Singapore touts bilateral milestones on Independence Day

Singapore and Korea highlighted their bilateral milestones achieved over the years, commemorating Singapore’s 58th Independence Day on Friday. Singapore became independent from Malaysia on Aug. 9, 1965. Noting recent achievements in his remarks at the event, Singapore ambassador to Korea Eric Teo highlighted Singapore as Korea’s first free trade agreement partner in Asia in 2006 and the No. 1 infrastructure investment destination for Korea in the region for many years. He recalled Si

Aug. 28, 2023

German, Korean experts discuss decarbonization

Experts from South Korea and Germany discussed ways to tackle urgent environmental challenges by decarbonizing industry at the 3rd Korean-German Climate and Environment Conference in Seoul on Thursday. The conference, held under the theme "Decarbonization in the Industry: Solutions for Carbon Neutrality in the Industry Sector," featured presentations on innovative solutions for achieving carbon neutrality in the marine sector, strategies for identifying, reducing, and neutralizing gree

Aug. 25, 2023

US sanctions co-founder of Tornado Cash for laundering stolen cryptocurrency for N. Korea

The US Department of Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a co-founder of virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash for assisting a North Korean hacking group that has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Roman Semenov is one of three co-founders of Tornado Cash, which was designated by the treasury department in 2022. "Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Roman Semenov, one of three co-founders of the sanctioned vi

Aug. 24, 2023

US envoy to Seoul says Russia dealing in 'military cooperation' with N. Korea

The United States ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday slammed Russia over alleged discussions with North Korea on military cooperation, amid signs of growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. "What Russia appears to be doing with the DPRK is not just a violation of the very resolutions it voted for, but is dealing in weaponry and discussions of military cooperation with a regime that has flouted every aspect of international rule of law," Ambassador Philip Goldberg said in

Aug. 23, 2023

US envoy affirms value of Camp David pledge, addresses concerns

The commitment to joint action on common security threats that South Korea, the US and Japan signed at a Camp David summit Friday is a political agreement rather than a legally binding pact, US Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg said Wednesday. The security pledge, the first of its kind, has sparked concern over deeper security links between Seoul and Tokyo, two American allies that have separate defense treaties with Washington. A potential military alliance with Japan worries South Kore

Aug. 23, 2023

Momentum for talks with Japan, China still high: official

South Korea still sees strong momentum for resuming three-way talks with Japan and China, a meeting Seoul will host this year after a four-year hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a source said Wednesday amid Beijing’s criticism of Seoul’s trilateral summit Friday with the US and Japan. China says the landmark summit US President Joe Biden held with President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat is an attempt to pit Chin

Aug. 23, 2023

Iranian funds from S. Korea will not go to Iran: NSA Sullivan

WASHINGTON -- Iranian assets currently frozen in South Korean banks will not go to Iran, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday, dismissing concerns that the money could be used to advance the Middle Eastern country's illegal weapons program. The US said earlier that it was in negotiations with Tehran to transfer the frozen funds from South Korean banks to a special account in Qatar in exchange for the release of five US citizens currently detained in Iran. "First of a

Aug. 23, 2023

US will continue to counter N. Korean provocations, including space launch: Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- The United States will take all steps necessary to counter provocations by North Korea, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday, amid reports that Pyongyang may be poised to launch a space rocket in the near future. North Korea has notified Japan of its plan to fire a space launch vehicle between Thursday and Aug. 31, according to a report by Japan's Kyodo News. "As always, we will stand with our Japanese and our ROK allies in the face of North Korea's continued provoca

Aug. 23, 2023

[Herald Interview] New Kazakh envoy to Korea hopes to boost C5+Korea

Kazakhstan's new ambassador to Korea, Nurgali Arystanov, hopes to boost the C5+Korea, a diplomatic channel that engages Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan governments with Korea. Speaking to The Korea Herald, Arystanov outlined his vision to elevate C5+Korea and touched on past success stories. Arystanov hopes to realize bilateral goals through existing mechanisms such as the intergovernmental commission, regular bilateral visits, business forums and roundtable

Aug. 22, 2023

Japan to decide Tuesday on Fukushima water release

The Japanese government will decide on Tuesday about the release of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, the government minister in charge said. Around 1.34 million tonnes of water, equivalent to more than 500 Olympic swimming pools, have accumulated since the Fukushima plant was knocked out by an earthquake and tsunami that killed 18,000 people in 2011. Plant operator TEPCO says that with around 1,000 steel tanks now full, space has run out and that it wants to

Aug. 21, 2023

Yoon returns home from Camp David summit with Biden, Kishida

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned home Sunday after attending a trilateral summit with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. Friday's meeting brought together the three countries' leaders for their first standalone summit and produced three documents outlining their commitments to enhance security and economic cooperation. The agreements included a commitment to consult one another expeditiously in the event

Aug. 20, 2023

Japan PM to visit Fukushima plant before water release

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will visit the Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday, ahead of the discharge of treated water which is scheduled to begin by the end of summer. Tokyo's plan to release treated water from the tsunami-hit nuclear plant into the sea over the next few decades has raised concerns in neighbouring countries, prompting China to ban some food imports and sparking protests in South Korea. Kishida, who was in Washington for a trilateral summit with US Presid

Aug. 19, 2023

China launches military drills around Taiwan as 'stern warning'

China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a "stern warning" after voicing anger over a stopover in the United States by the island's vice president, William Lai. Lai, who is the frontrunner in Taiwan's presidential election next year, stopped in New York and returned via San Francisco on a trip to Paraguay, one of a dwindling number of nations that diplomatically recognise Taipei. China on Saturday called Lai a "troublemaker" and vowed to take &quo

Aug. 19, 2023

S. Korea-US-Japan summit outcomes herald deeper, consistent security cooperation against N. Korean, other challenges: analysts

From a shared commitment to crisis consultation to the "principles" of trilateral engagement, the outcomes from this week's landmark summit between South Korea, the United States and Japan are likely to put their once-fragile security cooperation on a more robust, sustainable, consistent footing, analysts said Saturday. President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US and Japanese counterparts, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, adopted a series of documents committing each other to sturdier three-wa

Aug. 19, 2023

Yoon, Biden agree to closely cooperate to strengthen credibility of US extended deterrence

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden agreed Friday to continue to closely cooperate on strengthening the credibility of the US extended deterrence commitment to South Korea, the presidential office said. The two leaders held a bilateral meeting ahead of a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland and discussed the South Korea-US alliance, as well as regional and global issues, the office said in a pr

Aug. 19, 2023

Yoon, Biden, Kishida commit to immediately consult in event of common threat

Leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Friday to significantly expand trilateral security cooperation, pledging to immediately consult one another in the event of common threats, hold annual joint military exercises and cooperate closely for stronger missile defense against North Korea. The agreements were reached during a trilateral summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presid

Aug. 19, 2023

US, Japan, Korea leaders meet to bolster mutual security over objections of Beijing

President Joe Biden marked the historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday by saying that “our countries are stronger and the world is safer … as we stand together.” He described the meeting as the first standalone summit among leaders of the three countries. Addressing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida , Biden said, “I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.” He ad

Aug. 19, 2023

Biden ramps up three-way Japan, S. Korea ties in sign to China

US President Joe Biden on Friday will announce new security cooperation with Japan and South Korea including joint exercises at a first-of-a-kind three-way summit with their leaders that has already rattled China. The summit at the Camp David presidential retreat would have been unimaginable until recently, with the two treaty-bound allies -- together the base for some 84,500 US troops -- at loggerheads for decades over the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsul

Aug. 18, 2023

China blasts US-Japan-South Korea summit, warns of 'contradictions and increasing tensions'

China is renewing its criticism of this weekend’s summit among the leaders of the US, Japan and South Korea, saying no country should “seek its own security at the expense of the security interests of others and of regional peace and stability.” “The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday. “Attempts to form va

Aug. 18, 2023

Yoon, Biden, Kishida plan to approve 'duty to consult' policy in case of crisis

President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plan to adopt a trilateral summit document stipulating a "duty to consult" with one another in the event of a crisis, a senior US official has said. The leaders are poised to issue the document during a landmark three-way summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, the official said, in a sign of deepening solidarity amid North Korea's military threats, China's assertivene

Aug. 18, 2023