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‘North Korea may have aborted launch’
North Korea may have intentionally crashed its long-range Unha-3 rocket last month due to problems in staging, a U.S. missile expert said Monday. David Wright, a senior scientist and co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, put forward the possibility among a range of scenarios…
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Politics
Power struggle grips leftist party
Lee Jung-hee, a co-leader of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), rejected a call for her resignation, Monday, proposing a hearing and reinvestigation of a primary vote rigging case. A task force had earlier released findings of their investigation that showed rigging and irregularities were quite prevalent. Thus, the struggle for…
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Kenya to emulate Korea’s development model
‘We need Koreans’ technology, experience and energy,’ envoy says Korea’s relationship with Kenya and, by extension, with the African continent, is poised to take a leap forward. Korean-Kenyan investment and trade surged in recent years and could jump still higher with direct flights set to begin in June _ that…
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NK leader ready for China trip: report
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed his intent to visit Beijing later this year in what would be a highly symbolic trip to his country’s most important ally, a Japanese report said Sunday. According to the Nihon Keizai newspaper, the message was conveyed to Chinese President Hu Jintao by…
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Politics
Progressives in feud over rigging
The mainstream and non-mainstream of the far-left Unified Progressive Party (UPP) are headed for a collision over the proposed mass resignation of the party’s leadership and proportional representatives. Questions are also being raised whether such an extremely ideologically charged and dysfunctional political group created only five months ago through a…
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Politics
Lee calls N.Korea ‘naughty child’
President Lee Myung-bak is stepping up his rhetorical offensive on North Korea at a time when some experts say Pyongyang’s third nuclear test is imminent. During a special question-andanswer session with children on Children’s Day, Saturday, Lee scolded Pyongyang for being a “naughty child” who refused to listen to the…
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Politics
Chinese upset in kimchi cabbage row
Chinese cabbage has been the name for the main ingredient for the Korean side dish kimchi. But now Koreans are establishing sovereignty over what they eat by having an international naming organization almost decide to call it “kimchi cabbage.” Of course, there are grounds for the name change with the…
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Politics
Park Jie-won elected DUP’s interim leader
Rep. Park Jie-won won the competition to become the new floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) Friday. Together with a chairman to be elected in the June 9 National Convention, Park will lead the main opposition party until the presidential election in December. In the meantime,…
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Pregnant N. Korean defector beaten, sent to gulag
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has published its first list of North Korean human rights violations to enhance public awareness about the dire situation in the world’s last Stalinist state and put pressure on Pyongyang. A commission official said Friday that the list contained the names of 278 prisoners…
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China weakens UN sanctions on North Korea
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) ordered the freezing of all assets abroad of three North Korean state companies Wednesday to punish the recalcitrant state for its failed April 13 rocket launch. While some experts did not expect the move to inflict major pain on Pyongyang, it was seen as a…
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