Writing

For South Korea’s first female president, a baptism by fire

SEOUL, South Korea — From both sides of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-hye, has gotten a baptism by fire since she took office on Feb. 25. On the one hand, Park is dealing with the much-publicized war threats from North Korea....

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North Korea’s latest barking? South Korea had a sex scandal

SEOUL, South Korea — Last week, the administration of the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, fired a spokesman after a Korean American intern called the police on him. During the president’s visit to Washington, DC, the unnamed victim accused the official, Yoon...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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For a Korean peace, are sports stars our only hope?

SEOUL — Now that Dennis Rodman is home, how many Washington policymakers are bitter that they didn’t get to be the first American to meet Kim Jong-un? John Kerry is perhaps one, joining a chorus of critics jabbing at the NBA hall of famer. "Dennis Rodman was a great...

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North Korean defectors think Dennis Rodman looks like an alien

SEOUL, South Korea — It is day three of Dennis Rodman’s surprise visit to North Korea, where today he became the first American to meet Kim Jong Un. Earlier, the NBA Hall of Famer and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters played an exhibition match against the...

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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...

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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. That’s why many residents here look to Monday's inauguration...

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