The U.S. has spotted a tarpaulin over a tunnel entrance at North Korea’s nuclear test site, a news report said Tuesday, adding to concerns that Pyongyang is preparing a fourth nuclear weapons test. The tarp was spotted by a spy satellite late last week at the nuclear site in the northeastern town of Punggye, CNN quoted a senior Washington official as saying. A similar cover was used ahead of the North’s third detonation in February 2013, in an apparent attempt to hide the atomic device during it

The defense ministry is considering reducing the civilian control area south of the Demilitarized Zone and easing regulations on other military reservation zones for the convenience of residents, a senior official said Wednesday.The latest move, part of President Park Geun-hye’s deregulation initiative, is aimed at making it easier for residents to exercise their land and property rights, officials said. “We are reviewing ways to reduce or scrap some military reservation zones and adjust the civ

From “trustpolitik” to the Dresden declaration, President Park Geun-hye’s signature North Korea initiatives face strong headwinds as the defiant neighbor ratchets up threats of another nuclear test and criticism against her administration. While adopting a dual-track approach of reengagement and deterrence shortly after taking office, Park launched a campaign for unification as the centerpiece of her term’s second year, saying it would present a “bonanza” to all Koreans and a chance for the unif

A reporter for an online news outlet was booked Monday without detention for defaming the family of a high school student missing in the ferry accident, Daegu police said. The 47-year-old man, identified only by his surname Seo, on his Facebook page on April 19 harshly criticized an interview with the mother of a missing Danwon High School student, in which she blamed the government and president for their sloppy response to the disaster. He called the mother “insane” and the interview “a play o

North Korea on Tuesday lashed out at U.S. President Barack Obama’s warning against its fourth nuclear test during his tour of Asia last week, vowing to continue its experiment that has no “statute of limitations.” Concerns have been growing since Pyongyang threatened a “new form” of underground blast on March 30 in protest against the U.N. Security Council’s condemnation of its firing of midrange ballistic missiles.In Seoul on Friday, Obama warned that the communist state will face further press

The National Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday on the establishment of a memorial park and monument for scores of teenage students killed in the sinking of a ferry off Korea’s southwest coast nearly two weeks ago.The resolution calls for efforts to build the park and monument in the grief-stricken city of Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, home to a school hit hardest by the tragedy.More than 300 people were confirmed dead or missing after the ferry Sewol capsized and sank on April 16. Most of the vic

As Kuwait seeks to diversify its oil-heavy economy, Korea is ready to help expedite the transition by fostering partnerships in low-carbon technologies and the service and other knowledge-based industries, Seoul’s new envoy to the Gulf country said. Shin Boo-nam, former ambassador for climate change and green growth, is anchoring his hopes on Korea’s knowhow in education, healthcare and green technologies, citing these as promising areas for collaboration. “Kuwait is striving to chart its path t

Over the last few weeks, a notable change was spotted within the core of the reclusive North Korean ruling elite: Hwang Pyong-so, formerly the first vice director of the ruling party’s organization guidance department, was elevated to the rank of four-star general and then to the rarefied, coveted rank of vice marshal. The decision was made Saturday by the powerful National Defense Commission and the Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission, the official Korean Central News Agency announced

This is the fifth installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.With Korea’s advanced information technology, its know-how in e-government services could provide a key tool for developing countries to help achieve good governance and effective public administration, the head of the U.N. Project Office on Governance said. “E-government is one of the best paths to good governance that the humans have found so far, playing a key role in achieving a wide

The leaders of South Korea and the U.S. agreed Friday to reconsider the timing of Washington’s transfer of its wartime operational control of Korean troops, scheduled for 2015, in the face of persistent North Korean nuclear threats.During their summit in Seoul, Presidents Park Geun-hye and Barack Obama also warned the communist state against conducting a fourth nuclear test, vowing further pressure and sanctions that have “even more bite.” With Seoul-Tokyo ties remaining frosty, Obama took a swi

Despite the increasingly powerful international sanctions against North Korea, China should play a greater role in boosting their effectiveness and curbing the Kim Jong-un regime’s nuclear ambitions, a former key U.S. administration official said Wednesday. Robert Einhorn, who served as special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control to the U.S. Secretary of State and as a coordinator for Iran and North Korea sanctions until last year, also raised the need for strong punishment if the comm

North Korea has stepped up activity at its nuclear site, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, in a fresh sign that the communist country may push ahead with a fourth atomic test in breach of international resolutions. Concerns have been growing since Pyongyang threatened a “new form of nuclear test” late last month in protest against the U.N. Security Council’s condemnation of its test-firing of ballistic missiles. Though no signs were spotted of an impending underground explosion, the ministr

The Global Green Growth Institute is committed to crafting low-carbon development strategies for emerging countries by harnessing innovation and fostering public-private cooperation in line with Seoul’s drive for a creative economy, its new chief said. Yvo de Boer, former executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, also expressed his resolve to remake the Seoul-based international organization that has taken flak for its lax budget and personnel management in recent y

As the death toll creeps up and hope fades for about 240 missing passengers on the submerged ferry, grief and despair are sweeping through the nation. Many South Koreans opt for donations and volunteer work over spring festivals, weekend getaways and Easter celebrations. At the frontline of the rescue efforts, the families of the missing have been camping out on Jindo Island off the southwestern coast since the Sewol capsized and sank there. But it is the entire population, not only the relative

Last June, Rep. Lim Su-kyung of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy was at the center of a sour ideological debate after calling North Korean defectors “apostates.” A former high-profile pro-unification activist, Lim was once called the “flower of reunification” by Pyongyang for her unauthorized participation in the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang as a university student.The 44-year-old lawmaker made the remarks during an impromptu meeting with a defect

As President Park Geun-hye continues her pitch for unification as a potential “bonanza,” one government organ that would conventionally be at the vanguard of the drive appears to be increasingly inconspicuous: the Unification Ministry. With foreign affairs and security being the conservative president’s fortes, Cheong Wa Dae has gradually been taking over the ministry’s traditional role ― along with its influence. While regular, administrative tasks associated with inter-Korean affairs remain bu

Seoul, Washington and Beijing are intensifying diplomatic efforts as they wrestle to rein in North Korea’s nuclear threats and find middle ground in reopening a long-stalled six-nation forum aimed at disarming the communist country. Hwang Joon-kook, Seoul’s new special representative for Korean peninsular peace and security affairs and top envoy to the six-party talks, returned home after separate trips to Washington and Beijing over the last week. In Washington, Hwang and his U.S. and Japanese

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Thursday warned North Korea of “unimaginable consequences” amid threats of a fresh nuclear test, calling on its leadership to choose between coexistence or isolation. Concerns have grown after North Korea repeatedly threatened to conduct a “new type of nuclear test” since late last month to boost its nuclear deterrence in the face of ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills and the U.N. Security Council’s condemnation of its recent test of ballistic missiles.Offi

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was “reelected” as head of the country’s most powerful body at a parliamentary session Wednesday, which experts said may offer a glimpse into its leadership reconfiguration in the wake of the execution of his influential uncle. The Supreme People’s Assembly meeting came about a month after the election under the young ruler of a new roster of deputies for the rubber-stamp parliament, including Kim Jong-un and other 686 military and party officials who all won unan

Korea doled out more than $1.74 billion in official development assistance in 2013, up about 9.2 percent from a year before, as the world’s 16th largest donor country, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said Wednesday. Seoul spent $1.3 billion in bilateral aid, consisting of $800 million in grants and $500 million in low-interest loans, and $450 million in multilateral projects run by international organizations. Despite the increase, the sum represents a paltry 0.13 percent of gross national inco