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North Korea: All talk, no action?

SEOUL, South Korea — If North Korea decides to back up its words with action, what could it really do? Most experts agree a full-blown war or a nuclear attack on the peninsula is off the cards. But the two Koreas have dialed up the rhetoric over the past week, raising fears that Pyongyang could launch a quick but containable provocation against the South in the coming months.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Mar 13, 2013

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As Korean war rhetoric rises, separated families lose hope

PAJU, South Korea — Lee Eunsook’s artwork glows in the quiet border village of Imjingak as the sun sets over the DMZ, the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. A line of neon-threaded pillars in front of the village’s barbed-wire fence, her installation lists the names of a handful of families separated during the Korean War of 1950 to 1953.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Mar 12, 2013

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Bringing The Simpsons to North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — It’s been a mixed week for North Korea. The country reportedly moved mid-range Musudan missiles away from a launch site at the east coast, a possible sign that leaders won’t test a rocket as feared. But the Supreme Court also sentenced Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who NK News says was an undercover missionary, to 15 years of hard labor.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Mar 7, 2013

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Plastic surgery, ‘Gangnam-style’

SEOUL, South Korea — A crowd of young women wait nervously in the lobby of a popular plastic surgery clinic in Apgujeong, the affluent neighborhood at the heart of Gangnam. Photographs of Korean pop singers and actresses line the walls, winsome customers who smile next to their cosmetic surgeons.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Feb 26, 2013

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South Korea: A president and a peninsula divided

GWANGJU, South Korea — It is a chilly day in Gwangju, the cradle of South Korea’s political left, and home to what was once a boisterous democracy movement that fought military rule in the 1970s and 1980s.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Feb 25, 2013

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Korean food made me cry like a baby

SEOUL, South Korea — On a frigid winter evening in Seoul, a college student raced out of a popular bistro and vomited near my feet. The owner, Im Choo-sung, followed him out the door. “Would the kids please throw up in the bathroom?” he announced. “The neighbors get angry at all this.”

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Feb 24, 2013

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South Korea calls for development of nuclear weapons

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean lawmakers from the Saenuri Party, the country’s conservative ruling party, stepped up their battle cry at the National Assembly this week: It’s time for South Korea to man up and make its own nuclear weapons, they said.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Feb 21, 2013

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Samsung workers go on strike

About 20% of the National Samsung Electronics Union walked off the job, protesting for higher pay and better working conditions. It’s the first time Samsung workers have gone on strike. The World’s host Carolyn Beeler talks about the strike and its significance with Geoffrey Cain.

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