Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy appeals S. Korean court's asset seizure order

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has appealed a South Korean court's order to seize its assets held in South Korea soon after the relevant legal process to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor took effect late last month, judicial officials said Monday. The public notifications to Mitsubishi Heavy went into force last Tuesday and Wednesday, after the company failed to carry out a 2018 order by the Supreme Court to compensate five plaintiffs, including a 91-year-old victim. The

Jan. 4, 2021

New S. Korean, Japanese envoys expected to take office next month: sources

South Korea and Japan are expected to inaugurate their new ambassadors to Tokyo and Seoul, respectively, next month after they recently endorsed each other's designations, multiple sources said Thursday. Last week, Tokyo gave diplomatic consent to Seoul's designation of Kang Chang-il, a former four-term ruling party lawmaker, while its nomination of Koichi Aiboshi, the current ambassador to Israel, has also been endorsed by Seoul, the sources said. The diplomatic green light came as Seoul seek

Dec. 31, 2020

Foreign Minister Kang hopes NK joins new regional health initiative

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha expressed hope for North Korea to join a new regional cooperative initiative on public health, noting Pyongyang’s participation could lay the foundation for peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.  She made the remarks during the inaugural session of the Northeast Asia Conference on Health Security on Tuesday evening. The forum is based on President Moon Jae-in’s proposal at the United Nations in September to launch a “Nort

Dec. 30, 2020

S. Korea, Japan on smooth course to replace ambassadors, source says

South Korea is expected to get Japan's formal diplomatic consent in the near future for its pick of Kang Chang-il, a former four-term lawmaker, as new ambassador to the neighboring country, an informed source said Tuesday. In late November, President Moon Jae-in picked Kang as Seoul's new top envoy in Tokyo, saying his wide web of Japanese contacts will help improve bilateral relations badly frayed over wartime forced labor and Tokyo's export curbs. But Japanese media reported that some rulin

Dec. 29, 2020

[Newsmaker] Court order takes effect, allowing seizure of assets to pay victims of Japanese wartime forced labor

Diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan are likely to worsen after a court order took effect Tuesday, mandating that the local assets of a Japanese firm be sold off to compensate victims of forced labor. At the start of Tuesday, a public notice issued by the Daejeon District Court went into effect authorizing the seizure of assets held in South Korea by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This would fulfill a November 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court ordering the company to provide between

Dec. 29, 2020

Court notices take effect on sell-off of Japanese firm assets to compensate wartime forced laborers

Public notices of a local court took effect Tuesday to move forward a legal process to sell off local assets of a Japanese firm to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor, in a procedure likely to raise diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo. The public notification to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries went into force at the start of Tuesday, as the company failed to carry out a 2018 order by the Supreme Court to compensate five plaintiffs, including a 91-year-old victim, with no dipl

Dec. 29, 2020

First shipment of COVID-19 vaccine arrives for US troops in S. Korea

The first shipment of US biotech company Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for American troops arrived in South Korea on Friday. It is the first coronavirus vaccine that has been brought into the country. A cargo plane of US delivery company FedEx Corp. carrying the vaccine landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, from Memphis at around 12:54 p.m., according to the airport authority. The shipment, believed to be 1,000 doses of the vaccine, was being transported to Allgood Army Communi

Dec. 25, 2020

US says it supports S. Korea's concern over Chinese, Russian violation of KADIZ

The US State Department expressed strong support for South Korea and its efforts to defend its air space on Wednesday, one day after more than a dozen Chinese and Russian aircraft entered the country's air defense identification zone (KADIZ). The State Department also said the United States' commitment to the defense of its allies is "ironclad." "The United States strongly supports our ROK ally and its concerns regarding recent provocative air operations," a department spok

Dec. 24, 2020

South Korea signs pact to support Asian forest cooperation body’s office in Seoul

South Korea forged a formal agreement with the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization to provide support to the international body’s headquarters in Seoul, officials said Wednesday. The headquarters agreement, signed by South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa and AFoCO Executive Director Chencho Norbu, calls on the Korean government facilitating the organization’s operations here and mission of responding to climate change and realizing sustainable forest management. It also r

Dec. 23, 2020

S. Korea to halt flights from Britain until Dec. 31 over new virus strain woes

South Korea said Wednesday it will suspend flights arriving from Britain until the end of this year over concerns about a new strain of the novel coronavirus. The country's diplomatic missions in Britain will suspend issuing quarantine-waiver documents so as to place all arrivals from the European nation in a 14-day quarantine, according to health authorities. The country will also conduct an additional virus test when they are released from quarantine. South Korea will beef up airport quaran

Dec. 23, 2020

Moon expects closer S. Korea-Indonesia ties with free trade pact

President Moon Jae-in expressed expectations Friday for closer South Korea-Indonesia partnership and co-prosperity under their free trade agreement. The two sides signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) earlier in the day. "With CEPA, we became even closer and more special friends," he wrote on his social media account. "With CEPA, Indonesia and Korea came to open markets to a greater extent than when we signed RCEP and Korea-ASEAN FTA." Thanks to

Dec. 18, 2020

Moscow to consider Putin's visit to Seoul in first half of next year: envoy

MOSCOW -- Russia will positively consider President Vladimir Putin visiting South Korea in the first half of next year, a foreign affairs adviser to Putin has been quoted as saying. The Kremlin official, Yury Ushakov, made the remark when he met with former South Korean Ambassador to Russia Woo Yoon-keun visiting Moscow in his capacity as special envoy of President Moon Jae-in, according to the envoy Thursday. Woo said he delivered Moon's personal letter requesting Putin's visit to Seoul next

Dec. 18, 2020

MIKTA countries join forces to meet challenges of pandemic era

South Korea’s National Assembly presided over the sixth MIKTA Speakers’ Consultation on video Thursday. The theme of the event was “Complex challenges and parliamentary leadership in a pandemic era.” Launched in 2013, MIKTA is a consultative body made up of five middle powers -- Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia -- that share the core values of democracy and a free-market economy. Since 2015, each of the five member states has hosted one meeting with Korea

Dec. 17, 2020

S. Korea to provide $1 m to UN fund for people near shrinking Aral Sea

South Korea pledged Thursday to provide $1 million to a UN development fund to help communities near the Aral Sea suffering from decadeslong water depletion, the foreign ministry said. Chung Kee-yong, director general for climate change, energy, environment and scientific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, signed an agreement to provide the funds during a virtual meeting with Jennifer Topping, executive coordinator of the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, the ministry said. Of the pledge

Dec. 17, 2020

Australia names first female ambassador to Seoul

Australia has tapped Catherine Raper, a senior career diplomat, as its new and the first female ambassador to South Korea, its embassy here said Thursday. Raper, who most recently served as head of Australia's COVID-19 coordination unit, will be replacing the outgoing envoy, James Choi, who began his term here in 2016. She is expected to formally take office in Seoul in mid-January Raper has also worked in Taipei, Washington and the Australian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization

Dec. 17, 2020

S. Korea extends advisory against overseas travel amid pandemic

The foreign ministry on Thursday extended the special advisory recommending against traveling overseas for another month amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. The advisory calls for South Koreans not to go abroad unless the trip is essential and for those staying outside of the country to take extra precaution. The measure will be effective until Jan. 16 and can be extended again. The extension came as foreign countries maintain their entry restrictions and the majority of international f

Dec. 17, 2020

Moon-Biden summit is critical to alliance, says Seoul’s envoy to US

A summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President-elect Joe Biden is critical to bolster the alliance and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s ambassador to the US said Tuesday (US time).   　 “The most important task facing us is to hold a US-South Korea summit at an early date after the new US administration takes office to further strengthen the alliance and achieve progress on the Korean peace process,” Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuck said

Dec. 16, 2020

S. Korea-led UN group discusses pandemic responses with disease monitoring board

A South Korean-led group of UN member countries held a videoconference with an international disease monitoring board to discuss policy directions for effective coronavirus responses, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. The UN Group of Friends of Solidarity for Global Health Security was launched in May under Seoul's initiative with a view to bring up a UN-level response to the coronavirus pandemic and other global health problems. It has 44 countries and the European Union as members. The vi

Dec. 16, 2020

Moon-Biden summit key to establishing peace on Korean Peninsula: Amb. Lee

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's ambassador to the United States on Tuesday stressed the importance of dialogue between the countries' leaders in strengthening their alliance. Amb. Lee Soo-hyuck also said a summit between President Moon Jae-in and incoming US President Joe Biden will help enhance the countries' joint efforts to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. "The most important task facing us is to hold a South Korea-US summit at an early date after the new US administratio

Dec. 16, 2020