• S. Korea upbraids Tokyo on Yasukuni

    Seoul expressed displeasure Thursday over visits by Japanese politicians to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, calling the act “extremely regrettable” and demanding its neighbor face up to its past atrocities. Two Japanese Cabinet members — Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata and Postal Reform Minister Mikio Shimoji — visited the Yasukuni…

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  • Politics

    NK seeks to fight inflation

    North Korea appears to be agonizing over how to curb rampant inflation, one of the most serious hurdles to developing its economy, an expert who frequently visits the country said Wednesday. The expert, who recently traveled to Pyongyang, was told by officials that wages had been raised to cope with…

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  • Military hit for politicized lectures on pro-NK groups

    A lawmaker criticized the military Wednesday for allowing “biased” lecturers to teach soldiers about “Pro-North Korean forces in the South,” claiming they made inappropriate remarks about liberal presidential candidates. Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) claimed that the military had increased such training sessions ahead…

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  • South East Asia

    [Philippine] Gov’t, MILF panels go back to work

    MANILA, Philippines—Although the dividends of peace may have to wait a little longer, the goodwill generated by the signing on Monday of the preliminary agreement for the creation of Bangsamoro continues to fire up both sides as they look forward to the next round of talks to complete the peace…

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  • Politics

    Africa wants greater help from Korea

    The participants of the third Korea-Africa Forum adopted the Seoul Declaration calling for an increase in Korea’s development assistance to the continent and a specific action plan to deepen partnerships. Under the declaration, Korea vowed to increase non-binding aid to Africa gradually and expand cooperation across the region. The agreement…

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  • Politics

    China makes no big fuss over death of fisherman

    Envoy’s protest visit cancelled Beijing is apparently refraining from engaging in a diplomatic spat with Seoul over the death of a Chinese fisherman on a boat illegally fishing in South Korea’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Sea. Zhang Xinsen, the Chinese Ambassador to Korea, had earlier planned to…

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  • 4,000 N. Koreans working in Kuwait

    Some 4,000 North Koreans are working in construction jobs in the suburbs of Kuwait’s capital city, an official said Monday, the latest estimate pointing at the rapid expansion of Pyongyang’s foreign labor force. The North dispatches tens of thousands of workers abroad in a bid to raise hard currency for…

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  • Politics

    Will woman CEO aide help or hurt Rep. Park?

    Kim Sung-joo, who recently joined the election team of Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate, was criticized Monday over her view of the economy and women’s issues. Rep. Park is said to have recruited Kim, a successful and some say eccentric businesswoman, to balance out her own icy…

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  • Politics

    Leader of leftist splinter party joins presidential race

    Rep. Sim Sang-jung, a leader of a faction that split from the center-left Unified Progressive Party (UPP), announced Sunday that she will run in the December presidential election, pledging efforts to fight for 99 percent of the people. Characterizing the top 1 percent of people as the privileged having control…

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  • Politics

    ‘Guardian of teenagers’ hopes to change campaign culture

    Kang Ji-won, a former prosecutor who became a youth mentor has decided to enter the presidential race in order to counter what he says is a lack of focus on core issues in the election race. “Look at our campaigns. They are not about policies to help people’s livelihood or…

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