Ex-US diplomat calls for US pressure on Japan to put aside statue row with Korea

The United States should exercise "outside pressure" on Japan to get the ally to put aside its complaint over a South Korean statue symbolizing Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery and work hard to mend ties with Seoul, a former State Department official said.Mintaro Oba, a former diplomat handling Korea-Japan relations, made the remark in an article to The Diplomat, strongly criticizing Tokyo for overreacting to the establishment by civic activists of the girl's statue in front of Japan's consulate i

Jan. 16, 2017

Foreign ministers of Korea, Iraq to hold talks in Seoul this week

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Iraq will hold talks this week to discuss bilateral economic cooperation and other issues of mutual concern, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday.Seoul's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim Al-Jaafari will meet Tuesday to exchange views on a series of bilateral and regional issues, including security on the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (Yonhap)Al-Jaafari's four-day schedule, which was arra

Jan. 15, 2017

Koreans believe Trump administration will have big impact on NK nuke issue

The majority of South Koreans believe that the incoming US administration under President-elect Donald Trump will have considerable impact on the North Korean nuke issue, a poll showed Sunday.According to the survey carried out by the National Unification Advisory Council, 60.5 percent said there would likely be a considerable impact, significantly more than 33.4 percent who said the influence would be small.   The findings also showed 73 percent were concerned that Pyongyang would engage in mor

Jan. 15, 2017

Seoul to convene meeting of key ambassadors to discuss security issues

South Korea will convene a meeting of key ambassadors this week to discuss security challenges facing the country, the foreign ministry said Sunday.According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seoul's Ambassador to the United States Ahn Ho-young; Kim Jang-soo, its top envoy to China; and mission chiefs to Japan, Russia and the United Nations will be at the meetings with other senior diplomatic policymakers.It said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, as well as senior officials, will be on hand to ho

Jan. 15, 2017

[Newsmaker] Lippert bids tearful farewell

US Ambassador Mark Lippert has been championing public diplomacy since he arrived as Washington’s youngest-ever representative to Seoul in October 2014 at age 41.He reached out to ordinary citizens by traveling across the country, opening his home to the public and attending baseball games, while walking his dog Grigsby around downtown in a Doosan Bears jersey. He gave Korean middle names to his son and daughter, who were both born here, Sejun and Seahee. A knife attack on him in the middle of a

Jan. 13, 2017

Seoul welcomes US secretary nominee's suggestion of continued sanctions on N. Korea

The foreign ministry hailed President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state on Thursday, who called for a continuation of a sanctions-oriented policy towards North Korea.During a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday in Washington, Rex Tillerson said that "adversaries like Iran and North Korea pose grave threats to the world," publicly mentioning threats made by Pyongyang for the first time since his nomination last month.  Tillerson also suggested that the US' increase pressure

Jan. 12, 2017

US sanctions NK leader’s sister over human rights

The US slapped sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Thursday, in its latest move to ratchet up pressure on the regime over its rampant human rights violations.Kim Yo-jong, a vice director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s propaganda and agitation department, was among seven entities and two individuals to make it on the blacklist of the US State Department and Treasury. They are now subject to travel bans and an asset freeze. Seoul welcomed the action, saying it shores up the allie

Jan. 12, 2017

FM speaks with Kerry amid renewed historical tensions with Japan

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se spoke by phone with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday, the ministry said, amid heightened tensions between Seoul and Tokyo over a statue symbolizing Japan's wartime sexual slavery.Tensions have flared anew between the two American allies after South Korean civic activists erected the girl's statue in front of Japan's consulate in the South Korean port city of Busan.Japan has demanded the statue be removed, calling it a violation of the 2015 agreement tha

Jan. 12, 2017

Hwang engages in phone diplomacy with leaders of Kuwait, UAE, Vietnam

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn held telephone talks with the leaders of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam this week, his office said Wednesday. During the conversations, Hwang focused on ways to expand business cooperation, particularly in the infrastructure development, as he strove to forestall any policy vacuum in the wake of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal last month.  Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang K

Jan. 11, 2017

Flynn likens Korea-US alliance to 'sticky rice cake'

Incoming US National Security Advisor Mike Flynn vowed to further strengthen the US alliance with South Korea, likening the relationship to a "sticky rice cake," an official said Tuesday. Sticky rice cake is often used as a metaphor for an inseparable bond in Korean culture.  Flynn made the remark when he met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin Monday for talks that focused on ways to move relations between the two countries forward and how to deal with North Korea, Kim said. The two

Jan. 11, 2017

Seoul urges Beijing to crack down on illegal fishing

South Korea's Safety Minister Park In-yong on Wednesday urged China to implement measures to crack down on its fishing boats illegally operating in Korean waters.   During a press conference held in line with a New Year policy briefing to Acting President and Prime Minister Hwan Kyo-ahn, the minister said he expects China to resolve the issue "in accordance with the country's status and dignity." "During the talks for the two countries' fisheries agreement, China presented opinions close to what

Jan. 11, 2017

Assembly speaker heads to Indonesia to expand parliamentary ties

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun is set to head to Indonesia on Wednesday as part of efforts to expand parliamentary-level diplomacy.Chung will meet his Indonesian counterparts from the People's Representative Council and the Regional Representatives Council to discuss expanding the two countries' ties.The speaker will urge Indonesia's support for South Korea's efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear development and South Korean companies operating in the Southeast Asian countr

Jan. 11, 2017

Kerry warns of 'forceful ways' against N. Korea

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Tuesday that the US could seek "more forceful ways" to affect North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's thinking if he persists in forging ahead with intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities.Kim threatened last week that the communist nation reached the final stage of preparations to test-fire an ICBM apparently capable of reaching the continental US."If he persists, as he said he would the other day, in moving forward on the intercontinental ballistic miss

Jan. 11, 2017

Korea calls for 'wisdom' on appropriate site for girl statue

South Korea on Tuesday urged relevant parties to gather "wisdom" to find an appropriate site for a statue recently erected before Japan's consulate despite strong opposition from Tokyo. Last month, a civic group placed the girl's statue symbolizing Japan's wartime sexual slavery in front of its consulate in the country's southern port city of Busan. A local district office had rejected the civic group's request to place the statue but later allowed its installment in the face of a strong public

Jan. 10, 2017

Korea nullifies passport of Choi Soon-sil's daughter

South Korea's foreign ministry said Tuesday that it has nullified the passport of the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the center of a massive scandal, paving the way for her deportation from Denmark. Chung Yoo-ra was arrested in the northern Danish city of Aalborg earlier this year on illegal stay. She is suspected of receiving favors from a college in Seoul in the admissions process and on tests by taking advantage of her mother's ties to the president. The foreign ministry r

Jan. 10, 2017

[HERALD INTERVIEW] ‘Korea will be caught in crossfire of global trade’

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will have far-reaching geostrategic implications, rather than substantially lowering trade barriers and rewriting economic rules, an influential economist has said. The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the six states -- Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand -- with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements.Professor Ahn Duk-geun of Seoul

Jan. 9, 2017

ASEAN, Korea discuss cooperation in food, tourism sectors

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Korea Center in Seoul will organize workshops this week in Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines to strengthen cooperation in the food and tourism sectors. The center, established in 2009 to foster collaboration between ASEAN and Korea, will host a product development workshop for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Vientiane, Laos, from Monday to Wednesday. The workshop is organized with the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and aimed at en

Jan. 9, 2017

Morocco welcomes migrants through humanitarian policy

The government of Morocco has begun the second phase of a campaign aimed at welcoming illegal migrants into the country and improving their lives, according to the Moroccan Embassy in Seoul. The initiative, led by King Mohammed VI, targets receiving and integrating some 25,000 people from sub-Saharan countries under the auspices of the Moroccan National Commission.The second phase, which started on Dec. 12 last year, will unfold under the same conditions -- guaranteeing their equality -- as the

Jan. 9, 2017

Seoul, Washington warn against NK ICBM threats

As North Korea threatens to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, South Korea and the US on Monday warned the communist state against any further provocations they said would be met with stern military and diplomatic reactions.The North’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday the ICBM could be launched “at any time and any place,” adding that it had developed miniaturized warheads. A North Korean propaganda outlet, Korea Today, on Monday repeated its call for a halt in South Korea-US joint def

Jan. 9, 2017