Nat'l security adviser says will discuss timing of Yoon's visit to US

National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han said Sunday he plans to finalize the timing and level of President Yoon Suk Yeol's upcoming visit to Washington when he meets with officials in the US capital this week. Kim made the remark to reporters at Incheon International Airport before departing for Washington on a five-day trip that will include meetings with US government officials and academics on issues related to North Korea and global and economic security. "I plan to meet with my cou

March 5, 2023

Bulgaria marks National Day

The Bulgarian Embassy celebrated its National Day on March 3, marking the nation's liberation from the Ottoman Dominion. Bulgarian Embassy commemorated Bulgarian volunteers who fought and liberated Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, leading to the re-establishment of Bulgarian statehood. Delivering welcome remarks at the ceremony, Bulgarian Ambassador Petko Draganov recalled his country’s diplomatic relationship with Korea forged 33 years ago in acknowledgment o

March 3, 2023

US supports Yoon's vision for S. Korea-Japan relations: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States supports South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's vision for cooperative relations between Seoul and Tokyo, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday. Department Press Secretary Ned Price said the US also applauds both South Korea and Japan for their recent efforts to improve their bilateral relations. "Let me say generally that bilateral cooperation between the United States and our treaty allies is important, but so too is trilateral cooperation,&qu

March 2, 2023

US, S. Korea agree on need to strengthen extended deterrence: Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- The United States and South Korea agree on the need to further strengthen US extended deterrence, a US defense department spokesperson said Tuesday, also reaffirming US commitment to deploying strategic assets to South Korea on a rotational basis. The remarks from Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder come after the countries held a Deterrence Strategy Committee Table-Top Exercise aimed at enhancing their joint deterrence against North Korean nuclear threats. "We did conduct a successful discu

March 1, 2023

Slovakia eyes more battery, EV cooperation with Korea

Celebrating 30 years of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Slovakia, the European country's top envoy in Seoul said the country expects more cooperation in the field of battery and electric vehicle production in the near future. Noting the rapidly developing automotive industry in the country, Slovakia's Ambassador to Korea Jan Kuderjavy said Korean companies could take advantage of a regional financial incentive scheme and a preferential tax regime for research and development. &

Feb. 28, 2023

Kuwait recalls Korea’s support during Gulf War on 62nd National Day

Kuwait’s top envoy to Seoul recalled the firm stance of Korea to support Kuwait during the 1990-1991 Gulf War while celebrating his country’s 62nd National Day in Seoul last week. Korea supported Kuwait's rights during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by sending troops to Kuwait to help liberate the Gulf state. Kuwait’s national day, which falls on Feb. 25, marks the commemoration of the day Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah became the ruler of Kuwait in 1950. Al-Sabah

Feb. 28, 2023

Bangladesh Embassy celebrates annual International Mother Language Day

The Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO commemorated Language Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day 2023 in Seoul on Wednesday. The day is celebrated every year worldwide to promote linguistic and cultural diversity as well as multilingualism. In honoring Bangladesh’s efforts to protect their language, UNESCO also declared Feb. 21 International Mother Language Day in 1999. Delivering opening remarks at the event, Bangladesh Ambassado

Feb. 28, 2023

US has no hostile intent but N. Korea continues to provoke: state dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States has no hostile intent toward North Korea, a state department spokesperson said Monday, adding that North Korea, on the other hand, continues to make provocations. The remarks come after the North cited what it claimed to be US hostility toward the country, while warning that US provocations against the North will be considered a "declaration of war." "It is the DPRK that time and again at an unprecedented rate has engaged in provocations, including

Feb. 28, 2023

S. Korea, US making 'practical' progress in strengthening US extended deterrence: Amb. Cho

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States are making "practical" progress in enhancing the implementation of US extended deterrence, South Korean ambassador to the US Cho Tae-yong said Monday. Cho also said the allies will hold additional joint exercises to further strengthen the extended deterrence. Extended deterrence refers to US commitment to the defense of South Korea, using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons. "We have made practical

Feb. 28, 2023

Nat'l Assembly adopts resolution urging Japan to withdraw UNESCO bid for Sado mine

South Korea's National Assembly adopted a resolution Monday urging Japan to withdraw its bid to register a former gold mine linked to wartime forced labor as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Last month, the Japanese government submitted a recommendation letter again to the U.N. body for the listing of the mine on Sado Island, after the initial version, delivered in February last year, was deemed incomplete. Many Koreans were forced into hard labor in the mine during World War II, while Korea w

Feb. 27, 2023

US likely to limit S. Korean production of advanced chips in China: US official

WASHINGTON -- The United States will likely limit the level of advanced semiconductors produced by South Korean companies in China to prevent the advanced technology from falling into the wrong hands, a ranking US official said Thursday. Alan Estevez, under secretary of commerce for industry and security, said the US is also working closely with South Korean companies that produce semiconductors in China to help minimize the potential damage to their business there. South Korean semiconductor pr

Feb. 24, 2023

[From Korea to Kyiv] 'War's nearing an end but peace talk with Putin will never happen'

The Russian war against Ukraine will reach a critical juncture in spring or early summer, and there is anticipation that the war will end within the year. But even if subsequent peace talks take place, Russian leader Vladimir Putin will be the last person that Ukraine would want to talk to, Ukraine’s top envoy to Seoul said in an interview with The Korea Herald. "I think the spring and early summer of 2023 will be decisive for the course of war. It is possible to win the war this year

Feb. 23, 2023

N. Korean nuclear, missile programs not helpful to China: state dept.

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's continued missile provocations and its nuclear development program are not helpful to any country, including China, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday, two days after China blocked US-led efforts to condemn Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile tests. The department spokesperson, Ned Price, also reiterated that all United Nations member countries have the obligation to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea. "The DPRK's ballisti

Feb. 23, 2023

S. Korea summons Japan envoy over Dokdo amid fresh tension

South Korea on Wednesday strongly denounced Japan’s fresh claim to the Dokdo islets, calling in Tokyo’s deputy envoy in Seoul in the latest flare-up in tension. “Historically, geographically and legally speaking, the islets -- Dokdo -- clearly belong to us and we urge Japan to stop repeating its unreasonable claims and face up to the history,” Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released shortly after a high-ranking Japanese official took part in an event a

Feb. 22, 2023

US deserves an A for effort to denuclearize N. Korea but needs to make first concession: US experts

WASHINGTON-- The United States is right in pursuing a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula but needs to consider changing methods to achieve its objective, US experts said Tuesday. They argued the US could, or should, consider removing sanctions on the impoverished North to induce dialogue. "Let me start with US policy objective. I've given that an A minus," Robert Gallucci said in a webinar, titled "A Mid-Term Report Card for Biden's North Korea Policy.&q

Feb. 22, 2023

Iran repeats S. Korea should make up for Yoon’s ‘enemy’ remarks

Iran repeated its demand that South Korea make up for remarks that President Yoon Suk Yeol made during his mid-January trip to the United Arab Emirates, where he referred to Iran as “the enemy” of Abu Dhabi, Tehran’s state-run news outlet IRNA said Monday, quoting Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman. At a regular briefing, spokesman Nasser Kanaani called Yoon’s comments unprofessional and suggested the diplomatic row would not be forgotten unless Korea makes up for th

Feb. 21, 2023

US calls for UNSC action against N. Korean missile tests, again to no avail

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Monday called on the United Nations Security Council to hold North Korea to account for its recent missile provocations but to no avail due to opposition from two veto-wielding members of the council -- China and Russia. The US' call came in the first UNSC meeting of the year to be held on North Korea. "The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the DPRK's February 18 and February 19 launches of three ballistic missiles," US

Feb. 21, 2023

[Herald Interview] Mongolian PM wants to use Busan as outlet for trade corridor

Mongolia wants South Korea's largest port city, Busan, to become an integral part of a trade corridor for the landlocked country, its Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene told The Korea Herald in an interview Friday. Mongolia currently relies on the sea ports of Russia and China to import foreign goods and sell products to other countries. This means international sanctions imposed on Moscow and Beijing, as well as port lockdowns due to internal policies like zero-COVID, often led to fr

Feb. 19, 2023

Foreign Minister presses Tokyo to make decision on forced labor issue

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with his Japanese counterpart, urging Tokyo to make a “political decision” over wartime forced labor to mend ties soured by the long-running historical dispute, officials said Sunday. Park held a talk with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday. In the 35-minute meeting, Korea’s top diplomat called for Tokyo to decide on restitutions for Koreans forced to wo

Feb. 19, 2023

S. Korean minister urges Japan to make 'political decision' over forced labor issue

MUNICH -- South Korea's top diplomat met with his Japanese counterpart and called for Tokyo to make a "political decision" to resolve the issue of how to compensate Korean victims of wartime forced labor under 2018 rulings by Seoul's Supreme Court. Foreign Minister Park Jin had the one-on-one talks with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in Munich on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Following the 35-minute meeting, Park told reporters tha

Feb. 19, 2023