The Korea Herald

N. Korea enacts rules on regulating firearms

North Korea has had a gun control law since 2009, recently obtained data showed Monday, in what was seen as an effort to tighten control over the society at a time of power succession.North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un was groomed as the successor to his ailing father Kim Jong-il, with the hereditary succession plan becoming official for the first time in 2010 when the young Kim was named as a four-star general in the military. Kim Jong-un took the helm of the communist country after the death

North Korea Aug. 6, 2012

Gaeseong minimum wage rises 5%

The minimum wage for North Korean workers at the South-run industrial complex park in the communist nation rose 5 percent over the past year, the same annual rate of increase since 2007, Seoul’s unification ministry said Monday. The joint industrial park in the border city of Kaesong opened in 2004 as a symbol of cross-border reconciliation and has been in operation without any major interruptions despite high cross-border tensions between the two Koreas. The factory park’s management officials

North Korea Aug. 6, 2012

N.K.’s power consumption per capita at 1970s levels

Power consumption in North Korea remains at 1970s levels, data showed Monday, an indicator of economic hardships in one of the world’s most impoverished nations.The North’s per capita electricity consumption amounted to 819 kilowatt hours in 2008, below the yearly average of 919 in 1971, according to the data compiled by the South’s Statistics Korea.Power consumption in the North had been on the rise until the early 1990s, from 1,114 kilowatt hours per person in 1980 to 1,247 in 1990. But the up

North Korea Aug. 6, 2012

N.K.’s power consumption per capita at 1970s levels

N.K.’s official investment firm disbanded: report

The Chosun Taepung International Investment Group, North Korea’s official investment firm, has been disbanded due to sluggish foreign capital inflows amid tightened sanctions, a news report said Sunday. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the country’s inner workings, Yonhap News reported that the breakup took place in early May. The North’s state media last mentioned the company in late December when its president Pak Chol-su attended the funeral of its longtime autocrat, Kim Jong-il.Taepung

North Korea Aug. 5, 2012

Torture dispute strains Seoul-Beijing ties

South Korea has come under mounting pressure as its dispute with China over the suspected torture of a North Korea human rights activist is showing no signs of abating, with both sides reiterating their own claims. Beijing on Friday again denied allegations that its investigators abused Kim Young-hwan during his detention, in response to Seoul’s request for a reinvestigation into his claims. During the 114-day confinement, Kim said he was tortured with electricity, beaten on the face, deprived o

Foreign Affairs Aug. 5, 2012

Seoul to push consular pact with China

South Korea is pushing for a consular agreement with Beijing as part of its measures to step up protection of its citizens living overseas amid controversy over alleged torture of a North Korea human rights activist during his detention in China. The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it plans to speed up efforts for the pact to facilitate consular access to Koreans in Chinese custody. “We see the agreement as contributing to better protection of our citizens in China,” spokesman Cho Tai-young said

Foreign Affairs Aug. 2, 2012

Seoul hardens line in China torture dispute

The alleged torture of North Korean human rights activist Kim Young-hwan by Chinese investigators is escalating into a diplomatic dispute between the two governments.Seoul’s Foreign Ministry toughened its stance Tuesday, promising to assist Kim’s and his supporters’ plans to take China’s human rights abuses to the United Nations.Earlier in the day, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman denied the claim of torture, saying China had “proceeded with the investigation according to the law” and “prote

Foreign Affairs July 31, 2012

Seoul protests Tokyo’s claim to Dokdo

Foreign Ministry summons Japanese official over defense white paperSeoul strongly protested Tokyo’s fresh claim on Tuesday to the South Korean islets of Dokdo in its latest defense white paper. In the annual document approved by its cabinet, Japan identified the rocky islets as its territory and said the ownership issue “still remains unsolved.” The description has not been changed since 2005. The Korean government dismissed the claim as “unacceptable,” urging an immediate rectification.“We stro

Foreign Affairs July 31, 2012

Speculation about suspension of N.K.-China industrial belt

Speculation is rising over a possible suspension of a joint project between North Korea and China to build an industrial belt along their border. Citing a source within the North Korean military, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Sunday reported that China declared a moratorium on the Hwanggeumpyeong economic zone development program last month after Pyongyang insisted on maintaining its troops on the border island to safeguard its interests there. Local farmers reportedly said that a small wat

North Korea July 30, 2012

Speculation about suspension of N.K.-China industrial belt

Korea, Australia launch strategic dialogue

South Korea and Australia launched a regular high-level meeting here on Monday to boost cooperation in politics and defense between the two middle powers in the Asia Pacific, Seoul officials said. The first strategic dialogue was designed to provide a wider framework for detailed bilateral discussions to better cope with the region’s changing security environment, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.It is an integration of two high-level talks between the two sides, which have separately co

Foreign Affairs July 30, 2012

Supporters appeal to U.N. over activist’s treatment

Group of some 130 activists demands probe into alleged Chinese torture of South KoreanLawmakers and activists said Friday they plan to appeal to international bodies over alleged physical abuses, including electrical torture, by Chinese investigators of an activist for North Korean human rights.They sharply criticized the South Korean government for its tardy and tepid response to the claims by Kim Young-hwan. He was deported to Seoul last week after 114 days of detention in China alongside thre

Foreign Affairs July 27, 2012

Supporters appeal to U.N. over activist’s treatment

Bigger payout ordered for 1959 execution

An appeals court in Seoul on Thursday ordered the government to pay more compensation to the family of Cho Bong-am, former President Syngman Rhee’s political rival, who was executed on false charges of espionage in 1959. The Seoul High Court set the damage payment at 2.97 billion won ($2.6 million), up 500 million won from a lower court ruling. The family sued the government last year demanding 13.7 billion won after the Supreme Court overturned a guilty verdict on Cho. The former independence f

North Korea July 26, 2012

First lady publicity latest sign of N.K. change

Kim Jong-un’s wife visited South Korea in 2005, intelligence agency confirmsNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un continues to shake off the regime’s long-held tradition of secrecy, intriguing watchers eager to find signs of change in the reclusive state. In the latest breakaway, Pyongyang’s state media late Wednesday confirmed that the mystery woman beside the 20-something leader at recent public events is his wife, Ri Sol-ju. Ri has fueled rampant speculation in recent weeks about her identity. She

North Korea July 26, 2012

First lady publicity latest sign of N.K. change

Seoul to demand Chinese apology for activist abuse

South Korea plans to demand an apology and other diplomatic steps from China after verifying a claim by a prominent rights activist of abuse during his detention, Seoul officials said Thursday.Kim Young-hwan and three other South Korean crusaders for human rights in North Korea were deported to Seoul last week after 114 days of confinement in China. They were arrested on March 29 on charges of “endangering national security.” Kim said Wednesday that he was tortured, deprived of sleep and forced

North Korea July 26, 2012

Japan’s WWII trafficking of Korean women is fact: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― In a further clarification of its view on a key history issue between South Korea and Japan, the U.S. government said Tuesday that Japan’s trafficking of Korean women for sex services during the World War II is an unassailable “fact.”“These were women who were trafficked for sexual purposes,” a State Department official told Yonhap News Agency.The official stressed that how to characterize the incident is more important than the terminology to describe the victims.“Rat

Social Affairs July 25, 2012

Articles by Shin Hyon-hee