Seoul raises concern over Japan’s ‘short-term’ focused Fukushima release assessment

The South Korean government has again raised concern about Japan’s plans to treat radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant and release it into the sea, saying Tokyo has only looked at the short-term impact on the marine environment. 　 Korean officials and experts voiced their concerns to their Japanese counterparts at a special virtual session held last Friday, in regard to a draft report released by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the state-run operator of the wrecked p

Dec. 7, 2021

US will not send official delegation to Beijing Olympics: White House

The United States will diplomatically boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics over China's human rights abuses, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. US athletes, however, will be allowed to take part should they choose to do so. "The (Joe) Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, given the PRC's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses,"

Dec. 7, 2021

S. Korea to host two-day UN peacekeeping ministerial forum

A virtual UN peacekeeping ministerial conference is scheduled to open Tuesday, hosted by South Korea, promising to serve as a chance to further solidify the global community's collective commitment to sustainable peace in conflict-laden parts of the world. The two-day 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial comes as Seoul has steadily pushed to foster lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and embrace a greater role in global efforts to stabilize volatile regions in the Middle East, Africa and el

Dec. 7, 2021

[Election 2022] How rival presidential candidates differ on US policy

At a time when uncertainty looms large on regional and international security order, South Koreans will head to the polls in March to elect a new president. 　 The leading contenders are Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition People Power Party. While domestic issues such as runaway housing prices and continuing economic fallout from the pandemic are expected to be on the forefront of voters’ minds, the result will al

Dec. 6, 2021

Foreign ministry highlights COVID-19 diplomacy in white paper

South Korea stepped up diplomacy last year to deal with emerging challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and join global efforts to fight cross-border health threats, according to its annual diplomatic white paper published on Monday. The foreign ministry added a new chapter to the 2021 white paper to detail diplomatic activities in regard to protection of Korean nationals and businesses abroad, securing medical equipment, such as masks, and regional coordination against the pandemic. "The

Dec. 6, 2021

US ambassador to UN to join peacekeeping conference virtually

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield will attend a virtual conference on UN peacekeeping hosted by the Seoul government next week, according to her office. Thomas-Greenfield will lead the US delegation to the virtual 2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial hosted by Seoul on Dec. 7 and 8 to reaffirm US commitment to improving peacekeeping operations, the US Mission to the UN said Friday (local time). "UN peacekeeping missions are one of the most effective tools the globa

Dec. 5, 2021

S. Korea, US to discuss possibility of advancing OPCON transfer assessment date

The militaries of South Korea and the United States will discuss the possibility of conducting an assessment required for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) earlier than the current plan of next fall, a Seoul official said Friday. The official's remarks came after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly agreed to consider advancing the timing for the full operational capability (FOC) assessment during a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in on Thursday. Just h

Dec. 3, 2021

China supports declaration of Korean War’s end: Cheong Wa Dae

Top Chinese Communist Party diplomat Yang Jiechi said the nation supports President Moon Jae-in’s push for the declaration of the end of the Korean War during talks with Korea’s national security adviser Suh Hoon in Tianjin, China, officials said on Friday. Suh’s visit to China was made as a follow-up to Yang’s visit to Seoul in August 2020. They discussed bilateral relations, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and other regional issues. Cheong Wa Dae said Suh ex

Dec. 3, 2021

13 Chinese rescued from sinking fishing boat in southern waters

A Coast Guard rescue operation was under way Friday to evacuate Chinese sailors from a fishing boat sinking in South Korea's southern waters, officials said. The 1,000-ton Chinese vessel started sinking at 10:59 a.m. after colliding with a rock in waters 22 kilometers southeast of Ganyeo Rock near the southern coastal city of Yeosu, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, according to officials. So far 13 people have been rescued, and nine others are also being evacuated. Coast Guards officials were d

Dec. 3, 2021

Top Chinese official expresses support for Seoul's pursuit of end-of-war declaration: embassy

A top Chinese official in charge of foreign affairs said Beijing supports Seoul's push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korea's embassy Friday. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, delivered the message during a meeting with Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae who serves as President Moon Jae-in's national security adviser, in China's eastern city of Tianjin the previous day, the embassy in B

Dec. 3, 2021

Defense chiefs of S. Korea, US to hold annual talks on OPCON transfer, N. Korea

South Korea and the United States are set to hold their annual defense ministerial talks in Seoul on Thursday to discuss the envisioned wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, North Korean threats and bilateral alliance issues, officials here said. Defense Minister Suh Wook and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, will lead the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), as the allies are stepping up cooperation for regional stability amid North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats and

Dec. 2, 2021

S. Korea changes UN peacekeeping forum to virtual sessions on omicron concerns: official

South Korea has decided to host a major UN peacekeeping conference via video link next week, instead of an originally planned face-to-face session, due to concerns over the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, according to Seoul officials Wednesday. The 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial will be held in the form of a "full-fledged online conference" on Dec. 7-8 as scheduled, a foreign ministry official told reporters. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister S

Dec. 1, 2021

S. Korea, 5 Central Asian nations discuss post-pandemic recovery

Top diplomats of South Korea and five Central Asian nations gathered at a regional forum held in Tajikistan to explore ways on expanding cooperation for the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong attended the 14th Korea-Central Asia Forum held in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe on Tuesday, which was joined by representatives from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In a key note speech, C

Dec. 1, 2021

S. Korea ships 539,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Philippines

South Korea has shipped 539,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines to help the Southeast Asian nation address its vaccine shortages, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday. An airplane carrying the jabs departed from Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, earlier in the day and will arrive in the Philippines on the same day, the ministry said. South Korea has already shared coronavirus vaccine shots with three other countries -- Vietnam, Thailand and Iran -- as it

Nov. 30, 2021

Education ministry project builds ICT-powered experimental classroom in Cambodia

The education ministry has launched an assistance project to build a smart classroom in Cambodia to help the country experiment with teaching and learning through up-to-date information and communications technology (ICT) devices, officials said Tuesday. Under the joint project launched with the Busan city education office and the APEC Learning Community Builders, the Ministry of Education installed an ICT-equipped experimental classroom in Wat Bo Primary School in Cambodia's Siem Reap, accordi

Nov. 30, 2021

N. Korea slams AUKUS as US 'tool for war' threatening world security

North Korea has criticized a new trilateral security partnership among Australia, Britain and the United States as an American "tool for war" that poses "serious threats" to world peace. In a commentary posted on the North's foreign ministry website Monday, the Korea-Asia Association said the international community should be wary of the initiative, called AUKUS, that "brings dark clouds of a nuclear war to the world." "(The concerns) come from the fact that

Nov. 30, 2021

US global posture review calls for allies' cooperation to counter NK, China threats

The US Department of Defense has concluded its review of the global defense posture, calling for cooperation with allies and partner countries to deter North Korean threats and potential Chinese aggression. Following months of analysis, the Pentagon released the results of the 2021 Global Posture Review (GPR) on Monday (US time) at a time when Washington has been striving to reinforce cooperation with friendly nations against an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-ambitious North Korea.

Nov. 30, 2021

260 Sakhalin Koreans to return home

Starting Saturday, some 260 Sakhalin Koreans -- ethnic Koreans who were forced to relocate to the far-eastern Russian island by their Japanese colonizers during World War II -- are set to arrive in their ancestral homeland, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.  The repatriation is in accordance with legislation that took effect in January, which expanded the eligibility criteria for relocation and financial support from the South Korean government for Sakhalin Koreans.  Previously,

Nov. 25, 2021

Sultanate of Oman celebrates 51st National Day of Renaissance

The following article was contributed by the Embassy of Oman in Seoul. — Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sultanate of Oman will mark the 51st National Day of the Renaissance, Nov. 18. The event comes around at a time when Omanis ponder about the achievements made so far and brace for further accomplishments, with firm resolve, under the astute leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik who pledged to hold high the banner of the Rene

Nov. 25, 2021

Pandemic accelerated power shift in China’s favor: expert

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus brought life in China to a halt. As the epicenter of the first coronavirus outbreak, China imposed unprecedented lockdown measures that caused its economy to contract by a historic amount. But in a stark turnabout, the country has seen an economic rebound and the lives of people have largely returned to normal -- despite the recent resurgence of the delta variant of the coronavirus. 　 With China expected to become the only major economy to

Nov. 24, 2021