North Korea withdraws demand for hefty wage hike at joint industrial park with South KoreaSeptember 10th, 2009 NKorea seeks 5 percent wage hike at joint projectSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea withdrew its demand for a hefty wage hike for its workers at a joint industrial complex with South Korea, the latest conciliatory gesture that could help revive reconciliation on the divided peninsula. Pyongyang previously demanded that Seoul increase the minimum monthly salary of $55 to $300 for some 40,000 North Korean workers employed by South Korean firms operating at the complex in the North's border city of Kaesong.
China disputes US journalists' account of North Korea captureSeptember 3rd, 2009 BEIJING - The Chinese government Thursday disputed two US journalists' account of their capture at the border between China and North Korea, saying it believed that the two women were not seized on Chinese territory. "According to the understanding of relevant departments, they did not find the situation as you described it," foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu told reporters when asked about the journalists' claim that North Korean border guards chased them across the border before arresting them.
North and South Korea restart talksAugust 22nd, 2009 SEOUL - North and South Korea held their first high-level talks in almost two years Saturday amid indications of an easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula. South Korea's Minister of Unification Hyun In Taek met Kim Yang Gon, the head of the unification front department of North Korea's ruling Korean Workers' Party, South Korean media said.
North Korea puts troops on alert over South Korea-US war gamesAugust 17th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Monday put its troops on alert as an annual joint South Korean-US war game commenced and accused its neighbour of planning an attack. North Korea would react to any provocation with a "merciless and prompt annihilating strike at the aggressors with all offensive and defensive means, including nuclear deterrent", state media quoted the high command of the Korean People's Army as saying.
NKorea puts military on "special alert" because of joint SKorean-US military drillsAugust 17th, 2009 NKorea puts military on 'special alert'SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea says its military will be on "special alert" because of South Korea's joint military drills with the U.S. The communist nation's army made the announcement Monday on the same day that the country said it was restarting key reconciliation projects with South Korea, to reunite separated families and organize joint tourism.
US refuses to comment about India detaining North Korean shipAugust 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Coordinator for Implementation of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1874, Ambassador Philip Goldberg said on Friday that New Delhi might have acted under international and domestic law in detaining the North Korean ship MV Mu San. Goldberg was speaking with reporters at a special State Department briefing.
North Korea frees detained South Korean worker, brightening prospects for better relationsAugust 13th, 2009 North Korea frees detained South Korea workerSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Thursday freed a South Korean worker detained for months in the communist country, officials said, brightening prospects for improved relations on the tense peninsula. The release came days after Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun traveled to Pyongyang in an effort to secure the employee's freedom, and a week after the isolated regime freed two U.S.
Report: South Korean fishing boat taken to North KoreaJuly 30th, 2009 Report: SKorean fishing boat taken to NKoreaSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea seized a South Korean fishing boat early Thursday after it accidentally crossed the countries' sea border, a news report said. Yonhap news agency quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying that the incident took place at about 6:30 a.m.
US journalists admit to smear campaign, says North KoreaJune 16th, 2009 SEOUL - Two US journalists jailed in North Korea have admitted their part in a "smear campaign" against the country, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday. They entered the country illegally with the aim of making films to misrepresent North Korea's human rights policy, the report said.
North Korea threatens to launch strikes against South KoreaMay 27th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea on Wednesday threatened to launch military strikes against South Korea if any of its ships were stopped or searched as part of an American-led operation to intercept vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. "We consider this a declaration of war against us," an unidentified North Korean military spokesman said Wednesday in a statement carried by the North's official news agency KCNA.
North Korea to try US journalistsMay 14th, 2009 PYONGYANG - A North Korean court will try two detained US journalists June 4, the state-run news agency reported Thursday. Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were detained March 17 near the Tumen River, which marks the border with China.
Talks between North, South Korea end after 20 minutesApril 21st, 2009 SEOUL - The first direct talks between the governments of North and South Korea in more than a year lasted for around 20 minutes Tuesday, South Korean officials said. There were no details as to what had been discussed at the meeting, which took place in the North Korean border city of Kaesong at an industrial park operated jointly by the two neighbours.
South Korean officials depart for meeting in North over troubled factory complexApril 21st, 2009 South Korean officials depart for meeting in NorthSEOUL, South Korea — South Korean officials traveled Tuesday to North Korea for the first official dialogue between the two governments under South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-bak, amid tension over Pyongyang's April 5 rocket launch. Also adding strain to the meeting was North Korea's recent warning that the South not join a U.S.-led program to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea reopens border with South for commutersMarch 17th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Tuesday allowed hundreds of South Koreans access to a joint industrial park after closing down its borders for several days to protest joint US-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang allowed the entry of 500 South Koreans while at the same time 300 South Koreans who had been stranded at the Kaesong industrial complex in the North for days were allowed to leave, the Defence Ministry in Seoul said.
North Korea scraps all accords with South KoreaJanuary 29th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea has scrapped all political and military agreements with South Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported Friday. It denounced the South Korean government for pushing the inter-Korean relations to the brink of a war.