Prime minister warns Japan against historical distortions

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo on Thursday urged Japan not to distort facts related to the history between the two countries, days after Tokyo stepped up its territorial claims to the easternmost islets of Dokdo.“(Japan) must refrain from distorting historical facts based on things that are simply not true ... History will sternly judge such attempts to cover up the truth,” Lee said in a meeting with reporters at the Seoul Government Complex in central Seoul.Lee specifically criticized Japan’s so-ca

April 9, 2015

S. Korean minister to seek formal dialogue channel with N. Korea

South Korea's point man on North Korea vowed Thursday to make more efforts to open an official dialogue channel between the sides.  Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo made the remark as inter-Korean ties have been strained over various issues, including Pyongyang's decision to raise wages for North Korean workers hired by South Korean businesses at a joint industrial complex.  Seoul has proposed government-level talks to settle the issue, but Pyongyang has spurned the offer, insisting on its sov

April 9, 2015

S. Korean PM warns Japan against history distortion

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo issued a strong warning against Japan Thursday for its continued attempt to distort the countries' shared history.  In a press conference, Lee warned that the Japanese government will face "grim historical judgment" if it sticks to such a wrongful campaign.  He stressed Japan "can't cover up unequivocal historical truth."  It is highly unusual for South Korea's prime minister to directly deliver such a tough message against a neighboring country and major

April 9, 2015

S. Korean FM calls for universal development agenda

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se called Thursday for a universal development agenda as the United Nations prepares to establish a new set of development goals for the next 15 years.  "Whether we attain universality could make or break the post-2015 system," he said in his opening speech at a high-level symposium of the 2015 U.N. Development Cooperation Forum in Songdo, west of Seoul. "Just as we have no 'planet B,' we have no 'plan B' except for a universal, win-win agenda for sustaina

April 9, 2015

U.S. defense chief visits S. Korea for N.K. talks

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter arrived here Thursday to meet with his South Korean counterpart on ways to improve joint capabilities against North Korea on his first trip to Northeast Asia since taking office last month.Drawing key attention is whether Carter will bring up the possible U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) system on the peninsula, though Seoul and Washington officials have said they would not touch upon the sensitive issue at this time.Washin

April 9, 2015

S. Korea, China discuss arms control, bilateral ties

Senior diplomats from South Korea and China held talks in Beijing this week during which they discussed a range of issues, including arms control and bilateral ties, the Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday.      Yoo Dae-jong, director-general of the International Organizations Bureau at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong on Wednesday.  Yoo and Li "had an in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern, including Sino-Korea relations, internatio

April 9, 2015

S. Korean FM says regional alliance not 'zero-sum game'

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se dismissed public concerns here Thursday that the United States may be placing more emphasis on its alliance with Japan than that with Seoul.  "The South Korea-U.S. alliance and the U.S.-Japan alliance are not a zero-sum game," he told Yonhap News Agency after addressing a U.N. development forum.  The two are mutually beneficial in terms of regional security, he added. Formally, the U.S. government maintains its longstanding position not to directly inte

April 9, 2015

S. Korea, China agree to boost cooperation under FTA

South Korea and China have agreed to help boost bilateral trade under the recently concluded free trade agreement, a move that will require self-restraint when imposing excessive antidumping duties, the Seoul government said Thursday.  In an annual meeting, the countries' trade commissions also vowed to complete fair and transparent antidumping investigations into products from each country, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.  The meeting, the first of its kind since the tw

April 9, 2015

Park calls unification with N. Korea historic task

President Park Geun-hye called Wednesday for efforts to achieve unification with North Korea amid lingering tensions on the Korean Peninsula.  "Unification is not a vague dream anymore, but a historic task that we must achieve in this era," Park said in a video message to the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification on the 24th anniversary of its foundation.  Park has made similar pitches for unification in recent months, calling it a "bonanza" for South Korea as well as a blessing

April 8, 2015

Park to meet foreign leaders next week

President Park Geun-hye will attend a forum here next week to meet with foreign leaders on water shortage and other issues of mutual and global concern, Park's office said Wednesday.   The planned meetings come as South Korea is set to host the 7th World Water Forum, the world's largest water event, from Sunday to Friday in the two southern cities of Daegu and Gyeongju.  On Sunday, Park will have separate talks with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon and Prince Albert II of Monaco in Daegu, N

April 8, 2015

N. Korea high on agenda for Seoul-Washington defense chiefs' talks

The defense ministers of South Korea and the United States will mainly discuss ways to deter North Korean aggression when they meet in Seoul later this week, officials here said Wednesday.  South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his U.S. counterpart, Ashton Carter, are scheduled to hold talks Friday "to explore ways to improve joint capabilities and reinforce deterrence against North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles," a senior official here said on condition of anonymity.  Carter will

April 8, 2015

S. Korea approves N. Koreans' cross-border trip for pre-Universiade meeting

The South Korean government has approved a cross-border trip by North Korean sports officials for a preparatory meeting ahead of an international collegiate athletic competition to be held here, the event's organizers said on Wednesday.  The organizing committee for the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju said a delegation of four officials has received the green light from the unification ministry to visit the southern metropolitan city for the Heads of Delegation meeting, which will take place

April 8, 2015

Koreas hold first meeting over wage dispute without progress

South and North Korea opened a meeting over wages for North Korean workers at the joint industrial park in Kaesong, but failed to narrow differences, a South Korean government official said Wednesday.  The North unilaterally decided to raise wages by 5.18 percent to $74 per month starting in March for about 53,000 North Korean workers hired by South Korea's small-and medium-sized firms at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city of the same name.  On Tuesday, officials from the

April 8, 2015

Regional security talks due amid Japan history setback

South Korea is bracing for a series of key diplomatic talks with Japan and the United States next week, with trilateral security cooperation at a crucial juncture, officials and experts here said Wednesday.  The regional powers are seeking to arrange a vice ministerial meeting in Washington, a government source said.  "The three countries are in consultations to hold vice minister-level talks next week," the source said.  If held, South Korea will be represented by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-

April 8, 2015

Japan claims sovereignty over Dokdo in diplomatic document

Japan repeated its territorial claim Tuesday over Dokdo, a pair of outcroppings in the East Sea, in its annual foreign policy report, dealing yet another blow to the already-troubled ties with South Korea. In the 2015 Diplomatic Bluebook, the Shinzo Abe administration argued that Dokdo, effectively controlled by Seoul, is Japanese territory based on historical facts and international law.  It came a day after Japan's education ministry irked South Koreans by unveiling the results of its regular

April 7, 2015

Japan set to unveil diplomatic report containing Dokdo claim

Japan was set to release its controversial diplomatic report on Tuesday that will likely contain Tokyo's repeated claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo in what could be another setback in already-troubled bilateral ties, officials said.  Japan plans to publish its 2015 Diplomatic Bluebook later in the day, in which Tokyo is widely expected to intensify its territorial claim to a set of rocky islets in the East Sea.  In last year's report, Tokyo said the islets are "clearly an inhere

April 7, 2015

Abe expected to mention sexual slavery issue during U.S. trip: U.S. lawmaker

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to mention the issue of the country's wartime sexual enslavement of women when he visits the United States later this month, a U.S. congressman said Monday.  Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) made the remark during a conference call with South Korean correspondents in Washington after traveling with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to South Korea and Japan, a trip that included a meeting with Abe.  "We did not discuss that with the prime minister (Abe), but

April 7, 2015