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Biegun to arrive in Seoul amid deadlock in nuclear talks as year-end deadline approaches

Pyongyang says it conducted “another crucial test” at Seohae site

[Newsmaker] Ex-Ulsan mayor questioned over Cheong Wa Dae’s alleged election meddling

Former Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon, who raised allegations about Cheong Wa Dae’s suspected meddling in regional elections last year, appeared before the prosecution Sunday to be questioned as a witness. Kim, who is affiliated with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, says that the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency deliberately investigated suspicions surrounding his brother and close aide a few months ahead of the elections last year, to sway the vote in favor of the ruling Democratic

Today
Social affairs
Activities resume on NK naval shipyard, SLBM demonstration should not be ruled out: think tank

Minor activity has resumed at a submersible test stand barge at Nampo Naval Shipyard in North Korea, and there is the possibility that Pyongyang might test a submarine-launched ballistic missile before its year-end deadline, a US-based think tank said Sunday.Satellite imagery collected in the last several months indicate that minor activity has resumed as of Dec. 2, after a two-month hiatus since September, said Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha of Beyond Parallel, a team that specializes in North

Today
North Korea
Senior diplomats of S. Korea, China, Japan met ahead of trilateral summit

BEIJING -- Senior diplomats from South Korea, China and Japan met in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu last week to prepare for the countries' trilateral summit later this month, China's foreign ministry said Sunday.During the talks Friday among Seoul's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn, Beijing's Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and Tokyo's Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, the officials exchanged opinions regarding the preparations for the upcoming summit, according to the mini

Today
Foreign Affairs
Top US negotiator in defense cost-sharing talks arrives in S. Korea

The top US negotiator in defense cost-sharing talks with South Korea arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a fresh round of negotiations this week over the sharing of the cost for the upkeep of American troops here, with the two sides still being far apart. Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport earlier in the day, James DeHart of the US State Department did not answer reporters' questions, such as his prospect of progress in the Special Measures Agreement that stipulates the allies' sharing of

Today
Defense
One-on-one talks between S. Korean, Japanese FMs in Spain seem unlikely: officials

One-on-one talks between S. Korean, Japanese FMs in Spain seem unlikely: officialsA bilateral meeting between the top diplomats of South Korea and Japan is unlikely to take place on the sidelines of the multilateral gathering in Spain this week as they have yet to arrange their schedule, officials said Sunday. The two countries have been working to set up a one-on-one meeting between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, on the margins of the foreign mi

Today
Foreign Affairs
N. Korea raps officials for 'leadership flaws' amid economic drive

North Korea's cabinet has rapped officials for "flaws" in leadership and strategies that undermine its national push for economic development, urging them to work hard to achieve goals set in a five-year economic development scheme.The North made the call during an extended cabinet meeting it recently convened to review the work that has been done over the past four years and to discuss what measures should be taken for next year, the cabinet newspaper Minju Choson reported Saturday. &

Dec 14, 2019
North Korea
N. Korea conducts 'another crucial test' at satellite launch site

North Korea said Saturday that it will use the new technologies it recently tested to develop a strategic weapon to counter the US nuclear threat, escalating tensions with the US ahead of its year-end deadline.Pak Jong-chon, chief of the North Korean military's General Staff, also said North Korea has "stored up a tremendous power" and the military is fully ready to put into action any decision of leader Kim Jong-un."The priceless data, experience and new technologies gained in th

Dec 14, 2019
Foreign Affairs
Multiple pileups on highway kill at least 7, injure more than 30

Two massive pileups occurred within moments on a highway in the country's southeast early Saturday, killing at least seven people and injuring 32 others, officials said. The first crash occurred at about 4:40 a.m., when some 10 vehicles, including cargo trucks, collided on a highway en route to Youngcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, 301 kilometers south of Seoul.Some 20 other vehicles that had followed behind crashed successively.Six people died, and 14 others were wounded, according to the

Dec 14, 2019
Social affairs
Russia provides 1,355 tons of refined oil to N. Korea in Oct.

Russia provided 1,355 tons of refined oil to North Korea in October, the Voice of America (VOA) reported Saturday.The figure is far much less than the 2,136 tons Moscow reported it shipped to the communist state the previous month. According to the U.N. Security Council website, Russia has provided a cumulative 25,057 tons of refined oil in the January-October period. The U.N. began asking member countries to report the supply, sale and transfer of all refined petroleum products to North Korea i

Dec 14, 2019
Foreign Affairs
Moon in dilemma over next prime minister

Having picked a nominee to become justice minister after long consideration, President Moon Jae-in faces a similar kind of major task: deciding whether to replace his prime minister and, if so, whom to choose.Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon is the front-runner to become Moon's successor in various opinion polls, while the next presidential race is more than two years away.Lee is reportedly hoping to return to the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to play a role in the April 15 general elections in 2020.Le

Dec 14, 2019
Politics
Biegun to visit Seoul next week ahead of NK year-end deadline

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was set to arrive in Seoul on Sunday, just weeks ahead of Pyongyang's year-end deadline for Washington to show flexibility to advance their stalemated nuclear talks.His three-day visit comes amid rising tensions in the wake of Pyongyang's apparent rocket engine test earlier this month and Washington's subsequent warnings against additional "hostile" acts.Escalating tensions further, the North on Saturday said it carried out "

Dec 13, 2019
North Korea
Labor office launches probe into employer paying migrant workers in fake money

A local labor office said Friday that it is investigating allegations that a subcontractor had paid Vietnamese migrant workers in fake money for their farm labor. According to an association of migrant workers’ rights organizations based in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the subcontractor paid the workers in paper coupons, instead of cash, promising to exchange the coupons with real currency when they wanted. Their employer, however, did not exchange the coupons in full when re

Dec 13, 2019
Social affairs
Detective admits to coercing testimony in 1980s murder case

A police officer has admitted to torturing a 53-year-old surnamed Yun during the investigation into the Hwaseong serial killings in the 1980s to 1990s. Yun was later convicted for the eighth murder in the case. Local reports said Friday the Suwon Prosecutors’ Office recently called in three former detectives who investigated Yun for questioning.One of the officers acknowledged that he had deprived Yun of sleep. But he denied that he had beat Yun or forced him to do squat jumps as alleged b

Dec 13, 2019
Social affairs
Special investigation unit secures audit records for Sewol sinking

A special unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office launched Nov. 11 to reinvestigate the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster raided the Board of Audit and Inspection on Thursday and secured audit records for a number of government ministries from the aftermath of the sinking. Shortly after the disaster, the audit agency conducted probes into relevant government bodies, including the Coast Guard, to find out why a new locally developed Navy ship was not mobilized to aid the rescue operations.South Kor

Dec 13, 2019
Social affairs

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