secretary-general of the games’ organizing committee, and Son Kwang-ho, vice chairman of the North’s Olympic Committee. The negotiations were the first spor

North Korea July 17, 2014

Two Koreas discuss North’s participation in Asian Games

Articles by Shin Hyon-hee