• US missile defense to pit Park, Obama

    President Park Geun-hye may come under pressure to pledge support for a U.S.-led missile defense system (MDS) during President Barack Obama’s visit this month, according to observers. This time, Park will find it harder to maintain an ambiguous position, they added. “The U.S. will want South Korea to join its…

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  • Paranoid Kim Jong-un on edge

    The recent massive military drill in North Korea proved its leader Kim Jong-un going to the extreme with his paranoia, Radio Free Asia reported. He is seen by many as a precarious leader driving himself as his own worst enemy, it said. The report comes after the Global Times’ March…

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  • Afghan election unlikely to be decisive in first round

    Amidst the biggest security operation in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, the country held a landmark presidential election on Saturday. There was high overall turnout of an estimated 7 of 12 million eligible voters, a third of them women, well in excess of the approximately 4.5 million people…

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  • 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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