S. Korean, Canadian FMs agree on efforts to boost bilateral economic ties

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Canada agreed Friday to make efforts to expand bilateral economic cooperation and bolster exchanges of high-level officials. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Canadian counterpart Francois-Philippe Champagne held talks in Munich on the sidelines of a three-day security forum that opened Friday, according to the foreign ministry. The top diplomats agreed to increase exchanges of high-level personnel and encourage the industrial sectors of both nati

Feb. 14, 2020

Govt. vows to work with Japan to help S. Korean passengers on quarantined cruise ship

South Korea will consult with Japan to best reflect the wishes of its citizens locked inside a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo following onboard outbreaks of the new coronavirus, an official said Friday, after criticism it is not doing enough to protect them. Fourteen South Koreans -- nine passengers and five crew members -- have remained inside the Diamond Princess since the ship was quarantined at Yokohama Port early last week after confirming the first infection of the COVID-19. While

Feb. 14, 2020

S. Korea, Japan to hold FM talks, trilateral meeting with US in Munich

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan will hold bilateral talks and a tripartite meeting with their US counterpart on the margins of a security conference in Munich, Germany, this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is set to meet bilaterally with her Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, on Saturday morning (Munich time) on the sidelines of the annual three-day Munich Security Conference, which will run through Sunday. On the same day, they als

Feb. 14, 2020

FM Kang heads to Munich for security forum

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha left for Germany on Thursday to attend the Munich Security Forum. 　 During the annual three-day security conference from Friday through Sunday, Kang is set to speak about South Korean diplomacy to strengthen multilateralism, as a panel member at the conference’s main session. 　 While in Munich, the minister could hold bilateral or trilateral meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who are also attend

Feb. 13, 2020

Senior Cheong Wa Dae official in Moscow over Putin's plan to visit S. Korea

MOSCOW -- South Korea's Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Hyun-chong said Wednesday he would discuss the details of Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming trip to South Korea and other pending issues related to Seoul-Moscow ties as he began a three-day stay here. "There are pending bilateral issues. (This year) marks the 30th anniversary of (South Korea and Russia) establishing diplomatic relations. And there's a matter to discuss in connection with President Putin's visit to Sout

Feb. 13, 2020

GSOMIA still 'viable option' for S. Korea: Cheong Wa Dae

Maintaining South Korea's agreement with Japan on exchanging military information is a "viable option" depending on the neighboring country's attitude on its export control against Seoul, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday. The official was responding to a news report that the office of President Moon Jae-in is pushing for the scrapping of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) amid no meaningful progress in related consultations between the two sides.

Feb. 12, 2020

Trump plans to name No. 2 NK envoy as representative to UN

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump plans to nominate the No. 2 US envoy for North Korea as a representative to the United Nations, the White House said Tuesday. Alex Wong, currently the deputy US special representative for North Korea, has been tapped to serve as the US alternative representative for special political affairs at the global body, with the rank of ambassador, the White House said in a press release. The planned nomination adds to uncertainty about the future of denucleariz

Feb. 12, 2020

S. Korea expands strict quarantine screenings to Hong Kong, Macao

South Korea said Tuesday it will apply strict quarantine screening to entrants from Hong Kong and Macao, in addition to those who arrive from mainland China. Currently, entrants from China are asked to fill out health questionnaires to check whether they have fever or respiratory problems. Foreigners are required to write a special quarantine report, providing their mobile phone numbers and domestic stay addresses and disclosing any visit to Hubei Province -- the epicenter of the global outb

Feb. 11, 2020

South Korea, US tune stances on inter-Korean economic cooperation

South Korea and the US held a working group meeting on Monday in Seoul, aimed at coordinating policy on North Korea, as Seoul seeks to engage the North through inter-Korean exchanges, such as allowing South Korean travelers to visit North Korea. 　 Alex Wong, US deputy assistant secretary of state for North Korea, arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Seoul for a closed-door meeting with his South Korean counterpart Rhee Dong-yeol, director general of the Korean Peninsula Peace

Feb. 10, 2020

Unification minister reaffirms need to push for inter-Korean exchanges

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Sunday reaffirmed the need to push for inter-Korean cooperation in railways, roads and tourism, as South Korea seeks to expand cross-border exchanges as part of efforts to continue its engagement with North Korea. "We will continue to seek ways to expand cross-border relations in the fields of tourism, which North Korea has been focusing on, and railways and roads that connect land and sea, as well as the two Koreas, in the Demilitarized Zone and bor

Feb. 9, 2020

Moon to meet Chinese, Japanese ambassadors for their credentials

President Moon Jae-in will greet the new Chinese and Japanese ambassadors to South Korea at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, an opportunity to discuss the issues of the ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic and Seoul-Tokyo relations dampened by a drawn-out trade fight. After receiving their credentials, Moon plans to have a group conversation session with the envoys -- Xing Haiming of China and Koji Tomita of Japan. A major topic will be the global response to the viral outbreak that originated in the C

Feb. 7, 2020

FM stresses Xi Jinping will visit Korea in first half

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday there was no change in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to visit South Korea in the first half of the year, despite the outbreak of a coronavirus. 　 “Regarding Xi’s visit to Korea, the agreement that it will be in the first half is still valid,” she told reporters during a press conference for local media outlets. “We will communicate closely with China so that major diplomatic events take place as planned.” 　

Feb. 6, 2020

Diplomats of S. Korea, Japan hold working-level talks on wartime history, trade

Diplomats of South Korea and Japan held working-level talks in Seoul on Thursday to discuss a protracted row surrounding the issue of Tokyo's wartime forced labor, the foreign ministry said. Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs, met with his Japanese counterpart, Shigeki Takizaki, who arrived in Seoul earlier in the day for the talks. The two last held talks in San Francisco in January. "We will discuss various things between the two countries," Takizaki tol

Feb. 6, 2020

Overseas Koreans report discrimination on coronavirus panic

As fears of the new coronavirus spread around the world, so do racist attacks and stereotypes targeting people of Asian descent, with many Koreans overseas reporting having experienced discrimination. 　  “I am becoming hyperaware of my ethnicity even more these days,” Kim Jung-in, a 35-year-old Korean who lives in the US, told The Korea Herald.  　 “I feel like even a little cough or sneeze is eliciting attention at some places I go.” 　 Another Korean man, w

Feb. 5, 2020

S. Korea to consider further action after entry ban on foreigners from Hubei, says PM

South Korea will take additional measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, if needed, after checking the situation not only in China's Hubei Province but also in other areas, the prime minister said Wednesday. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's remarks apparently signal that the government could weigh the possibility for expanding its entry ban on foreigners who came from or through the ground-zero Chinese province in the past 14 days. "The government will take necessary measur

Feb. 5, 2020

Hun Sen: Cambodia expects more investment from S. Korea

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday his country hopes to draw more investment from South Korea by taking advantage of a double taxation avoidance pact between the two sides. Meeting with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae, he stressed that bilateral relations are continuously developing as shown in the signing of the pact and an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters last November. “Especially, I am happy that the two nations signed the double taxation av

Feb. 4, 2020

S. Korea, Japan to hold working-level talks this week on trade, history row

Diplomats from South Korea and Japan will meet in Seoul this week to continue working-level talks on a protracted row over wartime history and trade, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs, will meet with his Japanese counterpart, Shigeki Takizaki, on Thursday to discuss the pending issues, the ministry said in a release. Takizaki is expected to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday. This week‘s talks come about three weeks after their las

Feb. 4, 2020

Entry ban, rigorous screening in place at airports

INCHEON/SEOUL -- At 12:34 a.m. Tuesday, Korean Air Flight 854 arrived at Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, carrying 110 passengers from Beijing.   The flight was the first to touchdown here from China since sweeping restrictions on arrivals from the country took effect, as Seoul ramps up measures to keep the new coronavirus at bay. Some 110 more flights from the virus-hit country, carrying about 10,000, were to arrive on the same day, mostly through Inch

Feb. 4, 2020

Calls grow for entry ban for all of China

South Korea will bar all foreigners from China’s Hubei province from entering the country, starting from Tuesday, but a growing number of experts, politicians and citizens say the measure is insufficient to fight the rapidly spreading new coronavirus. They demand a complete ban on entries from all of China.  The latest measure, set to take effect Tuesday, blocks entry of all foreign nationals who have visited the Chinese province that has become the hub of the deadly coronavirus in

Feb. 3, 2020

S. Korea has no plan to pull consular staff out of Wuhan: official

South Korea has no plan to withdraw the last-remaining staff members from its consulate in the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, an official said Monday. Eight people are still working at the South Korean consulate general in Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly virus outbreak under lockdown, including Vice Consul General Lee Kwang-ho serving as interim head of the mission, according to the foreign ministry. That is more than half of the entire workforce at the 14-member office, the minis

Feb. 3, 2020