North Korea’s trade with China shrank by over 70 percent this year, with the North shutting down borders with its main trade partner in January in hopes to fend off COVID-19. North Korea’s trade with Russia, on the other hand, gained 15 percent. North Korea’s trade volume with China stood at $530 million in the first nine months of this year, down 73 percent from the same period last year, according to a quarterly report on the two countries’ trade released by the Kore

The ruling Democratic Party and the government on Thursday discussed legislation to isolate violent criminals in a rehabilitation facility for a while after their release from prison. DP floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon said in a meeting Thursday morning that over 120,000 South Koreans have agreed to making a so-called “Cho Doo-soon isolation law” in an online petition as the country’s most notorious child rapist is set to be freed from jail next month. “In order to prevent r

US President-elect Joe Biden named Antony Blinken, his closest foreign policy adviser who also served as deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, as his secretary of state, drawing attention to how he will go about dealing with North Korea. Blinken has advocated multilateral efforts for sustained diplomacy and a step-by-step approach on North Korea’s nuclear program. Blinken has also said before that the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program, reached between Iran and si

People with tattoos can become police officers, as long as the tattoos are covered by their uniforms and are not repulsive, under revised rules on police recruitment. Until now, the police have judged whether a tattoo on an officer candidate was appropriate based on the “motive of the procedure, meaning and size of the tattoo.” Under revised rules, however, the National Police Agency will look at what the tattoos express, and if they show when the uniform is worn. “Tattoos w

Temperatures fell to minus 1.5 degrees Celsius in Seoul on Monday morning, making it the coldest day so far this fall season. Due to the inflow of cold air from the northwest overnight, temperatures fell by between 4 and 12 degrees nationwide to below freezing in central inland regions and inland areas of the Gyeongsang provinces, the Korea Meteorological Agency said. They fell between 0 and 5 degrees in other regions. The mercury dipped below 0 degrees Celsius in 11 towns and counties in Nort

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Friday asked Koreans to stay home as rising COVID-19 cases feed concerns of another wave of infections. In what is his sixth address about COVID-19 to the Korean people, Chung asked Koreans to refrain from year-end gatherings and stay home save for essential activities. “Those of you in the age group of over 60, please take good care yourselves during the winter; please stay home and minimize unnecessary gatherings,” the prime minister said. &ldqu

The US Central Intelligence Agency took the family of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after Kim Jong-nam was murdered in February 2017, although it is unclear where the family resides now, said a Korean American writer. The activist group that helped the bereaved family get out of Macao shortly after Kim Jong-nam was killed in Kuala Lumpur reportedly lost them to people who identified themselves as CIA officers at the Taipei airport. In an article in the New

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae’s plans to introduce legislation that would force criminal suspects to disclose their mobile phone security codes during investigations has drawn strong criticism from the national bar association, lawyers’ groups of both liberal and conservative orientations, civic groups and opposition parties. Choo said last week that she had ordered the ministry to review the proposed legislation as Han Dong-hoon, a senior prosecutor under probe for allegedly colludin

The People Power Party’s interim leader Kim Chong-in is pushing the party to issue a public apology over the country’s two jailed former presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who ran on previous iterations of the party’s flag. Regarding a news report on Kim’s remarks during a closed-door party meeting on Monday that he would apologize late this month or in early December, People Power Party Floor Leader Joo Ho-young said he supports Kim’s plan, although the

A minor opposition party leader has wooed the prosecutor general who suddenly rose to presidential hopeful in polls thanks to his defiance against the justice minister. Chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl has been at odds with Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae over investigative command authority in a number of cases including a high-profile financial scandal, and openly expressed his disagreement during a televised parliamentary audit last month. Choo upped the ante on Wednesday by calling for Yoon&rsq

US President-elect Joe Biden faces a number of crises at home, such as the coronavirus and its ensuing economic fallout, as well as a deep partisan divide and civil unrest. Such domestic imperatives cast doubts on how much Biden can do on the foreign policy front, especially in Asia. But he will no doubt be tough on China, a major threat to the US economy, experts told The Korea Herald, and he will likely do so by building a united front of allies and partners, rather than raging a trade war li

The standing committee of the North Korean parliament adopted a non-smoking law and a revised corporate law, the North’s state media reported on Thursday. Under the new law, smoking is banned in designated areas such as theaters, cinemas and other public spaces, childcare centers, educational institutions, medical and health facilities, commercial facilities and on public transportation, said the North’s Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang had enacted a “smoking control&rdq

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and scores of other chiefs of governmental and private organizations got tested for the coronavirus Wednesday at the health authorities’ request. Results were not known as of press time. Health authorities earlier in the day requested that those who were at the late Samsung chairman’s wake on Oct. 26 get tested for COVID-19 after a member of the press who also attended was confirmed to have the virus. In an emergency text message sent Wednesday, the C

The ruling Democratic Party decided to revise its rules and officially nominate candidates for mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan in April, as a majority of party members voted in favor of the plan Monday. The party’s constitution states that it cannot nominate any by-election candidates if the party caused the situation that made the by-election necessary. The late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon took his own life in July, and former Busan Mayor Oh Ke-don resigned in April amid sexual ha

North Korea on Friday blamed the Seoul government on its killing of a South Korean civilian, calling it an “accident” stemming from Pyongyang’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID. According to the South Korean military, North Korean soldiers found a South Korean fisheries official who drifted into North Korean waters last month, shot him to death six hours later and burned his body at sea. The North Koreans told the South that their soldiers shot the man because he was re