Biegun visits Seoul for talks on bilateral alliance, N. Korea

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for talks with South Korean officials on the bilateral alliance and the stalled nuclear negotiations with North Korea. Biegun landed aboard a chartered plane at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, at about 4:15 p.m., officials said. Among his delegation were Alex Wong, deputy assistant secretary of state for North Korea, and Allison Hooker, senior director for Asian affairs at the White House's Natio

Dec. 8, 2020

[Contribution] How can we achieve non-traditional security international cooperation?

The international order beyond the mask is shaking unstably. As COVID-19 has prolonged, depression and resentment across the world are also growing. It’s everyone‘s challenge and concern to figure out what is the consensus keyword and mindset that penetrate this era, and what can be the proper response in this fear of the virus. Already it has been a year of facing the COVID-19 era. The Beijing Xiangshan Forum, the most distinguished security forum in Asia along with the Shangri-la D

Dec. 7, 2020

Japan's info disclosure on Fukushima water disposal insufficient to judge safety: official

Japan has provided South Korea with insufficient information so far about its plan to release radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, a foreign ministry official said Monday. Tokyo appears close to announcing the plan to gradually release into the Pacific Ocean more than 1.2 million tons of radioactive water stored in tanks since the 2011 meltdowns following an earthquake and tsunami. Japan argues that it is the most realistic and relatively harmless disp

Dec. 7, 2020

US envoy Biegun to visit Seoul

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who doubles as Washington’s point man on North Korea, is set to visit South Korea on Tuesday to discuss alliance issues and the stalled talks on North Korea’s denuclearization, officials said Monday. 　 Biegun will stay in Seoul from Tuesday to Friday, in what is likely his last trip to Seoul as the No. 2 American diplomat and the US special representative for North Korea, as the Donald Trump administration’s single four-year term

Dec. 7, 2020

S. Korea, Netherlands sign MOU on discovery of Dutch troops missing in Korean War

South Korea and the Netherlands agreed to expedite efforts to discover and identify Dutch troops who went missing during the 1950-53 Korean War, the defense ministry said Monday. Defense Minister Suh Wook and the Dutch Ambassador to South Korea Joanne Doornewaard signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that calls on Seoul to establish a system designed to excavate the remains of service personnel missing in action and identify them in a swifter manner, according to the ministry. The Netherl

Dec. 7, 2020

Biegun to visit Seoul for talks on alliance, N. Korea

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Seoul this week for talks with South Korean officials about alliance issues and the stalled nuclear dialogue with North Korea, officials said Monday. The four-day trip starting Tuesday is expected to be Biegun's last visit to Seoul as the No. 2 American diplomat and the US point man on North Korea before the administration of President Donald Trump ends its four-year term. "He will meet with officials in the Republic of Korea to discu

Dec. 7, 2020

Foreign minister highlights global solidarity, cooperation on COVID-19 pandemic

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Saturday stressed the importance of global solidarity and international cooperation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and future crises.   　 She made the remark at the Manama Dialogue, an annual regional security forum held in Bahrain that involved security and political officials and experts. Kang was on a four-day trip to the region from Thursday, visiting Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates for meetings with officials.   　 “Global gove

Dec. 6, 2020

Defense chief to attend virtual Asia-Pacific defense ministers' meeting this week

Defense Minister Suh Wook will join his counterparts from the United States, China, Japan and other countries in an annual Asia-Pacific defense ministers' meeting this week, officials said Sunday. The 7th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) will be held via video link on Thursday, which will bring together top defense officials from 18 countries, also including the 10 ASEAN member states, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. This year

Dec. 6, 2020

China slams US national security allegations as 'hodgepodge of lies'

BEIJING (AFP) --  Beijing on Friday lashed out at a claim by the US intelligence chief that China is the "greatest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide", calling it a "hodgepodge of lies". The war of words comes as relations between the two superpowers have spiralled to their lowest point in decades and as Washington unveiled travel restrictions for members of the Chinese Communist Party. US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in a Wall Street J

Dec. 4, 2020

Foreign ministry's budget rises 3.5% for next year with focus on virtual diplomacy

The foreign ministry said Friday that its budget has been set at 2.84 trillion won ($2.62 billion) for next year, with a focus on bolstering noncontact diplomacy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The total amount includes a 6.4 billion-won increase for what it calls "digital plus public diplomacy," which is aimed at improving infrastructure for virtual meetings that have become a new standard for diplomats since the outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted in-person talks, the ministry said.

Dec. 4, 2020

Vietnam agrees to allow expedited entry for biz people from S. Korea

Vietnam will allow coronavirus quarantine exemptions to business travelers and their families from South Korea from the beginning of next year as part of efforts to shore up economic exchanges despite the pandemic, the foreign ministry said Friday. The two countries reached the agreement when Seoul's Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho, visiting Vietnam, paid a courtesy call on Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh earlier in the day, the ministry said in a press release. The measure

Dec. 4, 2020

Japan negligent in carrying out UNESCO recommendations on wartime forced labor: official

Japan remains negligent in carrying out UNESCO recommendations that the country offer correct accounts of wartime forced labor when describing the history of industrial sites recognized as World Heritage, an official said Friday. When the 23 Meiji-era industrial sites won the World Heritage recognition in 2015, Japan promised to set up an information center to remember and honor the victims in a way that recognizes that they were forcibly mobilized for labor. But the promise was not kept. A

Dec. 4, 2020

S. Korea, US need to work together in Asia but first set objectives: officials

WASHINGTON -- The United States and South Korea can and must work together to promote their shared values and check China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region, a US diplomat said Thursday. A South Korean diplomat here agreed on the need for the allies to work together, but highlighted the importance of first laying out their common goals. "We have a long standing cooperative relationship and one that I foresee going forward, I mean, because basically it comes down to the kind of

Dec. 4, 2020

US commission claims launch of 'Quad Plus' denied by US govt.

WASHINGTON -- An expanded security forum has taken root in the Indo-Pacific region, a US commission reported Thursday, despite consistent US government denials of any attempt to broaden the so-called Quad. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission claimed China's increasingly assertive behavior has led to an increase in cohesion among the countries participating in the multilateral forum, known as the Quad, initially consisting of the United States, Japan, India and Australia. "

Dec. 4, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae denies report of S. Korea-China-Japan summit postponement

The South Korean presidential office on Thursday denied a news report that an annual trilateral summit between South Korea, China and Japan, which Seoul plans to host this year, will be postponed to next year. Japan's Nikkei reported earlier in the day that the hosting of this year's annual three-way summit will be delayed as the environment in which South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga can meet in person has not been arranged. "No decision has b

Dec. 3, 2020

2nd Vice FM to visit Vietnam for bilateral, Mekong talks

Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho will depart for Vietnam on Thursday for bilateral talks and a multilateral business forum with the Southeast Asian partners in the Mekong region, the foreign ministry said. During the three-day trip, Lee will attend the South Korea-Mekong Business Forum, an annual conference consisting of Korea and the five countries near the Mekong River -- Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, the ministry said in a release. The meeting will be held via video

Dec. 3, 2020

S. Korea denounces killing of Iranian nuclear scientist

South Korea on Wednesday denounced the assassination of a leading Iranian nuclear scientist as a criminal act that does not help bring stability and peace in the region. The foreign ministry's comment came after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear weapons expert, was killed in a bomb and gun attack on a road outside Tehran last week, amplifying tensions between Iran and neighboring nations. "We stress that this kind of violent criminal act is not conducive to stability and peace in the Middle E

Dec. 2, 2020

Berlin district council passes resolution seeking permanent installation of sex slave statue

BERLIN -- A Berlin district council has passed a resolution seeking to keep a statue of a girl symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery permanently installed at a public site, officials and reports said Wednesday. The resolution, approved by a majority vote at Berlin's Mitte district parliament on Tuesday (Berlin time), calls for measures to have the statue remain in the district while extending the statue's installation period by another six weeks to September next year. The

Dec. 2, 2020

US encouraged by S. Korea-Japan efforts to address differences: Knapper

The United States was "encouraged" by recent efforts by South Korea and Japan to "address their differences," a State Department official said Wednesday, highlighting the need for trilateral cooperation against North Korean nuclear and missile threats. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan at the East Asian and Pacific affairs bureau, made the remark in a webinar, apparently referring to a series of visits to Japan by senior South Korean officials on t

Dec. 2, 2020

US wants allies to call out 'bad behavior' from China: Knapper

WASHINGTON -- The United States is not asking its allies, including South Korea and Japan, to sever their ties with China but to call out bad behavior, a senior US diplomat said Tuesday. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, also said his country understands its two Asian allies have a very unique relationship with China. "First of all, we recognize both Japan and South Korea have very complex, very nuanced relations with the People's Republic of China, in

Dec. 2, 2020