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Lee, China’s Xi to Discuss Economic Ties, N. Korea at Summit Talks: Cheong Wa Dae

Lee, China’s Xi to Discuss Economic Ties, N. Korea at Summit Talks: Cheong Wa Dae

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — President Lee Jae Myung plans to discuss practical economic cooperation and peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula in his upcoming summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Friday. Lee is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Sunday, hold a summit with [...]

Only One-Third of Japanese Back Diplomatic Support for Peace on Korean Peninsula, Poll Finds

Only One-Third of Japanese Back Diplomatic Support for Peace on Korean Peninsula, Poll Finds

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Only 36.7 percent of Japanese people said they support efforts to provide diplomatic support to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula, hovering well below the global average, a survey showed Tuesday. The percentage of Japanese citizens who backed the idea of offering economic and military support also stood at [...]

Seoul Allows Wider Public Access to North Korea’s State Newspaper

Seoul Allows Wider Public Access to North Korea’s State Newspaper

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) —  South Koreans will be able to easily read the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s main newspaper, at designated facilities and major public libraries, starting Tuesday, according to the unification ministry. The public will be able to easily access the Rodong Sinmun, like general publications, at around 20 facilities, as the newspaper [...]

License Plates Offer Rare Clues to Shifting Power Hierarchy in North Korea

License Plates Offer Rare Clues to Shifting Power Hierarchy in North Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea appears to be signaling a subtle but meaningful shift in its internal power structure, with new clues emerging from the license plates used by the country’s top leadership. An analysis of state media footage by Yonhap News Agency shows that Kim Jong Un has recently been using a [...]

Seoul Cites North Korea–Russia Military Cooperation as Growing Threat to Peninsula

Seoul Cites North Korea–Russia Military Cooperation as Growing Threat to Peninsula

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s defense minister warned on Monday that the security environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula was becoming increasingly volatile, pointing to deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as a destabilizing force with global implications. Speaking at a forum on South Korea’s alliance with the United States, Defense Minister [...]

Seoul Pushes for More Control of Its Forces as U.S. Priorities Shift

Seoul Pushes for More Control of Its Forces as U.S. Priorities Shift

WASHINGTON•SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea is pressing ahead with a bid for greater military autonomy within its alliance with the United States, a shift that reflects both Seoul’s growing confidence and Washington’s evolving strategic priorities as rivalry with China intensifies. From efforts to reclaim wartime operational control of its forces from the United [...]

Families of Korean Forced Labor Victims Sue in Seoul to Remove Names From Yasukuni Shrine

Families of Korean Forced Labor Victims Sue in Seoul to Remove Names From Yasukuni Shrine

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The families of Koreans who were forcibly conscripted by Imperial Japan during World War II and later enshrined at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine have filed a lawsuit in a South Korean court, seeking the removal of their relatives’ names and damages for what they describe as an ongoing violation of [...]

U.N. Command Asserts Sole Authority Over DMZ Access, Rejecting Seoul’s Push for New Law

U.N. Command Asserts Sole Authority Over DMZ Access, Rejecting Seoul’s Push for New Law

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The United Nations Command (UNC) on Wednesday sharply reiterated that it holds exclusive authority over civilian and military access to the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), citing the terms of the 1953 armistice. The unusually direct statement came as South Korea’s National Assembly advances legislation that would allow [...]

Bill to Shift DMZ Authority to Seoul Draws Objections From U.N. Command

Bill to Shift DMZ Authority to Seoul Draws Objections From U.N. Command

SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — A proposal that would grant the South Korean government authority over civilian access to the Demilitarized Zone — long controlled by the United Nations Command — is facing resistance from key ministries in Seoul and from the U.S.-led command itself. Lawmakers from the governing Democratic Party introduced the bill [...]