The Korea Herald

N.K. accepts Seoul’s video monitoring of aid distribution

Aug 18, 2011

North Korea has allowed Seoul to use video to monitor the distribution of food it donated, South Korea said Thursday, hinting at a possible expansion of food assistance to the northern rival. The Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, a pro-unification civic coalition, recently submitted
6 N.K. professors study economics in Canada

Aug 18, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap News) ― Six North Korean professors are studying economics and other related subjects at a university in Canada on a months-long program initiated by the school, the program director said Wednesday, opening a rare opportunity for the people of the repressive regime.Professor Pa
Think tank unveils N. Korean court ruling ordering public execution

Aug 18, 2011

A South Korean state-run think tank on Thursday unveiled a North Korean court ruling sentencing a man to public execution, suggesting the totalitarian regime uses the punishment as part of its legal system.The Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) said it included images of the document in
N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il enjoys yacht holiday

Aug 18, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has been enjoying sailing on his yacht along the east coast in recent weeks, a person familiar with the issue said Thursday, as his country is struggling to recover from devastating floods.Kim has been sailing in waters off a coastal villa, where he has been staying s
N.K. cracks down on defections with new border CCTV cameras

Aug 16, 2011

North Korea has installed surveillance cameras and reinforced barbed wire in its northern border areas close to China to try to stem the flow of defections of its people and stop the influx of foreign influences, a source familiar with the issue said Tuesday.The measures were taken near the North Ko
K-pop captivates youngsters of Pyongyang

Aug 16, 2011

Even North Koreans are being caught up in the increasing popularity of Korean pop stars across the globe, Radio Free Asia reported.Girls' Generation (Yonhap News)Idol groups like Girls’ Generation or Big Bang are no longer new to North Korea, where even dance instructors make use of their songs.A Ch
Dutchman returns home after detention in N. Korea: media report

Aug 15, 2011

A Dutch stamp collector, who was reported missing during a trip to North Korea last month, has returned home, saying he had been detained there on charges of anti-state activities, a Dutch media reported Monday.Willem van der Bijl entered North Korea on July 17 on a trip to buy stamps and propaganda
With N.K., Russia looks to mediate

Aug 14, 2011

Last week, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan left to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program. Coming off recent meetings between the North and South, as well as the North and the U.S., Lavrov expressed his nation’s hopes that six-party negotiatio
N. Korea demands cancellation of South-U.S. military drill

Aug 13, 2011

North Korea on Saturday repeated its call for the cancellation of an upcoming South Korea-U.S. military drill, saying Seoul was deliberately trying to ruin the atmosphere of dialogue on the Korean Peninsula "in collusion with outside forces."South Korea and the U.S. plan to hold their annual joint m
N. Korea‘s defense minister sidelined in hereditary succession process: official

Aug 11, 2011

North Korea’s defense chief Kim Yong-chun has been sidelined in the country’s ongoing hereditary succession process due to apparent tensions between his loyalists and supporters of the heir-apparent, Kim Jong-un, a senior South Korean ruling party official said Thursday.Kim, the minister of the Nort
U.S. sanctions Syrian bank for ties with N.K.

Aug 11, 2011

WASHINGTON ― The U.S. government announced Wednesday that it has imposed sanctions on a Syrian state-owned bank due to its involvement in North Korea’s proliferation activities.The Treasury Department said the Commercial Bank of Syria has provided financial services to North Korea’s Tanchon Commerci
NKorea disputes SKorea's artillery claim

Aug 11, 2011

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ North Korea says South Korea mistook ``normal blasting'' from a construction project for artillery shelling when it accused Pyongyang of opening fire near the rivals' disputed maritime line in the Yellow Sea.North Korea said Thursday the South was simply frightened by noise
‘North plotting to assassinate defense chief’

Aug 10, 2011

Security measures have been beefed up after an intelligence tip-off that North Korea is trying to assassinate South Korea’s defense chief, local media reported Wednesday. The reports, citing unnamed sources at the government, said that the authorities in the South received an intelligence tip-off th
EU gives 200,000 euros in North Korea flood aid

Aug 9, 2011

The European Union has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to an international charity group to help flood victims in North Korea, a U.S.-funded radio station reported Tuesday. The EU, which shipped food aid to the impoverished state to feed its starving people last month, has donated 200,000 e
N. Korea, U.S. agree on family mail exchanges

Aug 7, 2011

North Korea agreed three months ago to allow 10 Korean-Americans to exchange mail with their kin in the communist country, a South Korean Red Cross official said.The U.S. Red Cross and North Korea’s U.N. diplomatic mission agreed in New York in May on the trial mail exchanges through the Red Cross a