Articles by Shin Hyon-hee
Shin Hyon-hee
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Unification panel faces challenges amid frozen cross-border ties
The newly launched panel on unification faces daunting challenges in the face of frozen inter-Korean relations, steadfast cross-border military tension and President Park Geun-hye’s rigid North Korea policy. The 50-member preparation committee set sail Tuesday with the aim of devising a unification blueprint and detailed action plans. The president will head the group, supported by former Ambassador to China Chung Chong-wook and Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae as vice chairs, as well as other
North Korea July 16, 2014
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Koreas to meet on Asian Games Thursday
The two Koreas agreed to hold a meeting Thursday to discuss the North’s plans to dispatch a group of athletes and cheerleaders to the forthcoming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korean officials said Monday. Three officials from each side will gather at Freedom House on the southern part of the truce village of Panmunjeom. The South’s delegation is to be led by Kwon Kyung-sang, secretary-general of the event’s steering committee. Last Thursday Pyongyang offered working-level talks on Tuesday via a
North Korea July 14, 2014
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Stalled Geumgang tours deepen economic hardships
Six years since operations ceased, the stalled tours to Mount Geumgangsan in North Korea are deepening the despair of program operators, shop owners and residents. Revenue sources have dried up and local communities have lost their vigor while cross-border ties are showing no sign of a thaw.Touted as an icon of inter-Korean rapprochement, the program was launched in 1998 and fetched more than 2 million visitors from the South until it was halted after a tourist was shot dead by a North Korean so
North Korea July 13, 2014
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Seoul offers Asian Games talks on July 17
Seoul on Friday proposed working-level inter-Korean talks on July 17 to discuss the North’s plans to send a group of athletes and cheerleaders to the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon.The offer was made through a border telephone line in response to Pyongyang’s proposal a day before to meet at the peace village of Panmunjeom on July 15. President Park Geun-hye speaks at a meeting to check preparation of the 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium on Friday. (Yonhap)“We revised
North Korea July 11, 2014
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N.K. proposes talks over Asian Games
North Korea on Thursday proposed working-level talks with the South next week to discuss its plans to dispatch a group of athletes and cheerleaders to the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon. Pyongyang suggested the meeting take place at the peace village of Panmunjeom on July 15, its official Korean Central News Agency said. The offer was also made through a border telephone line, the Unification Ministry said. The proposal came three days after the North said that it will send a cheering squad to
North Korea July 10, 2014
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‘N.K. admits to some surviving Japanese abductees’
North Korea has allegedly confirmed the survival of some Japanese nationals kidnapped decades ago, a Japanese news report claimed Thursday, suggesting a potential breakthrough in the two countries’ long-festering diplomatic tug-of-war. During a meeting in Beijing last week, North Korean officials presented a list of 30 survivors along with their birthdates, occupations and family members’ names, including “several” of the 17 people officially recognized as abductees by Tokyo, the Nikkei daily re
Foreign Affairs July 10, 2014
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Experts give mixed responses to Park’s Northeast Asia peace plan
Seoul’s ambitious initiative for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia drew mixed reactions from experts from around the world as they examined the region’s security landscape and discussed ways to foster trust at a conference in Seoul on Wednesday. About 20 renowned foreign and security policy specialists took part in the one-day event jointly hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The meeting was designed to assess President
Foreign Affairs July 9, 2014
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Calls grow for inter-Korean talks
Calls are growing for inter-Korean dialogue as Pyongyang continues to make overtures toward Seoul, yet their bilateral communication channels and six-way denuclearization talks are showing no signs of regaining their vigor. Seoul, Washington and Beijing have been ramping up diplomacy since late last year, seeking middle ground so that the six-nation forum can be reopened for the first time in about five years. But the efforts were held back by the execution of the powerful uncle of North Korean
North Korea July 8, 2014
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N.K. to send cheering squad to Incheon Asiad
North Korea said Monday it would dispatch a squad of cheerleaders to the Asian Games scheduled for September in South Korea in a fresh conciliatory gesture following heightened military tension. The reclusive country in May announced its participation in the 17th Asian Games, which will take place in Incheon from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. Its cheering brigade will be introduced to the outside world for the first time since the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships, also held in the South Korean port city
North Korea July 7, 2014
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[Reporter's Column] Park’s short-sighted diplomacy limits her policy options
Just like the namesake board game, diplomacy needs at least two players. Your every move entails a message for your counterparts, while shaping your options for the next step. Seoul officials have long been grumbling about the cozy relationship between the Japanese government and the media. In particular since Shinzo Abe was sworn in as prime minister in late 2012, Tokyo officials have apparently been trying to test public opinion by leaking a secret policy agenda or pursue domestic political in
Foreign Affairs July 7, 2014
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Japan approves lifting of some N.K. sanctions
Japan’s Cabinet on Friday formally approved a lifting of part of its sanctions against North Korea as Pyongyang launches an investigation into its abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970-80s.The decision will ease restrictions on people-to-people exchanges and port calls by North Korean ships for humanitarian purposes such as carrying medical supplies. Up to 30 million yen ($294,000) can be sent and 1 million yen be brought from the communist state without declaration. But the Mankyongbong-92
North Korea July 4, 2014
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Japan to lift some N.K. sanctions
Japan plans to lift part of its sanctions against North Korea as their plans are making headway to reopen a probe into the fate of Japanese abductees in the communist country, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday. At their talks in Stockholm in May, Tokyo agreed to relax entry bans for North Koreans and limits on the amount of money to be wired or carried into the communist country and allow port calls by North Korean vessels on humanitarian missions, upon the launch of the investigation. The
North Korea July 3, 2014
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N. Korea preparing to try 2 American tourists
TOKYO (AP) ― North Korea said Monday it is preparing to try two Americans who entered the country as tourists for carrying out what it says were hostile acts against it.Investigations into Americans Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle concluded that suspicions about their hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their testimonies, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a short report.KCNA said North Korea is making preparations to bring them before a court. It d
North Korea July 2, 2014
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Japan voices anger over N. Korea missile launch
BEIJING (AFP) ― Talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang on the abduction of Japanese citizens during the Cold War opened in Beijing on Tuesday, with Tokyo’s envoys giving the North Koreans a diplomatic rebuke over missile launches.Sunday’s test launch of two short-range Scud missiles was “extremely regrettable”, Junichi Ihara, the head of Japan’s delegation, told his North Korean counterpart Song Il-ho as talks got under way at Pyongyang’s embassy in the Chinese capital.Speaking in front of internatio
North Korea July 2, 2014
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N.K. seeks closer Russia ties
North Korea is moving to bolster its relations with Russia as it seeks to court outside assistance to help shore up its crumbling economy and reduce its political and economic dependence on China, which has been ratcheting up pressure over its nuclear program. The two countries have been expanding political, economic and cultural cooperation in recent weeks. Ranking Russian officials have visited Pyongyang to discuss an ambitious plan to lay a natural gas pipeline through North Korea to the Sout
North Korea July 2, 2014
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