The Korea Herald

N.K. preparing to impact S. Korean elections

Nov 9, 2011

Seoul intensifies watch on pro-North websites, voting of overseas residentsElated by former civic activist and lawyer Park Won-soon’s recent election as Seoul mayor, North Korea is gearing up its offensive to influence the upcoming high-profile elections in South Korea through IT technology and refined tactics, observers in Seoul say. The communist North Korea, which is technically still at war with the South, has for years tried to wield influence over the presidential and parliamentary electi
N. Korea growing more sensitive to foreigners’ travel

Nov 8, 2011

North Korea is becoming stricter on foreigners’ travel in the country, apparently sensitive to the impact of outside news on the recent death of Libya’s longtime dictator, a U.S.-funded radio station said Tuesday. Not wanting outsiders to bring in recent news on Libya, the North Korean regime is asking foreign officials and businessmen not to leave Pyongyang without approval, Radio Free Asia reported, quoting people in Pyongyang. Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was killed by revolutionary f
Another N. Korean defector found on raft in West Sea

Nov 8, 2011

Another North Korean man defected to South Korea on Oct. 30, using a makeshift raft to cross the tense western maritime border, government sources said Tuesday.A naval patrol ship spotted him some 13 kilometers away from Yeonpyeong Island at around 3:10 a.m. ― about 10 minutes before they found a group of 21 North Koreans on a wooden boat some 41 kilometers west of Daecheong Island.The two cases are the latest in a series of defections by those who have risked their lives to escape poverty and s
Seoul resumes medical aid to N.K. via U.N.

Nov 8, 2011

South gives first government-level assistance since deadly attacks last yearSouth Korea plans to resume medical aid to North Korea by taking part in a U.N. aid program, a Seoul official said Tuesday, in the newest sign of easing tensions between the two rival countries. It will be the first government-level assistance to North Korea since its deadly shelling on a border island in November last year. The Seoul government has approved of executing $6.94 million to the World Health Organization, wh
N. Korea’s nuke tests were two too many: CTBTO chief

Nov 8, 2011

North Korea stands out as the only country to have conducted a nuclear test in the 21st century, pushing it into further isolation from the rest of the world, the head of an agency tasked with monitoring the main nuclear-test-ban treaty said Tuesday.“Each test is creating a problem for the DPRK and this is the choice of the DPRK,” said Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). DPRK is the acronym of North Kor
SKorea approves WHO medicines shipment to NKorea

Nov 8, 2011

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ South Korea has lifted its block on donating medicine to North Korea via the World Health Organization, amid signs of easing tension between the countries.South Korea previously had donated to a WHO program to send medicine and medical supplies to the North, but asked the o
N. Korean man defects to South on raft: source

Nov 8, 2011

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean man crossed the maritime border into South Korea on a raft late last month, the same day that 21 other North Koreans were found drifting aboard a boat off the South's west coast, a government source said Tuesday."One North Korean man was discovered by our Nav
‘N.K. defector shot dead while fleeing country’

Nov 7, 2011

A North Korean border guard recently shot and killed a defector while trying to escape near the border with China, an activist in Seoul said.The incident is seen as part of a crackdown on the increasing number of residents risking their lives to flee the impoverished state.Kim Yong-hwa, chairman of the North Korea Refugees Human Rights Association of Korea, said he saw a defector shot dead by a North Korean border guard shortly after he crossed the river border and stepped on Chinese soil. “I ac
N.K. soldier shoots defector arriving on Chinese soil: witness

Nov 7, 2011

A North Korean defector was recently shot dead by the North's border guards on Chinese soil shortly after crossing a border river, a civic activist here claimed Monday, suggesting that the Pyongyang regime has toughened its crackdown on defectors."I witnessed on Oct. 22 a North Korean man shot to de
Unification minister to ‘actively consider’ giving aid to N.K.

Nov 6, 2011

NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― South Korea will “actively consider” providing humanitarian aid to North Korea through United Nations agencies, Seoul’s top policymaker on Pyongyang said here Friday.Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik visited U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and they discussed the need to help out the impoverished communist regime.Afterward, Yu said Ban expressed concerns about malnutrition among North Korean infants and children and the secretary-general told him that helping North Korea
‘21 N. Koreans cross sea border into South’

Nov 6, 2011

A group of 21 North Koreans was found drifting aboard a boat off South Korea’s west coast earlier last week, officials said Saturday, the latest in a string of defections by North Koreans.The five-ton wooden boat carrying the North Korean family members, including children, was spotted by sailors on a South Korean Navy vessel in the Yellow Sea on Sunday, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.The boat was drifting in waters some 38 kilometers south of the tense western maritime b
Unification minister pledges to start filling fund for Koreas' reunification

Nov 5, 2011

Seoul's top policymaker on North Korea pledged Friday to start filling a fund aimed at preparing for reunification with the North, calling on the South Korean people to also take part. Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, on a trip to the United States,said he plans to launch a campaign to ra
21 N. Koreans cross sea border into South: officials

Nov 5, 2011

A group of 21 North Koreans was found drifting aboard a boat off South Korea's west coast earlier this week, officials said Saturday, the latest in a string of defections by North Koreans. The boat carrying the North Korean family members, includingchildren, was spotted by sailors on a S
U.S. House panel OKs bill on tougher sanctions on N. Korea

Nov 4, 2011

A U.S. House committee has approved a bill on toughening sanctions against North Korea, Iran and Syria with all three accused of being involved in proliferation activities, congressional sources said Thursday.The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Non
Seoul seeks 'stable dialogue channel' with Pyongyang: minister

Nov 4, 2011

South Korea is trying to establish a "stable dialogue channel" with North Korea, Seoul's top policymaker on the communist neighbor said Thursday, adding the alliance with the U.S. is the cornerstone of the effort.In a round-table meeting with U.S. experts on Korea, Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik als