Writing
Red threat: Kim Jong Un makes the Koreas’ best beer
SEOUL, South Korea — If there’s one key art form where North Korea beats the South, it’s beer-making. Pyongyang is home to Taedonggang, a government-made, full-bodied lager that The New York Times called one of the finest beers on the Korean peninsula. The beverage is...
Telling Kim Jong Un’s ‘secrets’
SEOUL, South Korea — If North Korea's government had its way, the world would know nothing about what really happens within the country's borders. Journalism is essentially forbidden. Those who dare ask hard questions do so at the risk of torture and imprisonment....
Spread the curd
In a workshop a few minutes away from the sprawl of downtown Kyoto, a young man walks up and down aisles of steaming vats filled with a soya milk mixture. Holding a bamboo rod, he scoops up the film that forms on the top of the soya milk, and hangs the sheets to dry...
Japan to the UN: Leave us alone on WWII sex slaves
SEOUL, South Korea — This week, it’s not North Korea or Zimbabwe resisting a call for justice from the United Nations. Rather, it is East Asia’s wealthiest and oldest democracy: Japan. The government says it’s “not obligated” to abide by a request from the UN...
Denuclearized North Korea was Kim Jong Il’s ‘dying wish,’ says diplomat
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's founding father, Kim Il Sung, and his son and successor, Kim Jong Il, both wanted to banish nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula, a North Korean diplomat claimed Wednesday as he renewed his government's call for international...
Kim Jong Un has a $7m yacht now
SEOUL, South Korea — The 29-year-old generalissimo of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, loves riding his $7-million yacht, NKNews reports. North Korea's state-run news agency, KCNA, first gave a glimpse of the boat in May while Kim Jong Un was touring the country. It was...
North Korea plays phone tag
SEOUL, South Korea — You may find something odd about China hosting talks with North Korea on Wednesday. The invitation comes on the heels of an erratic week during which North Korea proposed negotiations and then snubbed South Korea. This week, Chinese Vice Foreign...
The tragedy of the North-South hotline
SEOUL, South Korea — Whenever North and South Korea spar words, one poor little bystander always suffers: the hotline. Maintained by the Red Cross, the Seoul-Pyongyang hotline system is one of few channels where the two foes can directly get in touch with each other....
South Korean baseman calls African-American pitcher ‘too black’
At best, South Korean first baseman Kim Tae Kyun is just dumb. At worst, he's flat-out racist. The Hanwa Eagles slugger is drawing heavy flack for some cringe-inducing comments about fellow Korea Baseball Organization player Shane Youman, an American pitcher who...
North Korea talks carry the burden of a national tragedy
UPDATE: The talks planned between North and South Korea were scrapped a day before they were due to begin. A spokesman for Seoul's Unification Ministry told reporters Tuesday that the talks were called off because of a stalemate over who would lead each delegation....