S. Korean, Israeli presidents agree to seek early FTA deal

The presidents of South Korea and Israel agreed Monday to push for an early deal in talks on a bilateral free trade agreement during a summit in Seoul.If the two sides forge an FTA, their economic cooperation in investment, services and other sectors will expand sharply, President Moon Jae-in said at the start of the Cheong Wa Dae summit with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. "The two countries have great potential for the development of their relations, having a mutually supplementary econo

July 15, 2019

Vice unification minister seeking to meet Japanese official during Tokyo visit

Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho is seeking to meet a Japanese official during his three-day visit to Japan this week, his ministry said Monday, amid growing concerns over a trade row between the two countries.Suh is set to leave for Japan on Tuesday to give a keynote speech at a side event of the Korea Global Forum for Peace hosted by the unification ministry, it said.  "(The government) is pushing to set a schedule for a meeting with a Japanese government official (during his visit),

July 15, 2019

S. Korea, Israel to hold summit on high-tech ties, regional security

The leaders of South Korea and Israel will hold bilateral talks in Seoul on Monday on cementing partnerships on regional security and advanced technologies, Cheong Wa Dae said.Israeli President Reuven Rivlin arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a five-day stay.  President Moon Jae-in plans to greet him at Cheong Wa Dae for an hourlong summit that will be followed by a luncheon meeting, according to Moon's office.Agenda items include ways to strengthen cooperation in high-tech sectors, including s

July 15, 2019

S. Korea asks Japan to lift export curbs

South Korea has asked Japan to lift export curbs and expressed deep regret over the measure, officials from Seoul's trade ministry said Saturday.The demand was made during a working-level meeting between the two neighbors in Tokyo on Friday. The meeting, which ran for nearly six hours, was the first time the two sides had met since Japan implemented strict regulations on exports of the materials."We have expressed regret over Japan's measure and requested that Japan restore (its previous po

July 13, 2019

Foreign ministry official in Japan amid stepped-up efforts to reverse Tokyo's export restrictions

A foreign ministry official handling Asia-Pacific affairs is visiting Japan as Seoul steps up efforts to reverse Tokyo's recent export control measure through bilateral dialogue and US mediation.Kim Jung-han, a director-general at Seoul's foreign ministry, arrived in Japan on Thursday to attend a meeting of South Korean diplomatic mission chiefs in the city of Niigata the following day, but his visit raised the prospects of a possible meeting with Tokyo officials. On July 4, Japan enforced tough

July 12, 2019

Koreas to skip liaison office chiefs' meeting again

South and North Korea will not hold a weekly meeting of the co-heads of their joint liaison office this week, the unification ministry said Friday.Speculation arose that a meeting of the chief liaison officers could take place on Friday for the first time in nearly five months as the ministry said that it was waiting for the North's decision until late Thursday.  Pyongyang had usually notified the South earlier than that of its decision on whether to hold or skip a weekly meeting."The

July 12, 2019

US offers high-level talks with S. Korea, Japan over trade spat: top official

The United States has offered to hold trilateral high-level talks with South Korea and Japan to resolve a growing trade spat between the Asian nations, but Tokyo has yet to respond, a top South Korean presidential official said Thursday.Kim Hyun-chong, deputy chief of Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office, said Seoul and Washington are eager to have the meeting to discuss Japan's recent export curb measures against South Korea. "We would like to seek a constructive solution, but the Japa

July 12, 2019

Senior S. Korean diplomat makes veiled criticism of Japan's export restrictions

A senior South Korean diplomat on Thursday made a thinly veiled criticism of Tokyo's recent restrictions on exports to South Korea, saying any "unilateral" measure out of sync with international norms can't be justified.Lim Sung-nam, Seoul's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), made the remarks amid heightened tensions over the measure, which Seoul sees as retaliation for last year's Supreme Court rulings against Japanese firms over wartime forced labor. &q

July 11, 2019

Seoul, Tokyo to hold working-level talks this week amid trade row

South Korea's trade ministry said Thursday it will hold working-level talks with its Japanese counterpart this week to discuss Tokyo's latest trade restrictions on key industrial materials.The talks in Tokyo on Friday will be the first of their kind since Japan implemented strict regulations last week on exporting the materials used for the production of chips and smartphones.Since last Thursday, the Japanese government has applied more complicated procedures for exporting fluorinated polyimide,

July 11, 2019

Trump names ex-NK envoy as ambassador to Indonesia

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday named a former envoy for North Korea as ambassador to Indonesia, the White House said.Sung Kim, currently the US ambassador to the Philippines, is well known in South Korea as a former top US envoy to Seoul and chief negotiator on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.In his current post, Kim also led working-level preparations for Trump's first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June 2018.The South Korean-born career diplomat earli

July 11, 2019

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan hold phone talks over Japan's export curbs, NK

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States have held phone talks to discuss Tokyo's recent export control measure against Seoul and diplomacy for North Korea's denuclearization, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.During the 15-minute talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday night, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha voiced concerns over Japan's restrictions on the exports of key high-tech materials to South Korea. Last week, Japan enforced the measure in an apparent

July 11, 2019

UNC seeks to include Japan as official member: govt. sources

The US-led UN Command (UNC) is seeking to include Japan as an official member, multiple government sources said Thursday, a move likely to inflame public sentiment in South Korea amid renewed historical tensions with Tokyo.Should Japan participate as part of the UNC's "sending states," its membership would pave the way for its military involvement in the event of an armed conflict on the peninsula -- a scenario unthinkable for most Koreans harboring grievances stemming from Japan's 191

July 11, 2019

PM to visit Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon will visit Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Qatar from July 13-21, his office said Wednesday.Lee's travel to the four countries is aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties with Central Asia and Southwest Asia and pursuing a balanced diplomacy in the Middle East under Seoul's diplomatic diversification strategy, the Prime Minister's Office said. In particular, Lee's trip to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan will complete South Korea's summit diplomacy with five

July 10, 2019

S. Korea, US to hold economic talks amid Japan's export curbs

A foreign ministry official will travel to Washington this week for talks with his counterpart on economic issues, the ministry said Tuesday, amid speculation that the two sides may also discuss Japan's economic retaliatory measures against Seoul.Kim Hee-sang, director-general for bilateral economic affairs, will meet with Roland de Marcellus, acting deputy assistant secretary for international finance and development at the State Department, according to Seoul officials."There will be conc

July 9, 2019

Govt officials of S. Korea, Japan to hold talks over Tokyo's export curbs: report

Government officials of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Tokyo as early as this week to discuss Japan's toughening of restrictions on exports of key chemicals to South Korea, a news report said Tuesday. The meeting, if realized, will be the first time officials of the two countries have met since Japan announced on July 1 a stringent approval process for exports to Seoul of high-tech materials essential for the production of semiconductors and display panels, a report by Yomiuri Shimbun

July 9, 2019

US stresses cooperation amid escalating row between S. Korea, Japan

The United States on Monday expressed its continued commitment to strengthening ties with South Korea and Japan amid an escalating row between the Asian nations.Tensions between Seoul and Tokyo have spiked since the Japanese government last week announced tightened controls on exports of high-tech materials to the neighboring country. South Korea views the measure as retaliation for last year's Supreme Court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to compensate Korean victims of forced labor dur

July 9, 2019

[Diplomatic circuit] French Chamber to host Bastille Day gala

The French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with the French Embassy in Korea will host their annual Bastille Day event Friday. More than 500 guests will take part in this biggest event of the year for the French Korean community, a celebration of French culture. Bastille Day, France’s national day, commemorates the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, a turning point in the French Revolution, as well as the Fete de la Federation, a celebra

July 8, 2019

Moon urges Japan to reconsider export restrictions on Korean tech firms

President Moon Jae-in on Monday urged Japan to withdraw restrictions on exports of hi-tech materials to South Korea, while calling on government agencies to work closely with the business community to deal with the “unprecedented emergency.”Speaking at a weekly meeting with senior presidential aides, Moon said that Japan’s move violates principles of free trade, and urged it to reconsider using trade for political ends. “(I) urge Japan to withdraw the measures, and call f

July 8, 2019

S. Korea says it complies with anti-NK sanctions after Abe raises suspicion

South Korea is faithfully complying with sanctions on North Korea, a foreign ministry official said Monday, a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised the possibility of non-compliance, apparently to justify Tokyo's recent export restrictions against Seoul.In a debate hosted by Japan's BS Fuji TV, Abe said it is a matter of course to suspect that South Korea may not abide by sanctions on the North because it did not keep to an agreement with Tokyo over the issue of wartime forced labo

July 8, 2019