Argentine vice president to visit Korea next week

Argentine Vice President Gabriela Michetti will visit South Korea next week for a series of high-level meetings as the two nations seek to expand bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Michetti, who doubles as president of the Argentine National Senate, will arrive in Seoul on Sunday at the invitation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and stay here for three days, the ministry said in a press release.She is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye, hold talks with Hwan

May 2, 2016

Korea, East Timor to build ties through friendship week

South Korea and East Timor will hold a "friendship week" in the Southeast Asian nation next week to build closer ties between their people, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.The 2016 Korea and Timor-Leste Friendship Week will be held in the capital Dili from Monday through Saturday featuring a Korean film screening and a joint concert, the ministry said in a press release.Under the program, the film "Ode to My Father," which tells the story of South Korea's economic development in the 20th centur

May 2, 2016

Kuwait's prime minister to visit Korea this week

Kuwait's Prime Minister Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah will visit Seoul this week for talks with high-level South Korean government officials and business leaders to bolster bilateral economic cooperation, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Jaber will arrive here on Sunday for a four-day visit on the invitation of South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. Korea is the fourth leg of his five-nation trip to Asia that includes Bangladesh, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.During his stay here, he is scheduled to

May 2, 2016

Park to meet with Rouhani, supreme leader

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is to hold talks with her Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday, a historic meeting that could set the tone for relations between the two countries.It will be the first summit between the leaders of the two countries since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1962.South Korea is seeking to tap into business opportunities in Iran, which has emerged as a promising market following the lifting of international sanctions earlier this ye

May 2, 2016

Park leaves for Iran for talks with Rouhani

South Korean President Park Geun-hye left for Tehran on Sunday on a historic trip meant to boost political and economic relations between the two countries.Park is set to meet with her Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday in the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1962. The summit will set the tone for relations at a time when the Islamic Republic has emerged as a promising market following the lifting of i

May 1, 2016

China, Japan hold FM talks to improve strained ties

The foreign ministers of China and Japan held bilateral talks in Beijing on Saturday with the aim of improving ties strained by territorial and historical disputes. Meeting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing is willing to develop a "healthy and stable" relationship with Tokyo, according to a statement released by China's foreign ministry. But, Wang told Kishida that China would judge Japan's hope to improve relations with China by its actions,

April 30, 2016

U.S. will lose leverage in Asia if it pulls troops out of S. Korea: U.S. congressman

The U.S. will lose much of its leverage in Asia if it pulls troops out of South Korea, a U.S. congressman said Friday, criticizing Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. should end defense support for allies unless they pay more."If we pull out of the Pacific and we, you know, take our troops out of Korea and take our troops out of Japan, then we lose much of the leverage," Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said on CNN. "It certainly, you know, it weakens the leverage we have against China and it, in effe

April 30, 2016

S. Korea avoids U.S. currency manipulator designation, put on monitoring list

The U.S. Treasury Department put South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Germany on its "monitoring list" for foreign exchange policies Friday, but none  was designed as a currency manipulator."Korea has a significant bilateral trade surplus with the United States and a material current account surplus," the epartment said in the Report on Foreign Exchange Policies of Major rading Partners of the United States."Treasury estimates that during the second half of 2015 through March 2016, the Korean a

April 30, 2016

S. Korea endorses revised ordinance to tighten travel bans for conflict-laden countries

South Korea on Thursday endorsed a revision to the enforcement ordinance of the Passport Act to further tighten its travel bans on several conflict-laden countries, including Iraq and Syria, a move aimed at ensuring the safety of its citizens.The revision was endorsed during a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Park Geun-hye.The previous ordinance carried a clause stipulating that South Korean citizens can enter those war-prone countries only when they have to conduct humanitarian activi

April 28, 2016

Korea, Japan, China hold talks on Arctic affairs

South Korea, Japan and China held their first high-level talks on Arctic affairs in Seoul on Thursday, seeking to expand areas of trilateral cooperation to jointly tackle regional and global challenges including climate change.The first Trilateral High-Level Dialogue on the Arctic was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul, led by South Korean Arctic Affairs Ambassador Kim Chan-woo and his Japanese and Chinese counterparts Kazuko Shiraishi and Ma Xinmin.During a trilateral sum

April 28, 2016