SEOUL, South Korea — The news yesterday that Kim Jong Un purged his uncle and de facto number two leader of North Korea, Jang Sung Taek, has all the trappings you’d expect from a mysterious and ruthless dictatorship. On Tuesday, the National Intelligence Service...

SEOUL, South Korea — The news today that North Korea removed Jang Sung Taek, the powerful uncle of Kim Jong Un and vice chair of the body that heads the military, could amount to the boy dictator’s greatest leadership shake-up yet. At least, that’s if you believe a...

SEOUL, South Korea — If you visit South Korea, you’ll probably hear a triumphant refrain about Korean pop, known as “K-pop,” casting a spell over North America and Europe. The narrative typically goes like this: Swarms of Western fans have been racing to K-pop...

SEOUL, South Korea — Given the tumultuous relations between Washington and Tehran, the nuclear pact announced early Sunday was the most significant diplomatic development between the two since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Six world powers agreed to curtail sanctions...

SEOUL, South Korea — Since 2011, two titans of the electronics industry — Samsung Electronics and Apple — have been locked in legal warfare over their smart phones and tablets, slinging more than 50 lawsuits at each other on four continents. But despite the bitter...

SEOUL, South Korea — For North Korea watchers, the news is mysterious and the motives unknown. On October 26, an 85-year-old Korean War veteran from Palo Alto, California, became the second American detained in the past year in the world’s most reclusive state. The...

SEOUL, South Korea — Next month will be a big one for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, as his nation hosts various conspicuous, cultish festivities. On Dec. 12, North Korean state media will probably memorialize its satellite launch one year ago, an early boost to...

SEOUL, South Korea — Some melons are so pricey that even thieves target them. In Japan and, to a lesser extent, South Korea, fruit fuels a lucrative boutique business. Shops sell only the best hand-picked “designer fruits”— free from blemishes and spoil. In Tokyo, one...

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is the butt of many jokes. Its military parades, for one, offer an eclectic mix of the clownish and terrifying. With blocks of goose-stepping soldiers in Soviet-style uniforms, tanks in formation, and a pudgy young dictator looking on,...

SEOUL, South Korea — In American and South Korean tabloids, the wife of the North Korean dictator has achieved an unusual degree of celebrity. She is, in a sense, the Kate Middleton of North Korea, and perhaps the nation’s second most iconic millennial-generation...