Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Asia Pacific Sep 9, 2013
Kim 'good dad' to baby girl: Rodman
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a baby daughter named Ju Ae, according to former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who labeled the supreme ruler of the isolated, authoritarian state a “good dad.” Rodman, who calls Kim a friend and just returned from his ...
Crime Aug 30, 2013
Kim Jong Un's ex reportedly executed
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s former girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad on Aug. 20, a South Korean paper has reported. The Chosun Ilbo daily on Thursday quoted sources in China as saying singer ...
Asia Pacific Aug 25, 2013
Peace said 'dearer than anything': North official
As the two Koreas move forward with plans for their first family reunions in three years, Choe Ryong Hae, North Korea’s top military official, said Pyongyang does not want war and values peace above all else. Friday’s agreement to hold the reunion event next ...
Asia Pacific Aug 24, 2013
Pyongyang angry after ski lift equipment deal is blocked
North Korea expressed anger Saturday after Switzerland blocked a deal to supply key equipment for a ski resort that has been under construction as one of leader Kim Jong Un’s pet projects. The Masik ski resort has been heavily promoted by the North’s propaganda ...
Asia Pacific Aug 20, 2013
Piste off: Switzerland blocks deal to sell ski lifts to North Korean regime
Switzerland said Monday that it had blocked a deal to sell top-notch ski lifts to North Korea, in a move that could delay what is seen as leader Kim Jong Un’s pet ski resort project. Swiss company Bartholet Maschinenbau (BMF) had reportedly all but ...
Offbeat Aug 13, 2013
N. Korea unveils 'secure, homemade' smartphone
North Korea, one of the most isolated and censored societies on the planet, has unveiled what it claims is a domestically produced smartphone. Industry analysts, however, say the Arirang, built around Google’s Android OS, is likely manufactured in neighboring China. The existence of the ...
World Jul 29, 2013
Pyongyang lawn manicurists get tough with turf
At first glance it seems like a task worthy of Hercules — manicuring lawns the size of a football field with a pair of tweezers. And not just any lawns. These make up the gardens of one of the most sacred sites in North ...
Offbeat Jun 20, 2013
North vows to kill authors of report that Kim dished out Hitler 'guidebook'
North Korea has angrily denied a report that its ruler used Adolf Hitler’s memoir as a leadership guide, and threatened to kill its authors. The article by New Focus International, an online news portal run by North Korean defectors, said Kim Jong Un had ...
Global-related Jun 11, 2013
North Korean nuclear crisis
by Ramesh Thakur
North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are a source of instability and tension in a region vital to global security and economic prosperity.
Asia Pacific May 8, 2013
U.S., South Korea show united front on North Korea
U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korea's new leader warn North Korea against further nuclear provocations, with Obama declaring that the days when Pyongyang could "create a crisis and elicit concessions" were over.
Voices | VIEWS FROM THE STREET Apr 16, 2013
Tokyo: Do you have a message for young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?
by Mark Buckton
Get a hobby. Play less Battleships. Kim should take up something else, such as darts. He really needs to show his generals who is boss, and needs to be a little more refined in how he demonstrates his power.
Media | BIG IN JAPAN Apr 14, 2013
Tabloids sharpen claws for North Korea's 'X-Day'
by Mark Schreiber
Three months before the present crisis on the Korean peninsula, Shukan Jitsuwa (Jan. 24) ran an uncharacteristically astute article predicting that in addition to potential for armed conflict with China over the disputed Senkaku Islands, North Korea, under its inexperienced young leader Kim Jong ...