Coming of Age in North Korea

N. Korean defectors start work as S.Korean civil servants​ North Korean defectors officially started work on Monday as 7th grade civil servants for the Ministry of Unification.  Visit NK News for more Incheon city invites N. Korean scholars to island conference The government of Incheon, South Korea has invited North Korean scholars to participate in an academic conference next year about Ganghwa Island.  Visit NK News for more Coming of age in North Korea, By Fyodor Tertitskiy The main task in life for an adult North Korean is joining the party. However, the irony is that people join it to not become a worker – and if one is fortunate, to avoid physical labor entirely.  Visit NK News for more A remedy for head-in-the-sand thinking on N.Korea, By Robert E. McCoy Robert E. McCoy argues in favour of thinking outside the box when it comes to inter-Korean relations, and more specifically, in favour of president Park Geun-hye's Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative (NAPCI). Visit NK News for more N. Korea conducts failed SLBM launch North Korea made a failed attempt to launch a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) Saturday afternoon, a South Korean government source said.  Visit NK News for more

Top Stories Today

Beijing played unwitting role in North Korea's latest political kabuki (Asia One)
Choe Ryong Hae, a secretary of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea and the reclusive state's point man on relations with China, has disappeared from the public eye.

Dying network for reuniting Korea's divided families (Yahoo News)
Shim Goo-Seob has been organising private, high-risk reunions for divided North and South Korean families for more than two decades, but now he's close to calling time on his secretive work.

S. Korean Catholic bishops to visit N. Korea this week (Yonhap News)
A group of South Korean Catholic bishops said Monday its members plan to visit North Korea this week to discuss ways of promoting cooperation with its North Korean counterpart.

North Korea targeting World Junior Championships in judo and weightlifting (Inside the Games)
Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, is seeking to open up the borders of the world’s most reclusive country by hosting World Junior Championships in both judo and weightlifting.

South Korea Building New Base for Rapid Reaction to Pyongyang’s Moves (Sputnik News)
South Korea has unveiled a plan to open a new naval base on a southern resort island of Jeju to host a rapid-reaction force that will respond to "provocations" from the North.