Today on The Korea Times Podcast: Pyongyang rejects Seoul's overture for talks while South Korea disagrees with the United State's assessment of North Korea's nuclear might. Plus shake-ups continue at Chang Wa Dae and new history books could be on the horizon for Korean students.
The Ministry of Unification said Friday that North Korea refused to accept an invitation extended by Seoul to resume inter-Korean talks. Expressing regret over Pyongyang’s continuous military provocations, the National Assembly resolution asked for talks without conditions to discuss humanitarian assistance for people in the repressive state and was seen as an attempt to lessen tensions on the peninsula.
The United States Defense Department said last week, it has yet to secure specific evidence to prove that North Korea has attained the technology needed to miniaturize a nuclear warhead. It's a view different from South Korea’s latest analysis in its 2014 Defense White Paper, that the reclusive state’s capability has reached the “considerable” level to make a warhead small enough to place on a missile.
President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to give her national address at 10 a.m. this morning. Although Cheong Wa Dae wants the press conference to mainly deal with North Korea issues and the government’s drive for economic revival, there is speculation that Park may express regret over the scandal that featured an alleged power struggle at the presidential office.
Related to the scandal an event took place Friday, when Kim Young-han, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, disobeyed the presidential chief of staff. President Park Geun-hye’s chief of staff Kim Ki-choon instructed him to attend a session of the National Assembly Steering Committee for questioning on the “memogate“ scandal, but he refused to do so and offered to step down from his post, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Kim Young-han is suspected of intervening in the prosecution’s investigation into the scandal.
Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea hinted last week that he might bring back state-authored history textbooks to classrooms. His remarks are seen as a move to prevent any conflicting descriptions, especially about modern Korean history, amid ideological divisions in the nation.
You can find information on all of these stories and more by visiting The Korea Times website and clicking on the
. The Korea Times Podcast podcast is written and produced by The Korea Times and available for download on our website,
, and
.