Free Republic

Full Title: North Korea is hit by 'artificial' 2.1-magnitude earthquake after 'mine explosion' amid claims Pyongyang is reviving a nuclear launch site An earthquake in a mining town in North Korea was caused by 'artificial activity', it has been claimed. The 2.1-magnitude tremor was reported in the town of Pyonggang near the border with South Korea around Thursday lunchtime. Meteorology experts in the South said the quake was likely to be caused by a mine explosion.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea has restored part of a rocket test site it began to dismantle after pledging to do so in a first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last year, while Trump’s national security advisor warned that new sanctions could be introduced if Pyongyang did not scrap its nuclear weapons program. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and two U.S. think tanks reported on Tuesday that work was underway at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri, even as Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a second summit in Hanoi last week.

Full Title: Shadowy group protecting the son of Kim Jong-un's assassinated brother vows to rid North Korea of the 'great evil' Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) declared itself the legitimate interim government In a statement on its website on Friday it vowed to fight Kim Jong Un's regime CCD say they are protecting Kim Han Sol, the son of murdered Kim Jong Nam A shadowy group believed to be protecting the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's assassinated brother declared the formation of a 'legitimate interim government' on Friday. The Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) organisation, which offers to assist...

N orth Korean state media brushed over the failure to reach a deal in its coverage of the Vietnam summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, indicating that hope remains for progress in future negotiations. The headline on the front page of Rodong Sinmun, the country's official newspaper, made no mention of the collapse in talks and the lack of agreement, instead proclaiming how well the summit had gone. The newspaper referred to the "constructive and candid exchange" that the US and North Korean leaders had during their two days of meetings in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. The positive write-up...

A Russian cargo ship crashed into a bi-level bridge on the coast of South Korea while its captain was drunk, authorities said Thursday. No injuries were caused during the bizarre crash, but sections of the Gwangan Bridge in Busan were closed for precautionary purposes. It's not illegal to consume alcohol while aboard a ship, but it is illegal to sail a ship while intoxicated.

A Russian cargo ship captain may have been slightly drunk when he veered off course and crashed into a busy South Korean bridge this afternoon. The 6,000 ton Seagrand collided with the side of the Gwangan Bridge in Busan, in the southeast of the country, at around 4.20pm local time. The ship then attempted to turn and vacate the area before it was detained by the Korea Coast Guard (KCG).

From the main street, the Euljiro neighbourhood doesn’t look like much: some shabby retail stores, cold-noodle restaurants, a Starbucks. Enter one of the small alleys, however, and you’ll find yourself in a kind of manufacturing anthill: thousands upon thousands of shops, each crammed to the rafters with bolts, circuit boards, iron castings, gauges, wires, lights, switches, tools and innumerable tiny objects that defy description. This incredible warren of machinists is the manufacturing heart of Seoul. There are 10,000 shops here, with 50,000 tradespeople, many of whom have been working here since the 1950s and were integral to South Korea’s postwar...

South Korean officials on Sunday signed a deal to cover more of the cost of U.S. troops over the coming year after President Donald Trump strongly urged them to do so. The new arrangement, pending ratification by the South Korean parliament in April, would increase Seoul’s share of the cost by a little over 8 percent to $924 million in U.S. dollars. South Korean officials described the new deal as a compromise with President Trump’s request for a “huge increase.” The officials stressed the importance of “a strong South Korea-U.S. alliance and the need for a stable stationing of...

SEOUL (Reuters) – Officials signed a short-term agreement on Sunday to boost South Korea’s contribution toward the upkeep of U.S. troops on the peninsula, after a previous deal lapsed amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the South to pay more. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, where the United States has maintained a military presence since the 1950-53 Korean War. The new deal must still be approved by South Korea’s parliament, but it would boost its contribution to 1.03 trillion won ($890 million) from 960 billion won in 2018. Unlike past agreements, which lasted for five...

South Korea and the United States struck a new deal Sunday on how much Seoul should pay for the U.S. military presence on its soil, official said, after previous rounds of failed negotiations caused worries about their decades-long alliance. Last year, South Korea provided about $830 million, roughly 40 percent of the cost of the deployment of 28,500 U.S. soldiers whose presence is meant to deter aggression from North Korea. President Donald Trump has said South Korea should pay more. Yonhap news agency reported that South Korea will provide about 1.04 trillion won ($924 million) in 2019. Yonhap said the...

Washington (CNN)The US and South Korea have reached a preliminary agreement on the cost of keeping nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea, two State Department officials said, alleviating fears among President Donald Trump's advisers that he could move to withdraw US troops during his upcoming summit with North Korea's leader. Under the revised Special Measures Agreement, South Korea would boost its financial contribution to nearly $1 billion, according to...

President Moon Jae-in’s government is seeking ways to circumvent international sanctions against North Korea to reopen an inter-Korean industrial park. The Kaesong industrial complex north of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas was shut down in February 2016 after Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test. The ensuing moves by Seoul officials suggest the Moon administration is seeking to resume the inter-Korean projects, particularly the joint industrial park, as a catalyst for the North’s denuclearization rather than a step to be taken after a significant progress is made. But it would prove practically impossible to bypass sanctions imposed by a...

In contrast to President Trump, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has embraced a pro-labor program of higher wages and taxes. The early results have been discouraging. As President Trump leads a drive to slash taxes and pare back regulation, one major economy is taking a different approach. Under President Moon Jae-in, South Korea has raised taxes and the minimum wage in the name of economic growth. So far, it hasn’t worked out as planned. Growth has slowed, unemployment has risen and small-business owners like Moon Seung are complaining. Mr. Moon, founder of an auto parts maker called Dasung in...

Lee Oui-ryuk was on the verge of dying of starvation when he stole a block of tofu in a market in North Korea at the height of a nationwide famine. Too weak to run away after he swiped the food, Lee continued eating as the seller cried and beat him with a metal rod, staining the white tofu red with his blood. At nine years old he knew the theft would end in violence, but in his head he repeated over and over: “Even if you are beaten, keep eating.” He eventually passed out and when he awoke, took a...

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, on Tuesday unveiled a prototype of a Korean-made light armed helicopter (LAH). KAI began to develop the 4.9-ton LAH in June 2015 and assembled the prototype helicopter last month. It aims to complete the development of the LAH, set to be used by the Army, by 2023, the company said in a statement. "The company will make a series of ground tests from January to see if the prototype plane's engine and other systems work properly before it makes a test flight in May (2019)...

Sit by my side and you will see , A new level of my Tapestry , for I AM raising in the air , My banner of love everywhere , So in my design for each child , woman and man , is for my heart to expand , And reach new heights never seen , a new beginning bright and clean , For as you shed this heart called you , is when I step out and renew , So take my hand and then let go , Of all of you and then you'll know , That in...

Attempts to incorporate a key scientific study into global climate talks in Poland have failed. The IPCC report on the impacts of a temperature rise of 1.5C, had a significant impact when it was launched last October. Scientists and many delegates in Poland were shocked as the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected to this meeting "welcoming" the report. Instead they wanted to support a much more lukewarm phrase, that the conference would "take note" of the report. The dispute dragged on as huddles of negotiators met in corners of the plenary session here, trying to agree a compromise...

Donald Trump wants North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to know that he likes him and will fulfill his wishes, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in has said, a day after meeting the US president at an economic summit in Argentina. Moon, who is hoping to host Kim soon on the first ever trip to Seoul by a North Korean leader as agreed earlier this year, said Trump had asked him to pass on a message. "The message is that President Trump has very favourable views toward Chairman Kim and he likes him," Moon told reporters aboard a flight from Argentina...

It doesn’t seem like there’s a "ruff" relationship between the two Koreas at the moment. South Korean president Moon Jae-in unveiled puppies that were born from one of the dogs given to the South by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “peace gifts” in September. The Pungsan dog, Gomi, gave birth to six puppies — three females and three males — earlier this month. The official Twitter account for South Korea's presidential Blue House tweeted on Sunday photos of Moon and his wife Kim Jong-sook playing with the furry pups at their home’s courtyard. The office added the puppies...

<p>SEOUL - South Korean officials on Thursday began to dismantle the country's largest canine slaughterhouse complex, as animal rights activists push to end the custom of eating dog meat.</p> <p>About one million dogs are eaten a year in South Korea, often as a summertime delicacy with the greasy red meat, invariably boiled for tenderness, believed to increase energy.</p>