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.
National Sep 17, 2013
Japan may bring S. Korea fish import ban to WTO
The government is considering filing a suit with the World Trade Organization against South Korea’s all-out import ban on fisheries products from Fukushima and seven other prefectures, which was put into place following leaks of radioactive water at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. ...
Social Issues Sep 17, 2013
After decades of growth, South Korea is now a land full of apartments
by Chico Harlan
South Korea is a nation covered by apartments, so much so that from above, it resembles a coast-to-coast game of dominoes. Apartment buildings snake around mountains and form jarring clusters in the countryside. In cities, they align in grids that stretch for several kilometers. ...
National Sep 16, 2013
Fisheries official to ask Seoul to end food ban
The Fisheries Agency sends a senior official to South Korea to request that it lift its radiation-related ban on imported Japanese fisheries products.
Asia Pacific Sep 16, 2013
Workers return to inter-Korean industrial zone
South Korean businessmen crossed into North Korea on Monday as the joint Kaesong industrial zone reopened five months after it was closed by soaring military tensions and threats of war. In the most tangible outcome to date of recent efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, ...
Asia Pacific Sep 13, 2013
Population of North Korea gulags has shrunk: experts
The population of North Korea’s city-size political prison camps could be tens of thousands lower than the estimate used for more than a decade by aid groups and the U.S. government, according to recent reports and accounts from researchers, who put the new number ...
National Sep 11, 2013
Soured ties fail to curb South Korean appetite for Japanese art, pop culture
South Koreans show no sign of losing interest in Japanese art and pop culture despite the slide in bilateral ties, with a series of exhibitions by contemporary Japanese artists drawing crowds in Seoul and around the country. Among them is a show at the ...
Asia Pacific Sep 11, 2013
Two Koreas agree to reopen Kaesong industrial zone
North and South Korea agree to reopen their Kaesong joint industrial park on a trial basis from next Monday, five months after it was shut during soaring military tensions.
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 ...
Asia Pacific Sep 7, 2013
Bombs, sing-alongs for N. Korea spies
As well as the obvious classes such as bomb making, Kim Dong Sik’s intensive spy training in North Korea included memorizing hundreds of South Korean pop songs and dance moves. Such strategies for assimilating into South Korean society were considered essential to avoid suspicion, ...
National Sep 6, 2013
Seoul bans fish imports from eight prefectures
South places an import ban on all fisheries products from eight Japanese prefectures deemed effected by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
History Sep 4, 2013
South Korean text lauds Japan colonial rule
A newly authorized South Korean history textbook includes some positive passages about Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula before and during World War II, according to local reports. The textbook describes how new cities that developed under colonial rule became transport and distribution ...
Asia Pacific Aug 28, 2013
South Korean spy agency raids left-wing party
South Korea’s spy agency raided the homes and offices of a minor leftist party Wednesday and made three arrests on rare charges of seeking to start a rebellion in support of North Korea. National Intelligence Service officers swooped on key members of the Unified ...