SEOUL, June 27 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea said Tuesday that it plans later this week to repatriate eight North Koreans who were rescued last week in the East Sea, as they expressed wishes to go home. The government plans to send them back home around Thursday as it will seek to notify North Korea [...]
SEOUL, June 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Nearly 80 percent of South Koreans support a resumption of long-suspended inter-Korean dialogue, a survey by a presidential advisory panel showed Thursday, indicating strong backing for the policy line of new President Moon Jae-in. In the survey by the National Unification Advisory Council, 76.9 percent of respondents said South Korea should [...]
BEIJING, June 14 (Korea Bizwire) – China welcomed former basketball star Dennis Rodman’s visit to North Korea Wednesday, saying it supports efforts to build ties between Washington and Pyongyang. Lu Kang, spokesman of China’s foreign ministry, made the remark in response to a question about whether Beijing views this week’s trip by Rodman and the [...]
BEIJING, June 8 (Korea Bizwire) – China urged North Korea not to escalate tensions after the country launched what are believed to be several cruise missiles. “Under the current environment, the countries concerned should not provoke each other or take any action that could escalate regional tensions,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in [...]
SEOUL, June 8 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea launched a salvo of anti-ship cruise missiles from its east coast Thursday, South Korea’s military said, adding they flew some 200 kilometers before dropping in the East Sea. “North Korea fired several unidentified projectiles, assumed to be short-range surface-to-ship cruise missiles, this morning in the direction of [...]
SEOUL, June 8 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s defense ministry said Thursday it has requested a record budget of 43.7 trillion won (US$38.7 billion) for next year, citing growing threats from North Korea and the need for reforming the South’s military under President Moon Jae-in’s campaign pledge. It represents an 8.4 percent increase from 2017. [...]
SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday the ongoing deployment of the U.S. missile defense system THAAD here should be suspended at least for now, also confirming the U.S. defense system should be subject to a full-blown environmental impact assessment. “We are not saying the two launchers [...]
SEOUL, June 5 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s government said Monday it has approved an additional four requests for contacts with North Koreans as it has decided to flexibly resume civilian inter-Korean exchanges. The Ministry of Unification said that it gave the green light to the requests by nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and a global body [...]
SEOUL, June 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s government on Friday approved an additional eight requests by local aid providers and religious groups to have contact with North Koreans over inter-Korean exchanges. The Ministry of Unification said that it gave the green light to plans by two humanitarian aid providers and six religious groups to [...]
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea is again bolstering its anti-smoking efforts, advertising new smoking cessation aids on state television. On May 30, the Korean Central News Agency introduced a nicotine patch – “a cutting-edge technology quit-smoking aid” – that helps smokers stop their habit. “This highly effective nicotine patch is newly introduced [...]