hankyoreh

U.N. Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon called for the South Korean government Saturday to take a “bolder approach” to North Korea in order to help ease cross-border tensions and move their relations forward.
“I think it is desirable for South Korea to take a bolder and wide approach in its policy toward North Korea, given its political, diplomatic and national power,” Ban said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency at an airport in Addis Ababa. Ban, the former South Korean foreign minister who was re-elected last month to a second term as leader of the U.N., assessed that “inter-Korean relations have been strained to the worst level.”
Despite the high tensions, the U.N. chief said humanitarian aid should be given to North Korea.
“As for the issue of humanitarian aid, it is difficult to be resolved if it is closely linked with politics,” Ban said.
“Of course, I was also outraged by (North Korea’s) unilateral provocations like the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. But it needs to move forward by enduring the pain for the future of South and North Korea,” Ban said.
Ban’s remarks came as South Korea was voicing reservations on food aid to North Korea, despite a decision by the European Union (EU) to provide its own emergency aid to the impoverished communist nation.
(Yonhap News)　
　
Korea’s population forecast to drop to 37 mil. in the year 2100
By the next millenium South Korea’s population could drop by almost a quarter, about 11 million fewer people from the country’s current population of 48-million.
The startling numbers came from the latest United Nations population report which also said that Korea’s population is likely to peak at around 50 million in 2030 before going down to 37 million in 2100. The Korean government attributes the massive decrease to the country’s extremely low birthrate as well as its quickly aging population.
Korea had the lowest birthrate among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries in 2009 with 1.15 child per woman.
(Arirang News)