Expectations grow for North Korea-US summit

After South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un confirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the ball is now in the court of US President Donald Trump, who is planning to meet Kim in the coming weeks.  　In what is seen as another bold step by the North Korean leader, Kim pledged to shut down the North’s nuclear site in Punggye-ri in May and “transparently” demonstrate the process to the international community during the summ

April 29, 2018

Foreign ministry names Samsung executive as new ambassador to Vietnam

South Korea appointed a Samsung Electronics executive as its new ambassador to Vietnam on Sunday as part of a reshuffle of 19 ambassadors and four consul generals.Kim Do-hyun, an executive of Samsung Electronics and former diplomat, was named to Seoul's chief envoy to Vietnam.Paik Ji-ah, president of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, was appointed to head the country's Permanent Mission to the UN Secretariat and International Organizations in Geneva. It is the first time fo

April 29, 2018

S. Korea summons Chinese diplomats over violation of air defense zone

Seoul called in China's ambassador on Saturday after a Chinese military plane violated South Korea's air defense identification zone, officials said.South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Yoon Soon-gu summoned Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong and called for Beijing to come up with measures to prevent such a violation from happening again, ministry officials said.Separately, the Defense Ministry said it called in Du Nongyi, military attache of the Chinese embassy in Seoul, and lodged a stern protest

April 28, 2018

Trump says he has a responsibility to end Korean conflict

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump claimed credit Friday for a historic inter-Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders‘ bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.　 　Trump must contend with two nagging suspicions: first about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed; secondly, whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un really is willing to giv

April 28, 2018

Trump says meeting with Kim narrowed down to 2 sites

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been narrowed to two sites.　Trump spoke in the wake of South Korean President Moon Jae-in‘s meeting with Kim earlier in the day, during which the two sides committed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.　“We’re down to two countries as to a site, and we‘ll let you know what that site is,” he said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White Ho

April 28, 2018

South Korean sailors kidnapped in Africa released after 32 days

Three South Korean sailors kidnapped in seas off Ghana last month have been released safely, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.“Our three abducted nationals were freed on April 27 (local time) and were handed to our side,” the ministry said.“They are in our protection in a safe pace.” The captain, engineer and mate of the 500-ton fishing boat, Marine 711, were hijacked by unidentified pirates on March 26. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon announced their release on Facebook earlier Saturday

April 28, 2018

Japan, China welcome inter-Korean summit agreement

 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday welcomed a surprise set of inter-Korean summit agreements to build peace and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula but urged the North to prove its commitment with action.   "I welcome and take them as positive moves," the prime minister said in a press conference televised live following the summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."I want to praise the South Korean government's efforts that led to the latest summit."(Yon

April 27, 2018

Seoul welcomes Pompeo's inauguration as US secretary of state

South Korea "welcomed" on Friday the inauguration of Mike Pompeo as the new United States secretary of state, announcing that Seoul is in talks with Washington to arrange an early meeting between him and his South Korean counterpart."We welcome the inauguration of Pompeo as the 70th secretary of state following his confirmation process and swearing-in ceremony," a foreign ministry official here said.The former director of the Central Intelligence Agency took office Thursday (US time) after Senat

April 27, 2018

[From the scene] Reporters hopeful, excited about historic summit

With South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set to meet Friday, nearly 3,000 journalists from all around the world packed the main press center set up in an exhibition hall in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. A sense of excitement was palpable among reporters here covering the event, which will be the first inter-Korean summit in 11 years, and follows a year of tension heightened by the North’s nuclear and missile provocations. And most of them were looking out for what

April 26, 2018

[Newsmaker] All eyes on Panmunjeom

[2018 Inter-Korean summit] All eyes on PanmunjeomWith the inter-Korean summit on Friday forecast to pave the way for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the event is being keenly watched by all those seeking to sit down at the negotiating table with North Korea. For the participants of the now-defunct six-party talks -- including the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- the meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could serve as a guide an

April 26, 2018

Korea, US working together for early appointment of new ambassador to Seoul

South Korea and the United States have been working together to fill the post of US ambassador to Seoul as soon as possible, the foreign ministry said."With the understanding that an early arrival of a US ambassador to South Korea is desirable, the governments of South Korea and the US have been cooperating to that end," the ministry's deputy spokesperson Kim Deuk-hwan said.The Washington Post reported a day earlier that Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of the US Pacific Command, who was previou

April 26, 2018

[Newsmaker] Vietnam massacre victims demand Korean government’s apology

Two Vietnamese women sat nervously in a mock trial on Sunday as they awaited the ruling on their case against South Korea over massacres that took place during the Vietnam War.“Defendant South Korea should pay reparations accordingly to the State Compensation Act and officially recognize its liability (in the massacre) to regain the dignity and honor of the plaintiffs,” Kim Young-ran, former Supreme Court Justice, delivered the ruling as the chief judge of the mock trial.As Kim read out the verd

April 25, 2018

Japan protests S. Korea's plan to offer dessert featuring Dokdo at summit dinner

Japan has protested South Korea's move to put dessert with a decoration featuring Dokdo on the table for the dinner planned for the upcoming historic inter-Korean summit, a local media reported Wednesday.According to Japan's broadcaster NHK, Kenji Kanasugi, the Japanese foreign ministry's director-general of Asian and Oceania affairs, protested the Seoul government's decision in his meeting with a senior South Korean Embassy official in Tokyo.He is also reported to have expressed regrets and cal

April 25, 2018

S. Korea, US reaffirm joint efforts for successful summits with N. Korea

South Korea and the United States will continue to work closely together to ensure the success of their leaders' separate summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday on the outcome of recent talks between the countries' top security advisers.South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to hold a bilateral summit with Kim on Friday.Moon's top security adviser Chung Eui-yong and his US counterpart John Bolton agreed to push for a summit betwe

April 25, 2018

US mulls Adm. Harris as new amb. to South Korea: reports

The United States is considering picking Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of US forces in the Pacific, as top envoy to South Korea, media reports showed Wednesday.Citing a high-ranking White House source, the Washington Post reported that Washington is mulling appointing Harris as the new ambassador to South Korea. He was nominated to become the next ambassador to Australia in February.  Adm. Harry Harris (AP)The ambassadorial post in South Korea has been vacant since US President Donald Trump t

April 25, 2018

Top-down nuclear talks raise question, says Victor Cha

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may agree to a statement on peace and denuclearization during the planned summit, but it could still pose challenges in follow-up negotiations, a Korea expert Victor Cha said Tuesday. “It does raise a question of how much leaders can accomplish when there is no groundwork done in advance,” said Cha, who was once under consideration for US ambassador to South Korea, during a press conference on the sidelines of the Asan Plenum conferen

April 24, 2018

US will not lift sanctions until NK takes concrete steps to denuclearize: White House

WASHINGTON -- The United States will not lift sanctions until North Korea takes "concrete actions" to denuclearize, the White House said Monday.White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at a press briefing that US President Donald Trump plans to continue the "maximum pressure" campaign of economic and diplomatic sanctions until the North takes actions toward denuclearization."Certainly no sanctions lifted until we see concrete actions taken by North Korea to denuclearize," she said, adding

April 24, 2018

Pompeo wins Senate panel approval as top US diplomat

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, won the approval of a Senate committee Monday, paving the way for his confirmation.The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 11-9 in favor of Pompeo after partisan wrangling over whether the Central Intelligence Agency director is fit for the job.Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over Easter weekend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and prepare for his potential summit with Trump in May or J

April 24, 2018

[2018 Inter-Korean summit] US, North Korea not on same page on denuclearization

Since North Korea announced it was willing to negotiate over its nuclear weapons program and offered to sit down for talks with the US, there has been lingering skepticism that it is a typical ploy from the North to weaken sanctions or buy time to perfect its nuclear and missile technology. Now, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is to hold a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday, as well as with US President Donald Trump by early June, with the North’s “denuclearization” expecte

April 23, 2018

S. Korean, Japanese nuclear envoys meet ahead of inter-Korean summit

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and Japan met Monday to discuss cooperation on North Korea and its nuclear issue ahead of the upcoming historic inter-Korean summit.Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's top nuclear negotiator, held the meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Kenji Kanasugi, in Seoul."There are many significant events in the near future, which are the inter-Korean summit, followed by the US-North Korea summit," Lee said at the start of the meeting. South Korea`s top nuclear envoy Lee Do

April 23, 2018