SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – In a rarely seen sight, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared at the country’s first conference for the primary committees dressed in a suit, instead of his typical military or “Mao” attire. In photos released on December 24 and 25 by the Korean Central News Agency, Kim wore a [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s unification ministry said Tuesday it is checking relevant information to verify whether President Park Geun-hye’s 2005 letter sent to the former North Korean leader violated a law on inter-Korean exchanges. A local media outlet reported that in July 2005, Park, then head of the conservative party, sent [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea and Japan on Friday directly exchanged classified information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs for the first time in line with their intelligence-sharing pact which came into force last month, the defense ministry said. Defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters that the exchange was made [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea’s per capita income was unchanged at 1.39 million won (US$1,179.10) last year, about one twenty-secondth of South Korea’s, government data showed Thursday. According to data by Statistics Korea, North Korea’s nominal gross national income (GNI) came to 34.5 trillion won in 2015, with its moribund economy contracting [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Kang Chun-hyok, a 31-year-old born in North Hamgyong Province, escaped North Korea in 1998 with his family and was granted asylum in the South in 2001. His vision and new life in South Korea has been somewhat different from other North Korean defectors residing here – he was determined [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Pyongyang’s state media, Korean Central Television, reported Sunday that leader Kim Jong-un observed a military drill simulating an attack on a mock-up of Cheong Wa Dae, the South Korean presidential residence also known as the Blue House. Kim viewed the combat drill conducted by the North Korean army’s special [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean-made pharmaceutical products remain widely popular in “Jangmadang,” or North Korea’s unofficial provincial markets, even though the distribution of goods from the South is under strict control in the communist state, a U.S.-based broadcaster said Monday. A source in the North’s North Hamkyong Province told Radio Free Asia [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Military investigators looking into the first hacking of South Korea’s cyber command intranet said Wednesday the suspected North Korean attackers accessed the network through a server at the armed forces’ main information center. The findings raised concerns that confidential information may have been compromised as the affected server is [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea and Cuba reaffirmed their friendly ties as a senior North Korean official visited Havana to attend Fidel Castro’s memorial service, Pyongyang’s media said Tuesday. Choe Ryong-hae, a vice chairman of the ruling party’s central committee, met with Cuba’s leader Raul Castro on Saturday during his visit to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions this week on North Korea, putting a stricter cap on the country’s exports of coal as well as copper, nickel, silver, and zinc. Interestingly, the sanctions also include exports of statues, apparently one of the key sources of income for North Korea, [...]