Inside North Korea’s movie industry

“Glare fiercely! Hatred in your eyes!” the director shouts at a team of actors on a war-torn movie set. “Comrades! I don’t see any resentment towards the Japanese in your faces.” “You’re acting like: ‘Oh, the Japanese...

No more iPhones? Samsung wins Apple patent case

A US trade panel has ruled against Apple in favor of its rival Samsung in a patent dispute. The ruling means a halt to all imports and sales on AT&T-sold models of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. Many of those products are not on sale in...

Does Samsung have Apple in a headlock?

SEOUL, South Korea — Koreans like to joke by welcoming foreign visitors to the “Republic of Samsung.” Among an oligarchy of competitors, South Korea’s largest conglomerate is a ubiquitous presence. Samsung builds ships, military weapons, bakeries and even operates a...

North Korean leader’s nephew graduates from world peace school

The nephew of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, could be partying hard tonight. Kim Han Sol, 17, attended his high school graduation ceremony today in Bosnia, the Serbian daily newspaper Novosti reported. The news comes after the North Korean teenager went missing...

South Korea warns North not to harm returned defectors

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has warned North Korea not to punish a group of defectors who were forcibly returned to the communist state last week after attempting to flee. Nine North Koreans, aged between 15 and 23, were detained in Laos on May 10 and...

North Korea’s food conundrum

In the 1990s, North Korea suffered from a devastating famine that, by some estimates, left up to 1 million people dead. The Arduous March, as it was called, was partially the brought about by the end of Soviet food and fuel subsidies in the early 1990s, and Kim...