After a year and a half since President Park Geun-hye took office, relations between the two Koreas appear to be hanging in midair as the North escalates military tension while sending conciliatory signals at the same time. The communist state has in recent months threatened a fourth nuclear test, fired artillery shells toward southern waters, and churned out acerbic criticism against Seoul and Washington over their joint military drills and summit. Yet Pyongyang last week said it would join thi

North Korea May 28, 2014

The foreign ministers of South Korea and China on Monday agreed to step up cooperation to stop further North Korean nuclear tests and foster conditions for “meaningful” dialogue to make progress in its denuclearization.  Wang Yi’s two-day stay here came as Pyongyang has repeatedly threatened to carry out a fourth underground detonation and ratcheted up tension through maritime drills and verbal attacks against the Park Geun-hye administration.  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Yonhap)With the p

Foreign Affairs May 26, 2014

The U.N. World Food Program is seeking Seoul’s involvement in its program to fight acute malnutrition among babies and mothers in North Korea, which suffers from dwindling funding amid political tension.The world’s largest humanitarian agency is in consultation with the South Korean government over the 2-year-old program to provide health care to some 2.4 million North Korean women and their children until age 2. President Park Geun-hye vowed support for the “1,000 days” project in her speech in

North Korea May 25, 2014

This is the seventh installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.With free trade emerging as a global norm for growth, new U.N. rules on transparency in disputes between investors and host countries will play a key role in bolstering their relations while providing greater public access to arbitration procedures, UNCITRAL’s regional chief said. Debate remains fierce over the role and effect of an investor-state dispute settlement clause since South K

Foreign Affairs May 25, 2014

President Park Geun-hye on Friday expressed “very strong regret” over North Korea’s artillery shelling near a South Korean patrol ship, calling for an airtight defense posture and further efforts to ensure the safety of residents in the region. The incident took place late Thursday around 150 meters from the vessel sailing near the Northern Limit Line, a de facto inter-Korean border, prompting the South to shoot back five shells immediately. The Joint Chiefs of Staff reported no damage.Park conv

North Korea May 23, 2014

Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung on Wednesday called on the two Koreas to work to break their standoff through dialogue and sincerity, building on their joint factory park as a stepping stone to reconciliation. The remarks came upon his return from the Gaeseong industrial complex, aimed at raising the spirits of Catholics and other workers there despite persistent cross-border tension. “The Gaeseong district is about 60 kilometers away from the Seoul Archdiocese, but I realized that we live in a wo

North Korea May 21, 2014

With the ties between Seoul and Beijing getting closer, questions have been raised over where the Sino-North Korea relationship is heading.Observers said that distrust between the communist allies has deepened in recent years due to Pyongyang’s provocative moves including nuclear and missile tests, which has undermined what they traditionally hailed as an alliance “forged in blood.”Yet, no quintessential change has occurred in their relationship given that the two sides still share critical inte

North Korea May 19, 2014

An apartment building under construction in Pyongyang collapsed last week, prompting senior executives to offer a rare public apology, state media and Seoul officials said Sunday. The disaster took place on May 13 in the Pyongchon district, where the construction of the 23-story building was nearing completion, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. No death toll was reported though it described the accident as “serious.”As many as 92 households had already moved in, an official a

North Korea May 18, 2014

A recently resigned executive of KBS touched off a political firestorm over the weekend after revealing that Cheong Wa Dae has intervened in the state-run broadcaster’s coverage of the ferry disaster and other sensitive issues. Kim Si-gon, former chief of the network’s news bureau, said at an assembly of KBS reporters on Friday night that he had been under “constant pressure” over the content of news programs. Senior officials from the presidential office frequently gave him instructions by phon

Politics May 18, 2014