S. Korea wraps up delivery of 2m masks to Korean War veterans in 22 countries

South Korea provided an additional 2 million face masks to international veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War recently in an expression of gratitude for their sacrifice, the veterans affairs ministry has said. Under the second such project, a total of 1 million masks were sent to the veterans in the United States, and the remainder to 21 other participating nations, including Canada, Britain, Columbia and South Africa, according to the ministry. Their shipments began in mid-December and were com

Feb. 15, 2021

No reports of S. Koreans suffering damage from quake-hit Fukushima

The foreign ministry said Sunday there were no reports of South Koreans suffering damage from the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck off northeastern Japan the previous night. The quake, which occurred at around 11 p.m. off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, left over 100 people injured, according to Japanese media. "No damage from our nationals has been reported so far," the ministry said, adding that its consulate general will provide necessary assistance to South Koreans living

Feb. 14, 2021

FM Chung, Blinken stress close cooperation for complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

New Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed close bilateral cooperation for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during their first phone talks Friday, the foreign ministry said. They also shared the view of the importance of their countries' trilateral cooperation with Japan in the conversation that took place three days after Chung, a former top security adviser to President Moon Jae-in, took office. The talks came as Seoul seeks to

Feb. 12, 2021

One of sailors aboard S. Korean oil tanker seized in Iran returns home

One of the 20 crew members who were aboard a South Korean oil tanker seized by Iran last month has been released and returned home, the foreign ministry said Thursday. The Korean sailor, one of those detained along with the MT Hankuk Chemi by Teheran, entered his home country Wednesday afternoon for health reasons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. He is the first among the detained sailors to be repatriated after the chemical carrier was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Cor

Feb. 11, 2021

S. Korea to keep striving to improve ties with Japan: NSC

South Korea's top national security officials agreed Wednesday, during a weekly meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, to continue efforts to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations long strained by disputes over shared history. In the standing committee session of the National Security Council (NSC), they decided to continue efforts to address the problem, while strengthening "communication and cooperation with other nations to keep the security situation under stable control," according to the presidentia

Feb. 10, 2021

Foreign ministry vows stern measures after embassy officials implicated in assault of staff

The foreign ministry said Wednesday it will thoroughly look into an assault case involving officials at the South Korean Embassy in China and will take stern measures. The ministry confirmed that an internal probe has been launched after it received a complaint accusing two embassy officials of beating an administrative staff member working at the same diplomatic mission while drinking at a bar in Beijing last week. "We will take stern measures in accordance with principles and regulation

Feb. 10, 2021

US will move on N. Korea after bringing allies to same page: Price

WASHINGTON -- The United States will engage North Korea after its ongoing policy review is completed and US allies are brought up to speed, in terms of their approach and objective, a State Department official said Tuesday. Press secretary Ned Price also said the new Biden administration will not move "too soon" or alone. "I think the risk in moving too soon -- whether the issue is Iran, whether the issue is North Korea -- is that we don't bring along our allies and our partners

Feb. 10, 2021

Seoul-Tokyo relations at lowest, affecting three-way cooperation with US: CRS

WASHINGTON -- Bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan have dipped to their lowest ebb, also affecting the countries' three-way cooperation with the United States, a congressional report said. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report noted the new Biden administration may be mulling ways to rebuild trust between the two US allies. "Japan's relations with South Korea are perennially fraught due to sensitive historical issues from Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula

Feb. 10, 2021

US remains committed to peace, stability of Indo-Pacific: Pentagon

The United States continues to be committed to the peace and security of its allies in the Indo-Pacific region, a Pentagon official said Monday. The remarks come amid an ongoing review of the US defense posture that the Pentagon official said will determine where more US troops are needed or less. "We will continue to maintain our security commitments to our allies and partners there," Press Secretary John Kirby said when asked if the ongoing defense posture review would lead to an i

Feb. 9, 2021

Korean students at Harvard demand professor's apology over controversial claims on comfort women

Korean students at Harvard University have strongly criticized a professor over his controversial claim that Japan's wartime sexual slavery was actually voluntary prostitution, demanding its immediate withdrawal and his official apology to victims. Harvard Korean Society made the demand in a statement on its website after Harvard Law School Japanese legal studies professor J. Mark Ramseyer caused controversy with his recently published paper titled "Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War.&

Feb. 8, 2021

Ruling party to seek parliamentary resolution condemning military coup in Myanmar

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) will seek the passage of a parliamentary resolution condemning the recent military coup in Myanmar, the party's floor leader said Monday. DP floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon also expressed deep regret and concerns over the coup d'etat that took place a week earlier, while disclosing the plan for the parliamentary resolution during a top party council meeting. "The coup by the Myanmarese military is an act of serious provocation that fundamentally threatens

Feb. 8, 2021

FM Kang leaves office after years of daunting diplomatic tasks

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha left office Monday after nearly four years at the helm of South Korea's diplomacy grappling with a host of daunting challenges ranging from North Korea's nuclear quandary to historical spats with Japan and an escalating Sino-USrivalry. Having led the ministry since June 2017, Kang described her stint as the nation's first female foreign minister as "most honorable" in her work life and voiced hope that her successor, Chung Eui-yong, will reinvigorate th

Feb. 8, 2021

Moon appoints new foreign minister

President Moon Jae-in appointed Chung Eui-yong as his new foreign minister on Monday, Cheong Wa Dae announced.   　 Chung, former director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, will begin his tenure Tuesday. He replaces Kang Kyung-wha, the nation’s first female foreign minister and the longest-serving minister in Moon’s Cabinet.   　 Earlier in the day, the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly, in which the ruling Democratic Party holds a maj

Feb. 8, 2021

S. Korea working to bring home seized sailors in Iran as early as this week

South Korea plans to help crew members aboard an oil tanker seized by Iran to return home as early as this week after Tehran's announcement that it will set most of them free, diplomatic sources said Sunday. Last week, Teheran said it will free the crew members detained aboard the MT Hankuk Chemi, except for the captain, about a month after its military seized the vessel with its crew in the country's waters for allegedly polluting the ocean. Officials at the South Korean Embassy in the Middle

Feb. 7, 2021

Korean Harvard students decry professor's claims on sex slaves as 'incorrect and misleading'

A group of Korean students at Harvard Law School has decried a professor's recent controversial claims that victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery were willing prostitutes as "factually incorrect and misleading." On Thursday, the Korean Association of Harvard Law School issued a statement criticizing a recent article by J. Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi professor of Japanese Legal Studies at the Harvard school, which is titled "Contracting for sex in the Pacific War." The art

Feb. 5, 2021

Foreign ministry restores phrase 'closest neighbor' describing Japan in white paper

The foreign ministry has restored the expression "closest neighbor" to refer to Japan in its latest white paper published this week, as Seoul pushes to improve ties with Tokyo frayed over wartime issues. "Japan is South Korea's closest neighboring country that we should work with not only for bilateral relations but also for the peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and the world," according to the 2020 white paper released Friday. In the 2019 version, Japan was described

Feb. 5, 2021

Foreign minister says vaccine hoarding will only lengthen pandemic

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Friday that the hoarding of vaccines by a few countries would only undermine the public interest and lengthen the pandemic. “It is especially important to keep a distance from ‘vaccine nationalism’ and guarantee fair provision of vaccines to everyone at affordable costs,” Kang said during a congratulatory speech at a sustainable development forum hosted by Yonsei University. “We need to invest in bolstering the national health

Feb. 5, 2021

S. Korea, Georgia sign air service agreement

South Korea and Georgia have signed an air services agreement that would lay the foundation for operations of direct flights traveling between the two countries, the foreign ministry said Friday. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Georgian Ambassador to South Korea Otar Berdzenishvili formally inked the agreement Thursday, after the two countries reached the agreement through aviation talks in July 2019. The agreement is to take effect on the 30th day from the two countries' mutual notificati

Feb. 5, 2021

US begins global defense posture review: Biden

US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States will review its global defense posture, a move that could affect the number of US troops stationed overseas, including those in South Korea. "Today, I'm announcing additional steps to course correct our foreign policy and better unite our democratic values with our diplomatic leadership," Biden said in his first speech on national security and foreign policy delivered from the Department of State. "To begin, Defense Sec

Feb. 5, 2021

Moon, Biden signal fresh restart of peace process on Korean Peninsula

President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, held their first phone call Thursday, signaling a fresh restart of the South Korea-US alliance, the most critical strategic partnership in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula. The phone call, which started at 8:25 a.m. local time and lasted 32 minutes, came two weeks after Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president Jan. 20. “The whole conversation was held in a friendly and professional mood, with the leaders sometimes shari

Feb. 4, 2021