S. Korea, US, Japan address China, NK, Russia at 1st Indo-Pacific Dialogue

South Korea, the United States and Japan jointly condemned deeper military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait during the first Indo-Pacific Dialogue. The three governments held the inaugural trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue in Washington on Friday, following up on the agreement established during the Camp David summit in August last year. The leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan previously agreed to launch

Jan. 7, 2024

Guam investigates fatal shooting of Korean visitor, offers $50,000 reward for information

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) -- Authorities in the US territory of Guam on Friday vowed to bring to justice those who fatally shot a South Korean visitor in a tourist district. The shooting occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday when the traveler and his wife were walking toward Tsubaki Towers, a hotel on Guam's popular Tumon Bay, from nearby Gun Beach, KUAM-TV reported , citing police. An older model, dark-colored SUV approached them from behind, Guam Police Chief Stephen Ignacio said at a news c

Jan. 6, 2024

UK daily adds S. Korean name for sea area in naming row with Japan after Seoul request

A British daily has added the term "East Sea" on a map of South Korea in its recent travel article that had only labeled a sea area by its Japanese name, after the South Korean government requested both names be in the picture. The London-based newspaper, The Times, published the article Wednesday (Korean time) introducing South Korea as an exciting place to visit this year. The article showed a map of South Korea, with the sea to the east of the peninsula named the Sea of Japan -- the

Jan. 5, 2024

S. Korean envoy voices worries over 'reckless' Houthi rebel attacks in Red Sea

South Korea expressed concerns Wednesday over Iranian-backed Houthi rebels' attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, as it took part in a UN Security Council meeting for the first time since it became a non-permanent member. South Korean Ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook attended the meeting as Seoul chairs a UNSC sanctions committee on Yemen. The meeting came amid tensions caused by the Yemeni militants' repeated attacks in the sea, a crucial shipping lane for oil and other ca

Jan. 4, 2024

Ex-Secretary Pompeo mentions N. Korea while accusing Biden of 'decay of deterrence'

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed President Joe Biden for causing what he called a "decay of deterrence" as he voiced concerns over a "dangerous" security landscape marked by the authoritarian leaders of North Korea, China and Russia. During an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Pompeo, who served as the top US diplomat under then President Donald Trump from 2018-2021, took a swipe at Biden's foreign policy as Trump is seeking a second White House ter

Jan. 4, 2024

US says dialogue is 'most preferred route' to achieve peninsula denuclearization amid tough NK rhetoric

The United States on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to diplomacy with North Korea, casting dialogue as the "most preferred route" to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, made the remarks as North Korea has ratcheted up tensions by hardening its rhetoric against Seoul and Washington and stressing its focus on war preparation efforts. "We would still welcome dialogue with North Korea because we think ultimatel

Jan. 4, 2024

FM nominee says to 'unwaveringly' seek gov't compensation plan for forced labor victims

The nominee for foreign minister said he will "unwaveringly" push for the government's plan to compensate Korean victims of Japan's forced labor through a foundation funded by South Korean companies, documents submitted to the National Assembly showed Wednesday. Cho Tae-yul's nomination as South Korea's new top diplomat has drawn attention as Cho has been suspected of involvement in a high-profile judicial power abuse scandal centering on former Supreme Court Ch

Jan. 3, 2024

Ukrainian envoy calls for global action amid escalating Russian attacks

Ukrainian Ambassador to Seoul Dmytro Ponomarenko on Wednesday urged the international community to condemn Russia's heightened aggression against Ukraine and take immediate and decisive action. Russian attacks have destroyed civilian infrastructure, and injured and killed civilians, including children, he told The Korea Herald, citing a second mass missile strike within just four days. The envoy suggested urgent measures that he believes the world should take to support Ukraine in its defen

Jan. 3, 2024

Ex-US ambassador stresses need to step up allied drills against N. Korean threats

A former US ambassador to South Korea called Tuesday for beefed-up defense drills between Seoul and Washington to counter North Korean threats, stressing the pursuit of dialogue with the recalcitrant regime should not come at the expense of the allies' military readiness. Retired Adm. Harry Harris, who served as US ambassador to South Korea from 2018-2021, made the call, pointing to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's unrelenting focus on advancing his regime's nuclear program and o

Jan. 3, 2024

[KH Explains] How will South Korea use its seat on UN Security Council?

South Korea embarked on its two-year tenure as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council as 2024 commenced, aiming to foster unified action on crucial security matters, including North Korea's nuclear buildup, amid ongoing discord among the five veto-wielding permanent members. South Korea's Foreign Ministry has underscored the growing importance of its present seat on the UN Security Council, even though the country previously held the position during the periods of 1996-1997 a

Jan. 2, 2024

[Herald Interview] Vietnam sees Korea as ‘good partner’ to boost its economy

HANOI, Vietnam -- Vietnam sees South Korea as a “good peer” in its plan to achieve developed-country status by 2045, according to Nguyen Anh Tuan, the deputy director general at the Foreign Investment Agency under Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment. “We plan to grow our economy to be a developing country with the GDP per capita in the group of the high-middle income by the year 2030,” Tuan told a group of Korean reporters at the ministry’s headqua

Jan. 2, 2024

Korea enters 2024 in fog of uncertainties

As the calendar flicks over into 2024, South Korea finds itself entangled in an intricate tapestry of mounting uncertainties. In charting its course forward, Korea will need to navigate rising diplomatic complexities and elevated security risks -- especially the possibility of inter-Korean clashes -- while protecting its economic security amid the strategic competition between the United States and China. The challenges stem from two pivotal factors, over 10 experts based in South Korea told The

Jan. 1, 2024

Trump’s return to White House may increase Seoul-Pyongyang engagement: expert

US former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House may increase Seoul-Pyongyang diplomatic engagement, according to an expert on US-Asia relations and foreign policy. Ted Gover, director of the Tribal Administration Program at Claremont Graduate University, said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul last month, that President Joe Biden's re-election would likely keep the status quo of diplomatic relations, which have yielded little and have come close to being froze

Jan. 1, 2024

Yoon says S. Korea, US will complete strengthened extended deterrence regime in first half of 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that South Korea and the United States will complete a strengthened "extended deterrence" regime in the first half of 2024 to seal off North Korea's nuclear and missile threats at their source. Yoon made the remark in a New Year's Day address as he stressed his commitment to building a "genuine and lasting peace" through strength. "By the first half of this year, we will complete the enhanced South Korea-US extended deterre

Jan. 1, 2024

New Year's Eve celebrations roll across Asia, but wars cast a shadow on 2024

Revelers across Asia celebrated the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve with fireworks and brightly lit signs — offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe's ongoing conflicts raised security concerns and led to muted or even canceled festivities. As the clock struck midnight in Australia, more than 1 million people — a number equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents — watched a 12-minute firework display focused on the Sydney Har

Jan. 1, 2024

S. Korea vows responsibility as elected UNSC member as 2-year term begins

South Korea vowed Monday to do its part "responsibly" to contribute to international efforts in addressing global challenges that threaten peace and security, as it began its two-year term as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council. South Korea won the UNSC nonpermanent member seat in June last year with 180 votes from 192 member states at the UN General Assembly in New York. It will serve on the council, one of the six key organs of the UN, until 2025. The UNSC is pri

Jan. 1, 2024

2 S. Koreans released 17 days after abduction in Nigeria

Two South Koreans have been released unharmed after being abducted by an unidentified armed group in southern Nigeria, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday. The two men in their 50s and 60s, respectively, were taken during an ambush by the group in Gbaran in the southern district of Enwe in the West African country on Dec. 12, according to sources. They are employees of Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean builder. South Korean authorities secured the custody

Dec. 30, 2023

Defense Ministry under fire for labeling Dokdo ‘area of territorial dispute’

South Korea’s Defense Ministry came under heavy criticism Thursday for calling the nation’s easternmost sovereign islets of Dokdo as an “area of territorial dispute,” in its latest military education material for soldiers. President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the ministry to “immediately correct” the labels in the textbook and said the “mistake should have never happened and should not be repeated.” Yoon’s orders came mere hours after the minist

Dec. 28, 2023

Trump may bring about 'bolder' N. Korea policy shift if reelected: US expert

Former US President Donald Trump could make a "bolder" shift in North Korea policy if reelected, an American expert said Wednesday, raising the prospects of him eyeing another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation chair at the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies, also warned of a potential policy "clash" between South Korea and the United States should Trump handle the

Dec. 28, 2023

Israeli Embassy in Seoul removes footage depicting hypothetical Hamas attack on S. Korea

The Israeli Embassy in South Korea on Wednesday deleted a self-produced controversial video featuring an imaginary case of Seoul being attacked by the Hamas group, after the South Korean government expressed concern over the matter. On its social media channels, the embassy on Tuesday uploaded the video featuring a potential terror attack in Seoul on a Christmas day. In the footage, a young mother looks at her cellphone as it suddenly issues an air raid warning while she is watching her daughter

Dec. 27, 2023