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Losing World Cup team punished?

Thu, 08/12/2010 - 23:28 by Prince damin

Seoul -- An investigation is under way to see if North Korea's national soccer team was punished for losing all three of its matches in the World Cup, officials say.

The International Federation of Association Football has received reports that players and coaches "have been condemned or punished," the Los Angeles Times said Thursday.

Federation officials have sent a letter to the North Korean football federation asking about the allegations, the report said.

The North Korean teams allowed the most goals of all 32 teams in the South African tournament.

"The first step is the federation and we'll see what the answer will be, and then we can elaborate on that," said Sepp Blatter, president of the international organization.

North Korea offers ginseng to Czechs

Thu, 08/12/2010 - 23:26 by Prince damin

Prague, Czech Republic -- North Korea has offered to pay part of its $10 million debt to the Czech Republic with ginseng, but Czech officials said they'd rather have zinc ore.

Pyongyang made the offer after Czech officials refused a request from a delegation last month to forgive 95 percent of the debt and instead offered to accept a barter agreement instead of the $10 million it is owed from the machinery, trams and equipment it gave North Korea during the Cold War, the Christian Science Monitor reported Thursday.

North Korea offered $500,000 worth of ginseng, about 400 tons, to the Czech Republic, but Czech Finance Ministry officials said the amount of the root, which is used in tea, medicine, food and hand cream, would last for about 200 years.

Study: North Korea logs in protected area

Thu, 05/20/2010 - 11:34 by Rakhi

West Lafayette, Ind. -- A Purdue University study using Google Earth and satellite data has discovered evidence that North Korea has been logging in a protected U.N. forest preserve.

Professor Guofan Shao said he used remote sensing data to survey the Mount Paekdu Biosphere Reserve -- a 326,000-acre forest preserve in North Korea operated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Shao said Mount Paekdu, together with an adjacent biosphere in China, has the world's highest plant biodiversity in a cool, temperate zone and is the habitat for many wildlife species, including the endangered Siberian tiger.

Tension mounts as Korea, U.S. lock horns

Mon, 06/22/2009 - 21:02 by Jamie Anderson

Washington, June 22: A North Korean ship, the 2,000-ton freighter Kang Nam, probably heading towards Myanmar is being tracked by an American Navy destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, on suspicion of carrying illegitimate weaponry.

North Korea urged to release US journalists

Tue, 06/09/2009 - 02:53 by Salinder Kumar

Washington, June 9: The US Monday called on North Korea to release two US women journalists who were held for illegally entering that country on humanitarian grounds.

"We call on the North Korean authorities to release the two young ladies, allow them to be reunited with their families, and we're very, very focused on that right now," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

"The whole judicial process has played out now, and we think it's time for them to be released just on pure humanitarian grounds," the spokesman said.

North Korea's highest court has ordered the journalists to serve 12 years at a labour camp.

The reporters were held for illegally entering North Korea through the country's border with China.

-IANS

North Korea threatens nuclear test

Wed, 04/29/2009 - 15:47 by Salinder Kumar

Seoul, April 29: North Korea Wednesday warned that it would conduct another nuclear test if the UN Security Council refused to apologise for criticising the Stalinist state's April 5 rocket launch.

"Unless the UN Security Council offers an apology immediately, we will be forced to take additional self-defence measures to protect the highest interests of our republic," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement cited by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Those measures would include nuclear and ballistic missile tests, it said.