• Parties to fight under same rules

    Rival camps still face criticism over breaking campaign promises The two rival parties have managed to avoid competing in the June 4 local elections with two conflicting sets of nomination standards, following a decision by the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to maintain the practice of the party…

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  • `Drones belonged to N. Korea’

    The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Friday it was certain that three recently crashed spy drones belonged to North Korea. The ministry plans to create a team composed of international experts to confirm this. “We have a lot of evidence, which makes us quite sure that the unmanned aerial…

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  • East Asia

    NK chooses stability over change

    North Korea apparently chose stability of its leadership and policies over change in its latest leadership reshuffle, experts said Thursday. During the first session of the newly formed Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was re-elected as head of the North’s powerful National Defense Commission. Kim…

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  • Opinion poll deals Ahn body blow

    Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, co-chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), lost one of his biggest strategic goals, Thursday, but it remains to be seen whether he will gain two others from the shifting sands of politics. The NPAD decided to retain the existing practice of the party nominating…

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  • Taming Tokyo

    President Obama’s forthcoming trip to Korea and Japan in late April is partly meant to narrow the growing differences between Washington’s two important allies in Northeast Asia. The need for action appears to be urgent from the U.S. perspective in regards to maintaining its Asian strategy. What is particularly worrisome…

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  • Unveiling of drones raises eyebrows

    The defense ministry’s decision to make public South Korea’s in-service unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is raising some eyebrows. In the wake of growing concerns over North Korea’s drone incursions and criticism of the South’s lax surveillance, the Ministry of National Defense publicized its indigenous UAVs in an apparent move to…

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  • Saenuri’s mayor hopefuls in 1st TV debate

    The three Saenuri Party members hoping to contest the Seoul mayoral race appeared in their first televised primary debate, Wednesday. During the debate, former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, seven-term lawmaker Chung Mong-joon and Supreme Council member Lee Hye-hoon also attacked sitting Mayor Park Won-soon, a member of the New Politics…

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  • Kim Jong-un keeps job

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was re-elected as the first chairman of the country’s powerful National Defense Commission (NDC), Wednesday. His re-election came during the first session of the North’s newly-elected Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), said the state-run North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim was initially chosen for the…

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  • US President likely to pass on sex slave issue

    Korea visit will follow Japan trip U.S. President Barack Obama will face a couple of issues that Koreans want to see addressed during his visit here later this month. First among these is the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War…

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  • Assembly emblem to feature Hanguel

    A group of bipartisan lawmakers agreed Tuesday to change the text in the center of the National Assembly emblem and on lapel badges worn in the parliament by representatives from a Chinese character to Hangeul, Korean script. The parliamentary steering committee passed a bill to revise the relevant law. In…

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