National Politics Social Affairs Foreign Affairs Defense North Korea Science Diplomatic Circuit Education Business Economy Finance Industry Technology Automode Life&Style Culture Travel Fashion Food & Beverage Books People Expat Living Arts & Design Health Entertainment Film Television Music Theater World World News World Business Asia News Network Sports Soccer Baseball Golf More Sports Opinion Editorial Viewpoints English Eye Podcast English Cafe Go to Desktop Version Weekender Subscribe Leader’s Club Korean Mobile App Twitter Facebook Youtube RSS NATIONAL Apr 24, 2019 North Korea N. Korea replaces top official involved in negotiations with US A senior North Korean official, who served as Pyongyang’s chief interlocutor in talks with the United States, has been replaced as head of a key espionage agency handling inter-Korean affairs, a lawmaker said Wednesday.Kim Yong-chol, chief of the United Front Department, was recently replaced by Jang Kum-chol, Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Bareunmirae Party, who leads the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, said, citing a source from Seoul’s spy agency. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Yonha Apr 24, 2019 Defense Defense minister asks for US congress’ support for alliance Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo met US congressional leaders Wednesday and asked for their unwavering support for the maintenance of the strong alliance between the two countries, his office said. During his meeting with Sen. Chris Coons and Sen. Maggie Hassan in Seoul, Jeong expressed appreciation for their support for peace-building initiatives on the Korean Peninsula, while noting that the Seoul-Washington alliance and the joint defense posture “are stronger than ever before.”Jeong Kyeong-d Today North Korea Stalled nuclear talks put brakes on implementation of inter-Korean agreement About a year ago, President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held their historic first summit at the border village of Panmunjom, which led to a rapid thaw in inter-Korean relations.To mark the first anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration that the two Koreas signed at the April 27 inter-Korean summit, the South will hold a ceremony Saturday at the recently demilitarized Panmunjom, though Pyongyang’s lukewarm attitude toward Seoul in recent months indicates a slim chance of the N Today Diplomatic Circuit Experts discuss ways to enhance cultural exchange between Korea, ASEAN The Korean Wave has enhanced cultural exchange between Korea and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, building a close regional bond, experts said at a forum organized by The Korea Herald on Wednesday. Under the theme of “ASEAN and Korean Waves,” some 30 high-level representatives from leading media organizations in Southeast Asian countries and Korea, as well as the government, academia and business communities, discussed ways to spread the phenomenon through mutu Today North Korea Kim-Putin summit will not be ‘game changer,’ says former CIA analyst As North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia on Wednesday for his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an expert on North Korea said the meeting would not be a “game changer.”Pak Jung, a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution, also said the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump was not a failure, but an opportunity for related parties to understand the limits to what each has been pursuing. Pak was a Today Politics Agreement to fast-track key bills roils National Assembly Bareunmirae Party takes Rep. Oh Shin-hwan off the special committee, main opposition Liberty Korea Party vows all-out protest Today North Korea NK leader arrives in Russia ahead of Putin summit North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, a day ahead of his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim set out for Russia via his private train in the early hours of Wednesday and arrived in the Russian border city of Khasan at about 10:40 a.m., before moving on to Vladivostok, where he arrived some six hours later. In an interview with Russian media after a welcome ceremony in Khasan, Kim hinted at strengthening cooperation with Moscow in regiona Today Social affairs Actress Yoon Ji-oh accused of defamation A writer has filed a complaint with the police against Yoon Ji-oh, an actress who claims to have seen a suicide note written by her colleague Jang Ja-yeon 10 years ago, on charges of defamation and contempt.The accuser’s lawyer said at a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency after filing the complaint on Tuesday that Yoon was using Jang’s death when all she had seen was Jang being molested. Yoon Ji-oh (Yonhap)Yoon has said Jang’s suicide note contained a list of men J Apr 24, 2019 Social affairs S. Korean childbirths down 6.9 pct in February The number of newborns in South Korea fell 6.9 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, a sign of the continuing low birthrate that has plagued Asia's fourth-largest economy for more than a decade.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 25,700 babies were born in February, compared with 27,600 babies tallied in the same month of 2018.(Yonhap)It marks the lowest number of newborns reported for any February since 1981, when the statistics agency started Today Social affairs Singer Park Yoo-chun to retire from showbiz over suspected meth use K-pop singer and actor Park Yoo-chun was expelled from his agency on Wednesday, after results revealed that he had tested positive for methamphetamine. A hearing on whether to arrest him is scheduled for Friday.(Yonhap)His management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, announced in a statement it had terminated its contract with Park, of K-pop boy band JYJ, and he would retire from the entertainment industry. All of his engagements have been called off, and the three-member JYJ is expected to disband. Apr 24, 2019 North Korea NK leader Kim arrives at Russia's border city of Khasan North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived by train at the Russian border city of Khasan on Wednesday en route to the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok for a much-anticipated summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian media reported.Kim's special train crossed the Russia-North Korea border at 10:40 a.m. (local time) over a bridge crossing the Tumen River and reached the Khasan station, Russian news service RIA Novosti said, citing a provincial government source.Upon arrival, he received br Apr 24, 2019 North Korea NK leader departs for Russia by train for summit with Putin: state media North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed for Russia by train Wednesday for his first summit with President Vladimir Putin, state media reported.Kim's special train left for Russia earlier in the day, the Korean Central News Agency said. It did not specify from where it departed and where it is headed.The Kremlin earlier said that the summit will be held in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok on Thursday. (Yonhap)If the train departed from Pyongyang, it will likely take at least 20 hours to get Apr 24, 2019 Social affairs K-pop star Park Yoo-chun tests positive for drugs A hair drug test for K-pop singer and actor Park Yoo-chun has returned a positive result, according to police here. Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, which is investigating Park’s case, received the test result from the National Forensic Service on Monday. Police are seeking an arrest warrant for Park. The hair sample, taken from his leg, was collected April 16 and sent for examination. A urine drug test earlier that day had returned a negative result.Park Yoo-chun leaves a police station Apr 23, 2019 Politics President Moon returns home from 3-nation Central Asia tour President Moon Jae-in returned home Tuesday after an eight-day trip to Central Asia aimed at improving the country's relations with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.His arrival here came hours after he left Kazakhstan, where he made a three-day state visit for a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.In their first bilateral summit, Moon and Tokayev agreed to greatly boost their countries' bilateral ties, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.To this end, the countries Apr 23, 2019 National UNC approves opening of DMZ for hiking trail on east coast The United Nations Command (UNC) said Tuesday it approved the opening of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas for a hiking trail in the east coast border town of Goseong.The Goseong course is one of three "DMZ Peace Trail" sites proposed by the South Korean government under its plan to open to the public the DMZ for the first time since the two Koreas were divided.The two other sites are Cheorwon county in Gangwon Province and the western city of Paju in Gyeonggi Province.Gen. 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