S. Korea vows efforts to support vaccination in Asia's developing nations

South Korea reaffirmed its commitment to comprehensive vaccine support for Asia's developing countries during a virtual session hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to Seoul's foreign ministry Tuesday. Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon delivered the message at the COVID-19 Global Action Meeting held the previous day. Choi said South Korea will offer a "support package," including vaccine supplies, cold chains, storage logistics, to help improve health car

Feb. 15, 2022

Americans advised not to travel to S. Korea amid COVID-19 surge

WASHINGTON -- The US government on Monday advised its people against travel to South Korea amid reports of widespread COVID-19 infections in the Northeast Asian nation. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added South Korea to the "very high" risk Level 4 category, along with five other countries and territories, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Comoros, French Polynesia and Saint Pierre and Miquelon "If you must travel to South Korea, make sure you are vaccinated

Feb. 15, 2022

Moon orders plans for safe evacuation amid Ukraine crisis

President Moon Jae-in on Monday ordered government ministries to prepare for the safe evacuation of Koreans in Ukraine, and draw up measures to mitigate damages to Korean companies, citing the threat of a looming Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We need to implement what we can do right away and prepare closely for the worst,” Moon said, presiding over an external economic security strategy meeting. “In case of emergency, it is necessary to make every effort to evacuate and with

Feb. 14, 2022

S. Korea to evacuate citizens from Ukraine amid looming crisis with Russia

South Korea plans to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine within a couple of days in an additional operation amid growing fears of a Russian invasion, the foreign ministry said Monday. A total of 281 Korean nationals, including diplomatic staff, are staying in Ukraine as of Monday, and about 100 plan to leave the nation by Tuesday, it noted. "The government is urging Korean nationals to leave Ukraine as soon as possible via available flights or land routes as a Level 4 travel advisory was iss

Feb. 14, 2022

Japan pushing for Sado mine as UNESCO heritage without reference to forced labor

TOKYO -- The Japanese government has effectively excluded its 20th century wartime atrocity against Koreans in a letter of formal recommendation for its former gold and silver mine, according to informed sources Monday. Tokyo has launched a campaign to get the Sado mine designated as UNESCO world heritage next year despite Seoul's strong protest. As many as 2,000 Koreans were forced into hard labor at the mine during World War II, as their country was under brutal colonial rule by Japan. "(

Feb. 14, 2022

S. Korea, US, Japan commit to aligning approaches on N. Korea, advancing security coordination

The top diplomats of South Korea, the US, and Japan committed to aligning their diplomatic approaches to North Korea and advancing trilateral security coordination in maintaining regional peace and stability. South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Saturday in Honolulu, Hawaii, that was followed by a joint statement. “They committed to close trilateral cooperation to achieve complete denucle

Feb. 13, 2022

Foreign ministers of S. Korea, Japan meet over N. Korea, bilateral issues

HONOLULU -- South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in Honolulu on Saturday to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, including North Korea and disputes over their shared history. The bilateral meeting was held before the foreign ministers were set to hold trilateral talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the Hawaiian capital. "Minister Chung stressed that South Korea and Japan are the closest neighbors t

Feb. 13, 2022

Status quo not an option for Korean Peninsula: S. Korean FM

Maintaining the status quo is not an option when it comes to North Korea, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Friday, urging the North to quickly return to dialogue. The top South Korean diplomat also insisted maintaining the status quo would actually lead to greater instability not only on the Korean Peninsula but throughout Northeast Asia while having global implications. "As I have repeatedly said publicly, maintaining status quo in the Korean Peninsula issues is not an o

Feb. 12, 2022

Biden taps Goldberg as new U.S. ambassador to S. Korea

US President Joe Biden has nominated a senior member of the US foreign service, Philip Goldberg, as new US ambassador to South Korea, the White House said Friday. "Philip Goldberg is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Career Ambassador, and currently is the US Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia," the White House said in a press release. Ambassador Goldberg, if appointed, will replace Harry Harris who stepped down when Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2021. Sout

Feb. 12, 2022

S. Korea, US, Japan urge NK to cease tension escalation, return to dialogue

Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the US and Japan urged North Korea to cease activities that escalate tension and return to dialogue and diplomacy at the earliest, following the regime’s recent flurry of missile tests.  The call was made at the three-way session between South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, and his American and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, in Honolulu, Hawaii on Thursday (local time). Both bilateral and tril

Feb. 11, 2022

Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan meet over ways to engage with N. Korea

HONOLULU -- The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea, Japan and the United States discussed ways to engage with North Korea in what they called very "productive" and "substantive" discussions held here in Honolulu on Thursday. "We had a very good discussion -- very detailed, substantive discussion about recent developments," US Special Representative for the DPRK Sung Kim told reporters after his bilateral and trilateral meetings here with South Korea's Noh Kyu-d

Feb. 11, 2022

UN rapporteur on NK human rights to visit S. Korea next week

The UN special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation will travel here next week to hold relevant discussions, a UN office said Thursday. Tomas Ojea Quintana will visit the country on Tuesday for a nine-day trip, according to the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul. He is expected to meet with officials from the South Korean government and civic groups on North Korean human rights, as well as North Korean defectors, in preparation for an annual report on the North to be submitted to the

Feb. 10, 2022

Chinese ambassador congratulates S. Korean skater on gold medal

The top Chinese envoy in Seoul issued a congratulatory message Thursday for South Korean short track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon who won gold in the men's 1,500m at the Beijing Winter Olympics the previous night. Ambassador Xing Haiming delivered the message through his spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy. "With regard to the athlete Hwang Dae-heon's performance, Chinese people are also positively evaluating it in show of the true friendship of the two countries' people," the embassy o

Feb. 10, 2022

N. Korea issue at critical juncture, engagement remains key: nuclear envoy

HONOLULU -- North Korea's relationship with South Korea and other countries is at a critical moment that can move in either direction resulting in confrontation or reconciliation, South Korea's top nuclear envoy said Wednesday, stressing the importance of direct engagement with North Korea. Noh Kyu-duk also said he and his US and Japanese counterparts will discuss ways to persuade North Korea to return to the dialogue table when they meet here on Thursday. "I believe now is a very important

Feb. 10, 2022

Defense chief meets top Canadian envoy, discusses bilateral ties

South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook held a meeting with Canada's top envoy in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss the regional security situations, including the Korean Peninsula, his ministry said. Talking with Ambassador Mark Fletcher, Suh noted that the two countries have maintained close ties in the defense sector through various channels, including the Asian Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue and the Seoul Defense Dialogue, according to the ministry. Canada hopes for the d

Feb. 9, 2022

After Olympic furor, US envoy says hanbok Korean

 The top US diplomat to South Korea released a photo donning hanbok and backing its origin as Korean on Tuesday, in an apparent response to the controversy sparked by China’s alleged cultural appropriation over the traditional Korean attire during the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics.   　 Christopher Del Corso, charge d’affaires ad interim at the US Embassy in Seoul, posted two pictures of himself wearing hanbok while touring historic places on his Twitter on Tuesda

Feb. 9, 2022

[Hwang’s China and the World] Eurasia’s vulnerable geopolitical points: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, North Korea

For the last two years, people the world over have lived with the invisible fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now used to applying sanitizer to our hands and repeatedly lifting up our masks to keep them above our noses. Now the world is somewhat getting used to the pandemic situation. With the number of omicron cases in South Korea going into the tens of thousands a day, and while people are now screened with quarantine passes on their way into restaurants and malls without concern, the tr

Feb. 9, 2022

Chinese Embassy rebuts public criticism over 'hanbok' at Beijing Olympics ceremony

The Chinese Embassy here issued a rare public statement in response to fury among South Koreans over the "appropriation" of "hanbok," the traditional Korean attire, and deepening anti-China sentiment. A woman, dressed in hanbok, appeared during last week's opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, representing an ethnic minority of China, called "joseonjok." She was part of those representing 56 ethnic groups of China carrying the Chinese national flag into t

Feb. 9, 2022

S. Korea wins WTO ruling over Trump-era washer safeguard tariffs

South Korea won a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute over the United States' safeguard measures on large-sized residential washers and parts, Seoul's trade ministry said Wednesday. In May 2018, the Seoul government lodged the complaint, three months after the Donald Trump administration began imposing a 20 percent tariff on the yearly quota of 1.2 million imported units and a 50 percent tariff on washing machines beyond the number. The measure was extended in 2021 for another two years, wi

Feb. 9, 2022

Three-way cooperation of US, S. Korea, Japan 'indispensable' to denuclearizing N. Korea: Price

WASHINGTON -- Trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States is one of the most important and effective tools to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, State Department Press Secretary Ned Price said Monday. He made the remarks as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to hold a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts later this week. "I can be confident that one of the priority issues of discussion in that setting will be the recent provo

Feb. 8, 2022