N. Korea Envoy Meets With South's Prez

Ryugyong Hotel a longtime laughingstock

(NEWSER) - More than two decades ago, North Korea began work on a hotel taller than the Chrysler Building. This spring, after years of ridicule, a portion of Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel is set to open, the Washington Post reports. The 105-story building made of concrete still isn't ready for tourists, however: It will start as an office complex. The opening is thanks in part to contributions from an Egyptian telecom company—as well as construction work by university students that the government assigned to the project. More»

He was killed in the early days of fighting in 1950

(NEWSER) - One more US soldier from the Korean War is coming home: South Korea today handed over the remains of an American killed in the early days of the war in 1950, reports the Korea Herald . The remains were found last year on a hill in South Chungcheong Province, and they will be sent to Hawaii to determine the soldier's identity. About 8,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from the 1950-'53 war. More»

Activists say it's about warm feet, not politics

(NEWSER) - Another sign of just how bad things have gotten in North Korea: Activists in the South sent balloons skyward today carrying a hot black-market item: warm socks. Members of North Korea Peace tell AFP it's not about politics. "All we want is that people in the North wear warm socks over their frozen feet," says a spokeswoman. More»

South Korea firm turns human ashes into pretty beads

(NEWSER) - South Korea, with its Confucian heritage, has long honored the dead, but these days there's little space for outdoor burials and many people find the thought of stowing a loved-one's ashes in an urn distasteful. That's where a company called Bonhyang comes in: It transforms the ashes of the deceased into decorative bluish beads, reports the LA Times . The beads can then be kept in pretty containers and put on display. More»

Freed Burmese opposition leader talks with Washington Post

(NEWSER) - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi sat down with the Washington Post this week to discuss her hopes for political change in Burma. Now a free citizen, a political star, and a registered candidate for parliamentary elections , Suu Kyi spoke in the same living room where she endured house arrest for 15 years:

• On President Thein Sein: "I believe he sincerely wants reform. But he is not the only one in government. Our present constitution gives the military far too much power."