The Korea Herald

Ex-table tennis star to talk on reunification

Feb 27, 2012

Former South Korean table tennis star Hyun Jung-hwa, who led the first unified table tennis team from South Korea and North Korea to win an international game in 1991, will share her insights on reunification and inter-Korean relations, the government said Monday.The Unification Ministry said it has named the executive director of the Korea Table Tennis Association as the lecturer at one of the eight reunification forums hosted by the state-run Education Center for Unification on March 7. Hyun w
Talks with N.K.’s new regime good start: U.S. envoy

Feb 26, 2012

The first talks between North Korea and the United States since the death of Kim Jong-il made a “good start,” but there is still a “long way” to go before the six-party talks on ending the North’s nuclear weapons program can resume, a U.S. nuclear envoy said Saturday.After two days of talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, in Beijing, Glyn Davies flew to Seoul to brief South Korean officials on the outcome of the negotiations. In Seoul, he met with his South Korean counterpart Li
Kim Jong-un tours military units before S. Korea-U.S. drill

Feb 26, 2012

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited front-line military units responsible for the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010, the North's state media reported Sunday, ahead of a planned joint military exercise by the South and the U.S.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), monitored in Seoul, sai
UNHCR urges China not to send back detained North Koreans

Feb 24, 2012

GENEVA (AFP) - The UN refugee agency on Friday urged China not to send back a group of North Koreans who fled to Chinese territory and who risk punishment if returned home. In a statement, the UNHCR said it "is closely following the situation of a group of
U.S. envoy reports progress in N.K. talks

Feb 24, 2012

BEIJING (AP)― A U.S. envoy says he made “a little bit of progress” in talks with North Korea on restarting nuclear disarmament in return for aid, in the first negotiations with the country since its longtime leader Kim Jong-il died two months ago.U.S. envoy Glyn Davies said Friday that after a day-and-a-half of talks that he had hoped to provide details of his discussions but said no breakthrough had been made. Instead, he said Washington and its allies, Japan and South Korea, need to evaluate w
US envoy cites progress in NKorea nuclear talks

Feb 24, 2012

BEIJING (AP) -- A U.S. envoy said Friday he made ``a little bit of progress'' in negotiations with North Korea on restarting nuclear disarmament in return for aid but played down hopes of any immediate solution to the standoff.The talks in the Chinese capital were the first since the death two months ago of North Korea's longtime leader Kim Jong Il upended a tentative deal in which the U.S. would have provided food aid in return for Pyongyang suspending its uranium enrichment.The restarted negot
N. Korea, U.S. to meet again Friday

Feb 23, 2012

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- Envoys from North Korea and the United States held "substantive and serious" talks on Thursday over the North's nuclear weapons program, U.S. chief negotiator Glyn Davies said, announcing an agreement to extend the rare bilateral dialogue by one day.The Beijing talks, the f
9 N. Korean defectors repatriated to their homeland

Feb 23, 2012

Nine North Korean defectors who were detained in China were repatriated to their homeland over the weekend as South Korea ratcheted up pressure on China not to send North Korean defectors to their communist country, informed sources said Thursday.Seoul has repeatedly called on Beijing not to send ba
N.K. bans civilian exchanges with S. Korea amid tensions

Feb 23, 2012

North Korea banned its Buddhist officials from meeting with their South Korean counterparts earlier this week in its border city of Gaeseong, officials said Thursday, in a sign of persistent tensions on the Korean Peninsula.South Korean Buddhist monks traveled to Kaesong on Tuesday for previously arranged talks with their North Korean counterparts on a joint project to return artifacts seized by Japan during its 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula.The two sides had also planned to di
N.K., U.S. open 1st nuke talks since Kim’s death

Feb 23, 2012

BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― Senior diplomats from North Korea and the United States began talks in Beijing Thursday over the North’s nuclear weapons program that are the first such since the death of Kim Jong-il in December. The talks, led by the North’s long-time nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan and U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Glyn Davies, are a chance to gauge whether Pyongyang’s new young leader, Kim Jong-un, is open to negotiations to get the communist regime to give up its
‘China helps N. Korea punish S. Korea-bound defectors more harshly’

Feb 22, 2012

Expert urges Seoul to build trust with Beijing, seek informal dialoguesChinese authorities arresting North Koreans who cross into China intentionally use two different colors of stamps on interrogation documents, a Seoul-based North Korean defector has said.In doing so, they help North Korean authorities sort out defectors attempting to go to South Korea from other would-be escapees.Those branded as defectors intending to go to South Korea may face harsher punishment than others once they are re
N.K. develops rocket that can reach Pyeongtaek

Feb 22, 2012

North Korea has developed a multiple launch rocket system with a maximum range of 200 kilometers, which can reach U.S. bases slated to be moved to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, from Yongsang, Seoul when they are fired near the Demilitarized Zone, a local daily reported Wednesday.According to reports citing unnamed government officials, North Korea has recently developed the long-range MLRS using Chinese technology.The new MLRS fires 300-millimeter rockets, and is fitted with the Russian satelli
WFP to extend emergency mission to North Korea

Feb 22, 2012

The U.N. World Food Programme is planning to extend its Emergency Aid mission to North Korea beyond the original deadline of March.The Emergency Operation, which started in April, aimed to address a dangerous and worsening food crisis in North Korea. It focused on the most vulnerable groups, women and children, of which there were 3.5 million in need of immediate support to prevent starvation. The WFP has been able to work with North Korea in carrying out the operation, under very stringent rule
U.S. envoy says resumption of six-party talks depends on N. Korea

Feb 22, 2012

Beijing--A U.S. special envoy said Wednesday the resumption of stalled six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program depends on the North.Glyn Davies, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, made the remarks in a meeting with reporters after arriving earlier in Beijing, wher
Teaching business skills in the Hermit Kingdom

Feb 22, 2012

NGO organizes finance, economics workshops in Pyongyang in MarchIt is not the first stop on most financial gurus’ lecture circuit. But world-class economic experts are visiting North Korea to pass on their know-how to the communist country’s up-and-coming business elite. Young students in the impoverished nation will learn about finance and economics from Chinese, European and Singaporean experts in their field next month. The March workshop series ― focusing on risk and asset liability managem