Se Eun Gong

In a rare admission, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says his country's birth rate is too low. Experts see no working solution for a looming population crisis.

Experts point to economic difficulties from prolonged international sanctions, but the closures may signal a possible change in North Korea's foreign policy that is more focused on Moscow and Beijing.

At the recently concluded Games, South Korean athletes and journalists said North Koreans refused to engage with them. Some even avoided customary handshakes or photo sessions atop the podium.

Many South Korean teachers say they have suffered from parents' harassment and excessive demands. This summer, they came out to the streets voicing anger and demanding protection for their rights.

Just 67 North Korean defectors arrived last year. Inter-Korean dialogue and exchange have ground to a halt. Seoul's Unification Ministry has a new, hawkish head who wants to change the agency's role.

As Japan plans to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea this summer, concerned South Koreans are stocking up on sea salt.

Kim Hyun-woo used to work for North Korea's top intelligence agency. He defected to South Korea in 2014 and is now on his first-ever visit to the United States.

The tensions are a test of the nation's tolerance of increasing diversity, when South Korea is looking to immigration to bolster its aging and shrinking workforce.

The chief producer behind BTS says K-pop is in crisis as global sales slow or decline — and BTS' taking a break is a big factor. But the industry is trying to pick itself back up.

Questions about the dynastic ruler's children and possible succession scenario arose with the apparent second child's repeated appearances in public in recent months.