[#WeFACE] Seoul to host P4G summit to tackle climate change

South Korea is hosting the P4G summit starting Sunday, bringing together government, business and civil society leaders from around the world to tackle climate change and explore ways to achieve sustainable growth. 　 The second P4G summit, originally planned for last year but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will kick off virtually on Sunday for a two-day run in Seoul. It is the first-ever multilateral conference on the environment hosted by the Korean government. 　 P4G, which stands for

May 26, 2021

US lawmaker calls for Biden to appoint envoy on NK human rights

A Korean-American congresswoman renewed calls Wednesday for US President Joe Biden to appoint a special envoy on North Korean human rights, saying the rights issue would offer "good leverage" against a recalcitrant Pyongyang. Rep. Young Kim of the Republican Party made the remarks, voicing concerns that the upper echelons of South Korea's Moon Jae-in administration views the human rights issue as "destabilizing" to inter-Korean relations. "After this summit, I have yet

May 26, 2021

Sung Kim begins work as special representative with call to Japanese counterpart

The new US special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, spoke by phone with his Japanese counterpart and the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said Tuesday. US President Joe Biden announced Kim's appointment last week after summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim, a career diplomat, has served as ambassador to South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia as well as a special envoy for six-party t

May 26, 2021

US supports Tokyo Olympics but only limited people will travel to Japan: Psaki

WASHINGTON -- The United States supports the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, but only "very limited" categories of Americans, including athletes, will travel to the host nation, a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday. Jen Psaki also said US athletes and other visitors will follow a very strict set of safety protocols while taking part in the quadrennial sporting event that has already been delayed by a year. "Our position has not changed on the Olympics. We respected the decision

May 26, 2021

[#WeFACE] P4G to show Korea’s aspiration to lead global climate action

After decades of refusing to face up to climate change and focusing on economic growth at the expense of the Earth, this year could be a turning point in the global fight against global warming. The coronavirus pandemic was a huge wake-up call for humanity to rethink the way we live, creating an unprecedented opportunity to “build back better and greener.” “This year, we are finally at a starting point of acting on climate change. After 30 years of discussion, gaps on how we

May 25, 2021

‘Special relationship’ with Beijing behind Seoul’s silence on Chinese rights issues

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Tuesday said Seoul refrained from touching on Chinese human rights issues in the joint summit statement with Washington in light of its special relations with Beijing.  “In regards to Chinese (human rights) issue, it’s true that there have been various discussions within the international community,” Chung told reporters during a briefing on the outcome of the summit in Washington between President Moon Jae-in and his US co

May 25, 2021

75% of Americans think denuclearization deal with NK important: poll

Three out of 4 Americans think it is “very important” or “important” for the US to reach an agreement with North Korea on dismantling the North’s nuclear weapons, a survey of 1,000 American adults conducted earlier this month showed. Responses were consistent across political lines, with both Republicans (84 percent) and Democrats (79 percent) favoring an agreement, according to the poll conducted May 6 through 10 by the Korea Economic Institute of America, a Washi

May 25, 2021

S. Korea has refrained from comments on China's internal affairs: FM

South Korea has refrained from specific comments about China's internal affairs and that stance was reflected in last week's joint summit statement with the United States, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Tuesday. Chung made the remarks during a briefing on the outcome of the summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden in response to a question why their joint statement, which calls for improvement in North Korea's human rights situation, made no mention of human rights

May 25, 2021

US working on details of vaccine provision to S. Korean soldiers: Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- The US Department of Defense is working on details of how and when US vaccines will be provided to South Korean troops working with US Forces Korea, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday. US President Joe Biden made a surprise announcement Friday that the US will help fully inoculate all 550,000 South Korean service members, who work closely with US troops in South Korea on a daily basis. "Obviously we support the president's direction here to provide the vaccines to our ROK alli

May 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] US raises travel advisory on Japan to highest Level 4: Do Not Travel

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Monday raised its travel warning for Japan to the highest level, advising Americans not to travel to the Asian nation. "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Japan due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. There are restrictions in place affecting US citizen entry into Japan," said the latest US travel advisory on the country. The move comes ahead of the Tok

May 25, 2021

'China is aware Moon-Biden statement targets China despite no mention of Beijing': Chinese amb.

China is aware that part of a joint statement from last week's summit between South Korea and the United States is targeted at Beijing, though it made no mention of the country, the top Chinese envoy here said Monday. Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming made the remarks amid expectations that the statement following the first in-person summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden on Friday could stir unease in China, as it touches on sensitive issues involving the Taiwan Strait and the South

May 25, 2021

Vice FM expects China to 'highly assess' S. Korea for not mentioning Beijing in Moon-Biden statement

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Monday he believes China will think highly of the fact that a joint statement issued after last week's summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden made no mention of China. The statement, issued after the summit Friday (Washington time), stressed "the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," the first time the Taiwan issue has been included in a joint summit statement between Seoul and Washin

May 24, 2021

[Newsmaker] Harris under fire for wiping hand after handshake with Moon

US Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire in the US for an “insulting” gesture: She wiped her hand after shaking hands with President Moon Jae-in at the White House last week. Footage of Harris wiping her right hand on her jacket immediately after shaking hands with Moon at the end of a joint press conference last Friday went viral. Conservative US broadcaster Fox News said many Americans had become more germ-conscious since COVID-19 started, but that Harris may have made her

May 24, 2021

No complaints by China about termination of missile guidelines: Seoul

China has raised no complaints about a recent agreement between South Korea and the United States to lift restrictions on Seoul's missile development, the defense ministry said Monday. After his first in-person summit talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday, President Moon Jae-in announced the decision to scrap the bilateral guidelines that ban South Korea from developing or possessing missiles with a maximum flight range greater than 800 kilometers. Asked if there was any re

May 24, 2021

Vice FM says stability, peace in Taiwan Strait have direct impact on S. Korea's national interest

A senior foreign ministry official said Sunday that a joint statement adopted after a recent summit between President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Joe Biden mentioned the Taiwan Strait to show Seoul's view that the stability and peace in the region are in its national interest. Moon and Biden held their first face-to-face summit in Washington on Friday (US time) and adopted the statement in which they emphasized "the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.&

May 23, 2021

Moon visits SK's battery plant construction site in US

ATLANTA/SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited a plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., the country's leading battery maker, in the United States on Saturday. The facility in the state of Georgia is regarded as symbolizing close partnerships between the two countries in the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector. The company is investing around 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the construction project, with trial production under way starting in March. "This plant symbo

May 23, 2021

Moon leaves US after visit for summit with Biden

ATLANTA/SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in left the United States on Saturday following a four-day trip for summit talks with US President Joe Biden. Earlier in the day, he flew to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. to make a brief visit to a Georgia plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., a South Korea-based battery maker. It marked Moon's first overseas travel since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he is returning home with "better-than-expected" results fro

May 23, 2021

S. Korea, US, Japan rearranging schedule for defense ministers' talks

South Korea, the United States and Japan are rearranging trilateral defense talks after they were forced to cancel a meeting slated for June in Singapore due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Sunday. Defense Minister Suh Wook and his US and Japanese counterparts -- Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Minister Nobuo Kishi -- had initially planned to hold talks on the sidelines of the security forum of the Shangri-La Dialogue, set to take place in the Southeast Asian country on June 4-5.

May 23, 2021

[Newsmaker] Crab cakes served as main lunch course for Moon and Biden

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's summit meetings with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday presented contrasting appearances from those held about a month ago between the leaders of the United States and Japan, officials said. The most noteworthy differences were the length of the summit meetings and the lunch menu. Moon and Biden held 171 minutes of one-on-one, small group and expanded summit meetings, about 20 minutes longer than the April 16 meetings between the US president a

May 22, 2021

Biden makes strong case for engagement, but N. Korea unlikely to react soon: experts

US President Joe Biden has demonstrated a clear commitment to engaging with North Korea by appointing a special envoy to specifically deal with North Korea issues, but whether the North will come to the table in the near future remains to be seen, US experts said Friday. In a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Biden announced his appointment of Acting Assistant Secretary of State Sung Kim as "US special envoy for the DPRK" to "help drive all these eff

May 22, 2021