The Korea Herald

N. Korea rejects S. Korea's calls for family reunions

Aug 11, 2012

North Korea on Friday effectively rejected calls by South Korea to permit reunions of separated family members by demanding an end economic sanctions and resumption of tourism to Mount Kumgang, sources said Friday.South Korea's Red Cross said it sent a message to its northern counterpart on Wednesday asking for working level talks to take place on Aug. 17 in either Munsan or Kaesong. The talks cou
North Korea’s reform measures take shape

Aug 9, 2012

Pyongyang’s overhaul scheme seen tantamount to giving up socialist system: expertsNorth Korea appears to be stepping up efforts to overhaul its debilitated economic system amid deepening international isolation and growing public discontent over poverty.News reports suggested that it has sought to expand its implementation of the so-called June 28 measures, which some observers said are tantamount to the renouncement of the socialist system.The measures give greater autonomy to state corporation
N.K. abandoning central planning, rationing: report

Aug 9, 2012

North Korea is relinquishing its rickety central planning and rationing systems in an economic reform that allows greater autonomy to farmers and businesses, Seoul officials and reports said.U.S.-based Radio Free Asia said the communist country is implementing a new economic management system under new leader Kim Jong-un’s guideline announced on June 28. Citing a source from the northeastern province of Ryanggang, the report said the government has been dispatching instructors to brief local com
Pro-N. Korean activists indicted for colluding on Pyongyang visit

Aug 9, 2012

Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted a senior member of a pro-Pyongyang activist group and his colleague after concluding they colluded prior to the former's unauthorized trip to North Korea earlier this year.Earlier last month, the No. 2 official Ro Su-hui of the Pan-National Alliance for Korea's Reunification in Seoul was arrested soon after his return from an illegal visit to the North,
N. Korea troubled by rising rice prices, currency depreciation

Aug 9, 2012

North Korea has been plagued by ising rice prices and the falling value of its currency since the inauguration of its young leader Kim Jong-un, a government source here said Thursday, an apparent reflection of the northerners' anxieties over the inexperienced son of former leader Kim Jong-il.Prices of official market-traded rice, a staple for Koreans, have increased sharply, while the North Korean
Disgruntled young N. Koreans could drive change

Aug 8, 2012

‘Market generation’ has inkling of capitalism, Korean pop culture; seen less loyal to dynastic rulerLee Ye-eun vividly remembers the poverty her family went through in North Korea in the 1990s, during a famine believed to have cost some 2 million lives.“Like other families, my family was living from hand to mouth and went to the nearby mountain each day to pluck grass to make porridge. My younger brother died of malnutrition,” Lee, 20, told The Korea Herald.“My mother sold noodles at a marketpla
Korea, U.S., Japan hold exercises off Hawaii

Aug 7, 2012

HONOLULU (AP) -- South Korea, Japan, and the United States will hold joint exercises in waters of Hawaii this week.The U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement Monday the drills will include a search-and-seizure exercise, a counter-piracy event, a search-and-rescue exercise and officer exchanges.Three U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships will participate. They are the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal, the guided missile destroyer USS Chafee, the dry cargo ship USNS Matthew Perry and the cutter USC
Korea to launch unification fund

Aug 7, 2012

South Korea will launch a special fund to bankroll its potential unification with North Korea, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday, following the Cabinet‘s approval of a relevant revision bill.The revision bill calls for dividing the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund into two accounts -- one for promoting cross-border cooperation and the other for covering unification costs, said the ministry.The unification account, which will also draw funds from the government and private donations, will be uti
Kim Jong-un inspects military unit

Aug 7, 2012

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a military unit, the country‘s state news media reported Tuesday, as the South is gearing up for its annual joint military exercise with the U.S.“Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army Kim Jong-un inspected a sub-unit under KPA Unit 552,” the (North) Korean Central News Agency said in an English-language dispatch.The latest inspection visit, which came about two months after a similar military inspection by Kim in late May, has likely been mad
Police to question ruling party lawmaker over alleged bribery

Aug 7, 2012

Police said Tuesday that they plan to summon a lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party for questioning over allegations his aide received money from businessmen for illegal purposes.Police said they will work out the timing and other details of the planned investigation as Rep. Hong Moon-pyo is currently in London in his capacity as head of the Korea Hockey Association.Hong’s aide is accused of accepting up to 40 million won ($35,000) in 2008 from the head of a small agricultural newspaper, who in
N. Korea enacts rules on regulating firearms

Aug 6, 2012

North Korea has had a gun control law since 2009, recently obtained data showed Monday, in what was seen as an effort to tighten control over the society at a time of power succession.North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un was groomed as the successor to his ailing father Kim Jong-il, with the hereditary succession plan becoming official for the first time in 2010 when the young Kim was named as a four-star general in the military. Kim Jong-un took the helm of the communist country after the death
Gaeseong minimum wage rises 5%

Aug 6, 2012

The minimum wage for North Korean workers at the South-run industrial complex park in the communist nation rose 5 percent over the past year, the same annual rate of increase since 2007, Seoul’s unification ministry said Monday. The joint industrial park in the border city of Kaesong opened in 2004 as a symbol of cross-border reconciliation and has been in operation without any major interruptions despite high cross-border tensions between the two Koreas. The factory park’s management officials
N.K.’s power consumption per capita at 1970s levels

Aug 6, 2012

Power consumption in North Korea remains at 1970s levels, data showed Monday, an indicator of economic hardships in one of the world’s most impoverished nations.The North’s per capita electricity consumption amounted to 819 kilowatt hours in 2008, below the yearly average of 919 in 1971, according to the data compiled by the South’s Statistics Korea.Power consumption in the North had been on the rise until the early 1990s, from 1,114 kilowatt hours per person in 1980 to 1,247 in 1990. But the up
N.K.’s official investment firm disbanded: report

Aug 5, 2012

The Chosun Taepung International Investment Group, North Korea’s official investment firm, has been disbanded due to sluggish foreign capital inflows amid tightened sanctions, a news report said Sunday. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the country’s inner workings, Yonhap News reported that the breakup took place in early May. The North’s state media last mentioned the company in late December when its president Pak Chol-su attended the funeral of its longtime autocrat, Kim Jong-il.Taepung
20-year-old sees personal touch as key to narrowing South-North divide

Aug 5, 2012

Open-minded young people need to view North Korea on a more personal level to minimize the culture shock that will come once the two Koreas are reunified, according to Choi Chi-hun, a 20-year-old participant of the Young Leaders for the Millennium Development Goal program. As part of the program, the participants are organizing a TED conference concerning the two Koreas to be held next year.Through the conference, Choi and his fellow organizers hope to target younger people to help them develop