North Koreans voted Sunday for more than 27,000 representatives for local assemblies, with the balloting expected to unanimously favor the ruling communist party. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said polling stations were crowded with well-dressed voters eagerly waiting for their turns…with many dancing to music of drums and gongs. During their four-year term, […]
US Ambassador Nominee: N. Korea Not Ready for Talks
Posted July 21st, 2011 at 7:20 pm (UTC-5)
President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea says he does not believe North Korea is ready to resume nuclear talks. Sung Kim said at his nomination hearing before the Senate Thursday that the North’s recent actions show it is not interested in negotiations and serious diplomacy. Kim was U.S. […]
Expert: Unauthorized Markets Help North Korea Survive
Posted July 19th, 2011 at 7:40 pm (UTC-5)
An American expert on North Korea says a growing number of people in the impoverished state rely on informal markets to make up for shortages of food and other necessities. Stephen Linton, chairman of the Eugene Bell Foundation, told an audience in Washington Tuesday that the communist government turns a blind eye to many practices […]
Japan, S. Korea Insist on Inter-Korean Dialogue Ahead of Nuclear Talks
Posted July 18th, 2011 at 5:20 pm (UTC-5)
Nuclear negotiators for Japan and South Korea have reiterated that a dialogue between the two Koreas is a precondition for returning to six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament. South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama reaffirmed their positions during a meeting Monday in the South Korean capital Seoul. […]
Japan, S. Korea Insist on Inter-Korean Dialogue Ahead of Nuclear Talks
Posted July 18th, 2011 at 3:35 pm (UTC-5)
Nuclear negotiators for Japan and South Korea have reiterated that a dialogue between the two Koreas is a precondition for returning to six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament. South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama reaffirmed their positions during a meeting Monday in the South Korean capital Seoul. […]
5 North Korean Footballers Failed Doping Test
Posted July 17th, 2011 at 4:45 pm (UTC-5)
Five North Korean football players have now tested positive for a banned steroid at the women’s World Cup in Germany. Football’s world governing body, FIFA, announced three new cases on Saturday, but did not disclose the women’s names. FIFA ordered testing for all members of the North Korean club after two of its players — […]
Japanese Foreign Ministry Boycotts KAL in Island Dispute
Posted July 14th, 2011 at 4:10 am (UTC-5)
Japan’s foreign ministry has ordered a one-month boycott of Korean Air to protest a demonstration flight by the airline that passed over islands claimed by both countries. Officials said Thursday that Japanese diplomats have been ordered not to use the Korean airline for the next 30 days. In addition, KAL officials will not be invited […]
US, South Koreans Say No Evidence Yet of Agent Orange at US Base
Posted July 13th, 2011 at 1:30 am (UTC-5)
U.S. and South Korean investigators say their probe has so far turned up no evidence that Agent Orange was dumped at a U.S. military base in South Korea decades ago. The investigators announced last week that they had identified “anomalous areas” under a helipad at Camp Carroll in South Korea that reports said could be […]
Chinese Delegation Stresses Relationship With North Korea
Posted July 12th, 2011 at 1:50 pm (UTC-5)
A senior Chinese official is in North Korea to mark the 50th anniversary of the friendship treaty between the two countries. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang is leading a delegation that is stressing the relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang. He met Tuesday with Kim Yong Nam, the head of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly. North […]
Pakistani Scientist Says North Korea Paid for Nuclear Technology
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 8:45 am (UTC-5)
The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program says North Korea paid top Pakistani military officers more than $3 million in exchange for nuclear technology in the 1990s. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Abdul Qadeer Khan released documents detailing the secret transfer, including a North Korean official’s 1998 letter to him, which was written in English. […]
