Biden, Singaporean leader urge N. Korea to engage in dialogue

US President Joe Biden (R) and visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong are seen holding a joint press conference following their bilateral talks at the White House in Washington on Tuesday in this image captured from the White House' website. (White House' website) WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on North Korea to engage in serious dialogue Tuesday, reaffirming their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean P

March 30, 2022

Seoul calls out Japan’s watering-down history in textbooks

South Korea on Tuesday protested against Japan’s approval of textbooks that it said distorted history by renewing claims over disputed islands and removing words that show the coercive nature of Japan’s wartime forced labor and sexual slavery.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, expressed “deep regret” over the Japanese government’s approval of textbooks that distort historical facts to suit its own perspective, and urged Tokyo to immediately re

March 29, 2022

Australia imposes sanctions targeting North Korea’s ICBM launch

Australia has imposed its own sanctions against two Russian entities and a North Korean company linked with the reclusive regime’s recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. 　 Canberra also condemned the launch as a serious escalation of the North’s “destabilizing behavior” that poses an “unacceptable risk to our region.” 　 The Pyongyang-based Korean Ungum Corp. and two Russian firms, Russian Financial Society and Commercial Bank Agrosoyuz have be

March 29, 2022

S. Korea to speed up consultations with US on envisioned Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

South Korea will boost consultations with the United States on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and begin actively collecting opinions from local experts about its possible participation, Seoul's industry ministry said Tuesday. The US-led initiative is what the Joe Biden administration has sought to launch to boost cooperation with partner nations in a wide range of economic and trade issues, including digital trade, supply chains and clean energy. Last year, the US proposed that South Korea

March 29, 2022

Document shows Korean independence fighters' proposal to US for anti-Japan psychological warfare

South Korea's patriots ministry has discovered an old document showing the country's independence fighters had made a proposal to the United States for staging psychological warfare against Japan during World War II, its officials said Tuesday. In the five-page document written in October 1942, a group of the activists called on the US and its allies to use "paper bombs" -- leaflets aimed at cementing unity among the allies and making Japanese troops realize the cruelty of Tokyo's then

March 29, 2022

Biden requests 4.1% increase in DoD spending, citing challenges from China, N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- The Joe Biden administration is seeking a 4.1 percent increase in defense spending, citing the US' growing competition with China and threats from North Korea, its budget plan showed Monday. The bill proposal, submitted to Congress, seeks $813.3 billion in overall defense spending in fiscal year 2023 starting Oct. 1. For the Department of Defense, the government is asking for a 4.1 percent or $30.7 billion increase to $733 billion, according to the department. "This budget giv

March 29, 2022

Top military officers of S. Korea, US, Japan to meet in Hawaii this week

WASHINGTON -- The top military officers of South Korea, Japan and the United States will meet this week in Hawaii for talks, an informed source here said Monday, following a series of North Korean missile launches that included its first ICBM test in over four years. Gen. Won In-choul, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), will meet his US and Japanese counterparts -- Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Koji Yamazaki -- on Wednesday, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anon

March 29, 2022

Yoon calls for 'urgent' efforts to restore ties with Japan

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday called for the need to restore ties with Tokyo at the earliest in a future-oriented way, in his meeting with Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Aiboshi.   　 The two meet at Yoon’s office in Seoul, with the president-elect stressing the need for communication between the two countries to resolve sticking points. 　   　 “If the two countries’ political leaders, government officials and people push ahead with bilateral rela

March 28, 2022

S. Korea, Arab nations to resume free trade talks after 13 years

South Korea and a group of Arab countries will resume talks for their free trade deal this week after a 13-year hiatus in a move to forge deeper economic ties, Seoul's industry ministry said Sunday. South Korea and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will began the fourth round of official talks for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul on Monday for a four-day run, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The GCC involves six countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain

March 27, 2022

S. Korea co-sponsors statement against arms exports to Myanmar

South Korea has issued a joint statement with 20 other countries urging a halt to the supply of arms to Myanmar's military regime on the occasion of the nation's Armed Forces Day, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. The European Union also joined the call for the regime to cease its violence against people there and restore the nation's path to democracy. "Some countries continue to supply lethal assistance to Myanmar's military regime, enabling its violence and repression," read the

March 27, 2022

North Korea media boast of ICBM launch 'success'

North Korean media outlets ran headlines Saturday boasting of the country's "success" in launching a new intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this week, casting it as "a thrilling victory." The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, reported on its front page, "We have seen it, and so has the world," adding, "Our country has become stronger once again and our people have become greater once more." North Korea on Friday confirmed its test-fir

March 26, 2022

Yoon, Pence meet for 2nd time in S. Korea

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has met with former US Vice President Mike Pence for a second time in Seoul and the first since Yoon's election, and had broad discussions on security and alliance issues, party officials said Saturday. The two-hour breakfast meeting between Yoon and Pence took place at a hotel in Seoul on Friday, according to party officials familiar with the matter. Pence was visiting Seoul to speak at a session on international affairs. The two had their first encounter in F

March 26, 2022

US will introduce new UNSC resolution to strengthen sanctions on N. Korea: US envoy

The United States will introduce a new UN Security Council resolution that will update and strengthen UNSC sanctions against North Korea, the head of the US mission to the UN said Friday. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield also called for full implementation of the existing sanctions on North Korea to prevent Pyongyang from engaging in further provocations. "And because of DPRK's increasingly dangerous provocations, the United States will be introducing a chapter seven Security

March 26, 2022

Former S. Korean FM unsuccessful in race for ILO top seat

  Kang Kyung-wha, a former South Korean foreign minister, on Friday lost in her bid to become new chief of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In a five-way competition for director-general of the Geneva-based agency, Kang failed to grab a majority vote of 56 titular members of its governing body, which is composed of 28 governments, 14 employers and 14 workers. The ILO said Gilbert Houngbo, a candidate from Togo who currently serves as president of the International Fund for

March 25, 2022

Expanding communication, cooperation among countries key to security in NE Asia: experts

WASHINGTON -- Expanding and maintaining channels of high-level dialogue between countries, especially in times of crises, is a key to ensuring security in the Northeast Asian region, including the Korean Peninsula, a transnational group of experts and leaders said Wednesday. They also stressed the importance of promoting cooperation between the countries in areas such as disaster relief to build mutual trust. "Numerous crisis mechanisms have been established in Northeast Asia over the past

March 24, 2022

Former US Secretary of State Albright dies at age 84

WASHINGTON -- Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright died Wednesday at the age of 84, reports said. The former secretary of state died of cancer, according to reports. Albright was the first female secretary of state and the highest ranking US official to visit North Korea. She served as US ambassador to the United Nations under former President Bill Clinton before she was appointed the secretary of state in 1997. In October 2000, Albright traveled to Pyongyang, becoming the first US se

March 24, 2022

US has no plan to negotiate import quota on S. Korean steel products: Raimondo

WASHINGTON -- The United States has no immediate plan to negotiate its import quota on South Korean steel products, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters. The remarks come after US Trade Representative Katherine Tai argued South Korea is already in a better position than many others in terms of steel and aluminium exports to the US "They kind of struck their own deal in the last administration, with a quota arrangement, so renegotiating that is

March 24, 2022

Ex-FM Kang competes for top ILO job this week

The election for the next director general of the International Labor Organization is scheduled for Friday, with all eyes on whether former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has a chance at becoming the first woman and first Asian leader in the organization’s 103-year history. 　 Kang, the country’s first female foreign minister, is competing for the ILO top job along with four other high-profile contenders. They include president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development

March 22, 2022

Biden looks to assess where China’s Xi stands on Russia war

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are set to speak on Friday as the White House warns Beijing that providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will trigger severe consequences from Washington and beyond. Planning for the call has been in the works since Biden and Xi held a virtual summit in November, but differences between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s prosecution of his three-week old

March 18, 2022

[Newsmaker] Russian strikes hit outskirts of Ukrainian capital and Lviv

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russian forces pressed their assault on Ukrainian cities Friday, with new missile strikes and shelling on the edges of the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, as world leaders pushed for an investigation of the Kremlin's repeated attacks on civilian targets, including schools, hospitals and residential areas. Outside Lviv, black smoke billowed for hours after the early morning strike by several missiles, which the mayor said hit a facility for repairing military airc

March 18, 2022