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Survey Finds Growing Life Satisfaction Among North Korean Defectors in South Korea

Survey Finds Growing Life Satisfaction Among North Korean Defectors in South Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — A record share of North Korean defectors living in South Korea say they are satisfied with their lives, reflecting steady gains in employment and income that are narrowing long-standing economic gaps with the broader population, according to a government-affiliated survey released Tuesday. About 81 percent of respondents said they [...]

Peace Without Reunification: Public Opinion in South Korea Shifts Toward Pragmatism

Peace Without Reunification: Public Opinion in South Korea Shifts Toward Pragmatism

SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) —  A large majority of South Koreans believe that maintaining peaceful coexistence with North Korea is more important than achieving reunification, according to a government survey released Thursday. The Unification Ministry’s poll found that 79.4 percent of respondents agreed that “peaceful coexistence without war is more important than reunification,” reflecting [...]

Dispute Deepens Over U.N. Control of DMZ Access After Senior Aide Denied Entry

Dispute Deepens Over U.N. Control of DMZ Access After Senior Aide Denied Entry

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s unification minister publicly criticized the United Nations Command (UNC) on Wednesday, revealing that it had recently barred a senior presidential security aide from entering the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), reviving long-standing tensions over the scope of the UNC’s authority. Speaking at a National Assembly hearing on legislation to expand [...]

North Korea Condemns U.S.–South Korea Summit Outcomes, Vows “Necessary and Realistic” Countermeasures

North Korea Condemns U.S.–South Korea Summit Outcomes, Vows “Necessary and Realistic” Countermeasures

SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea on Tuesday issued its first official response to last week’s U.S.–South Korea summit, denouncing the joint fact sheet and Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) statement as fresh evidence of what it called Washington and Seoul’s “hostile and confrontational intent.” In a lengthy commentary carried by the Korean Central News [...]

Seoul Presses Washington for Nuclear Submarine Fuel in Security Push

Seoul Presses Washington for Nuclear Submarine Fuel in Security Push

GYEONGJU, South Korea, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung used a high-stakes summit in Gyeongju on Wednesday to push Washington toward a long-sought goal: the fuel needed to operate nuclear-powered submarines. Meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in the ancient capital, Lee argued that South Korea’s diesel-powered fleet no longer provides [...]

Most South Koreans Still See Unification as Necessary, Survey Finds

Most South Koreans Still See Unification as Necessary, Survey Finds

SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – A clear majority of South Koreans continue to view unification with North Korea as a national goal, even as doubts persist about the prospects for renewed diplomacy with Pyongyang, according to a government-commissioned survey released Sunday. Nearly 69 percent of respondents said unification remains either “very necessary” or “quite necessary,” [...]

U.S. Think Tank Highlights South Korea’s Reluctance to Confront China but Calls Its Chip Strength Key to Alliance

U.S. Think Tank Highlights South Korea’s Reluctance to Confront China but Calls Its Chip Strength Key to Alliance

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A leading Washington think tank has warned that South Korea’s reluctance to challenge China militarily or economically could complicate U.S. strategy in Asia, even as it praised Seoul’s technological prowess as vital to the allies’ shared interests in an era of intensifying competition with Beijing. In a report released Wednesday [...]

Survey Finds Fewer Than Half of South Koreans Now See Unification as Necessary

Survey Finds Fewer Than Half of South Koreans Now See Unification as Necessary

SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Fewer than half of South Koreans believe unification with the North is necessary, though support has edged higher compared with a year ago, a new survey shows. The 2025 Unification Awareness Survey, conducted by Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies and Gallup Korea, found that 41.1 [...]

From Hanoi to Gyeongju? Kim’s Warm Words for Trump Stir Reunion Speculation

From Hanoi to Gyeongju? Kim’s Warm Words for Trump Stir Reunion Speculation

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — When North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told his parliament last weekend that he still holds a “good memory” of U.S. President Donald Trump, it was more than a nostalgic aside. It was the first public hint in years that Pyongyang could contemplate returning to the table with Washington—provided, Kim [...]

Trump Voices Hope for Kim Jong-un Meeting, Raising Questions of Timing and Terms

Trump Voices Hope for Kim Jong-un Meeting, Raising Questions of Timing and Terms

WASHINGTON,  Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — When President Donald J. Trump sat down with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the White House on Monday, it did not take long for old ambitions to resurface. Amid the pleasantries of their first summit since Mr. Lee took office in June, Mr. Trump signaled a desire to revive a [...]