SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — A high-profile North Korean defector officially announced his bid to run in the April parliamentary elections Tuesday, vowing to work for inter-Korean unification if elected. Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat, joined the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and will run in a constituency in Seoul [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon held a government meeting at the Seoul government complex yesterday where he led discussions on 27 initiatives aimed at resolving longstanding difficulties facing trauma centers. Public awareness of trauma centers first skyrocketed last November, when a North Korean soldier who had sustained gunshot wounds in [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Another North Korean soldier defected to the South on December 21, making him the 15th defector this year. The number of North Korean defections has tripled from last year, leading some to speculate on the reasons behind the increase. Unlike his compatriot who made a daring run to freedom [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – With news continuing to filter out that the wounded North Korean defector brought to Ajou University Hospital has regained consciousness and is on the road to recovery, lead doctor Lee Kook-jong has won plaudits from many corners for his role in saving the soldier’s life. However, a minor controversy [...]
SUWON, November 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Now going on three days since a wounded North Korean soldier was brought to Ajou University Hospital, doctors have found the presence of parasitic worms in his abdomen, providing a glimpse into the poor conditions facing North Koreans. On November 15, professor Lee Kook-jong said while explaining the two [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Nine out of 10 North Korean defectors said they were proud to be South Koreans, a survey showed Saturday. According to the poll by the Korea Hana Foundation, a South Korean unification ministry affiliate, 92.3 percent of 2,663 North Korean defectors said they were proud to be South Korean [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea on Friday said defections by North Korean officials indicate that internal insecurity has increased in the communist country as the reclusive country’s leader Kim Jong-un is strengthening his iron-fisted rule. Seoul’s unification ministry said that a series of defections by North Koreans are taking place at a [...]
INCHEON, Aug. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – The defection of a Britain-based North Korean diplomat has received worldwide media coverage, yet again spotlighting the level of desperation and freedom sought out by the citizens living under one of world’s most oppressive regimes. And although defection to South Korea may be a dream-come-true for many North Koreans, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Defection by North Korean diplomats who have access to foreign currency holdings would make it harder for North Korea to bring in money from abroad which can eventually hasten the communist regime’s collapse in the event of a financial crisis, a renowned U.S. scholar said Monday. The analysis by [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – A Britain-based senior North Korean diplomat directly flew to South Korea after expressing his wish to defect to the Seoul government, a source said Friday. Thae Yong-ho, who served as a minister at North Korea’s embassy in London, and his family arrived in South Korea late last month without [...]