Top diplomats of Korea, Tanzania to hold talks in Seoul next week

The top diplomats of South Korea and Tanzania will sit down together in Seoul next week to discuss bilateral collaboration on economic issues as well as the North Korean nuclear issue, the foreign ministry here said Thursday.The talks between Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Tanzanian counterpart Augustine P. Mahiga are scheduled for Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. It will be their second meeting in about four months following one held on Dec. 7 in Ethiopia during a regional f

April 20, 2017

Trump's 'armada' gaffe stains his commitment to alliance

Mystery persists over US President Donald Trump's dispatch of an "armada" toward the Korean Peninsula, leaving many people here puzzled and concerned about defense coordination between the allies.Early this month, the US Pacific Command announced the departure of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its strike group from Singapore for waters near the peninsula.On April 12, Trump said in an interview with Fox News, "We are sending an armada (to the area). Very powerful." A day later, a US Pac

April 20, 2017

Korea re-elected to UNICEF's executive board

South Korea has been re-elected to the governing body of UNICEF, the United Nations' fund for children, the foreign ministry here said Thursday.In the elections held during the UN Economic and Social Council's Coordination and Management Meetings earlier this week, South Korea retained its seat on UNICEF's 36-nation executive board, as well as its membership in the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which promotes women's rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.  (Yonhap)South Korean has

April 20, 2017

S. Korea's top diplomat to attend UNSC meeting on NK issue

South Korea's foreign minister will attend a United Nations Security Council meeting scheduled for next week to discuss North Korea's nuclear threats and efforts to make the North go nuclear-free, a ministry source said Thursday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will join the UNSC meeting to be held in New York on April 28 that will focus on North Korea's nuclear stalemate and its denuclearization, the source told Yonhap News Agency. South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (Yonhap)The meeting wi

April 20, 2017

Korea, US, Japan unite against China's THAAD retaliation

South Korea, the United States and Japan united on Wednesday in urging China to stop economic retaliation on Seoul in connection with the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system here.Senior defense officials from the three countries made the call at the Defense Trilateral Talks in Tokyo, which focused on their joint response to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.In a joint press statement, they pointed the finger apparently at Beijing for its thinly veiled economic sanctions

April 20, 2017

White House praises China for efforts to rein in N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- The White House praised China on Wednesday for making efforts to rein in North Korea after Beijing's Foreign Ministry warned the North not to make provocative remarks."I think it's encouraging to see China continue to move forward and join us in this effort to control North Korea," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at a regular briefing. "I think that the relationship that the president started building with President Xi down in Mar-a-Lago is clearly showing some positiv

April 20, 2017

White House seeks to fend off criticism over Carl Vinson's whereabouts

WASHINGTON -- The White House sought to fend off criticism Wednesday that President Donald Trump and other top officials have misleadingly said a Navy strike group was heading to the Korean Peninsula to deter North Korea when it was actually moving in the opposite direction.US officials came under fire following revelations that the group of ships led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson were thousands of miles away from Korea despite earlier statements suggesting they would be in the region

April 20, 2017

Korea dismisses Trump's reported remark that it was part of China

South Korea on Wednesday dismissed the controversial remark reportedly made by US President Donald Trump that Korea was "part of China" as untrue and not worthy of response.President Donald Trump talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping, with their wives, before dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, early this month. (AP-Yonhap)"Whether that is true or not, Korea hasn't been a part of China for thousands of years and it is an historical fact that the international community acknowledges and no one can d

April 20, 2017

Vice unification minister meets with Japan's top envoy over NK issue

South Korea's vice unification minister on Wednesday met with Japan's top envoy to Seoul to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile problems, government officials said.Vice Minister Kim Hyung-suk held the meeting with Amb. Yasumasa Nagamine to exchange views on security concerns and the importance of cooperation in responding to North Korea's threats, according to Seoul's unification ministry. This photo taken on April 19, 2017, shows Japanese Amb. Yasumasa Nagamine (center) heading to South K

April 19, 2017

Japan's consulate meets Busan ward chief over 'comfort women' statue

BUSAN -- The Japanese Consulate in the southern South Korean port city of Busan on Wednesday exerted indirect pressure on the city's Dong Ward municipality to remove a statue symbolizing Korean women forced to work in wartime Japanese military brothels, officials at the regional government said.Japan's consul general in Busan, Yasuhiro Morimoto held talks with Park Sam-seok, chief of the municipality, earlier in the day as he offered to pay a courtesy call. Morimoto returned along with Japanese

April 19, 2017

[Reporter’s Column] Trump’s ‘prudent’ measure

To many, for the past 10 days the Korean Peninsula appeared to have been edging toward the brink of war. Soon after bombarding Syria and Afghanistan with missiles and a gigantic bomb, the US said it had ordered its flagship aircraft carrier strike group, which was already here last month for a joint drill with the South Korean military, to head back toward the peninsula. The announcement triggered a frenzied chain reaction throughout the region. As President Donald Trump and other top Washington

April 19, 2017

Korea urges Japan to refrain from exacerbating security concerns

South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday called on Japan to refrain from fanning security concerns on the Korean Peninsula, one day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe mentioned a contingency plan in the event of a conflict in Korea.In a parliamentary committee session on Monday, Abe said his government is working on contingency plans for a crisis situation on the peninsula, referring to a potential influx of Korean refugees into Japan. A Japanese newspaper's report on the possibility of U.S. attac

April 18, 2017

Pence calls for reform of Korea-US FTA

US Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday the Donald Trump administration is to “review and reform” the free trade pact with South Korea, citing growing trade deficits and “too many barriers” for American firms. At a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul, Pence said since the two countries’ trade agreement took effect five years ago, the US’ deficit has more than doubled, calling it the “most concerning fact.”US Vice President Mike Pence (Yonhap)“We have to be honest about where o

April 18, 2017

[Herald Interview] ‘Australia, Korea can progress across Indo-Pacific’

The defining axis of global growth over the next 25 years will be the “Indo-Pacific” region, encompassing rising India and Southeast Asia, a renowned political scientist forecast, urging Seoul to harness a future-oriented strategy that involves strengthened cooperation with Australia. As China’s growth falters and India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations amass industrial weight and abundant labor, the world economy’s center of gravity will drift toward the Indo-Pacific, according to

April 17, 2017

[Herald Interview] ‘Malaysia, Korea are partners in innovation’

Dato Sri Mustapa bin Mohamed, Malaysian minister of international trade and industry, believes Malaysia and Korea can skillfully navigate the volatile world economy by enhancing partnerships tailored to 21st-century commerce.Since assuming his post in 2009, the economics-trained politician has striven to raise the competitiveness of Malaysian enterprises and bureaucracies, with an emphasis on attracting quality foreign direct investments. The key objective of the Malaysian government is to uplif

April 17, 2017

China's foreign ministry warns against worsening tension after N. Korea's failed missile launch

BEIJING -- China's foreign ministry on Monday called on North Korea and other neighbors to refrain from inflammatory behaviors following Pyongyang's failed missile test-launch over the weekend."As declared repeatedly, the current state of the Korean Peninsula is highly complicated and highly dangerous," Lu Kang, spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said in a briefing, responding to a query on North Korea's missile firing on Sunday. "The point we have consistently made is that each country

April 17, 2017

S. Korea, US, Japan to discuss N. Korea in trilateral talks

Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan will have face-to-face talks on North Korea's saber-rattling later this week, a Seoul ministry announced Monday.The regional powers plan to hold the Defense Trilateral Talks in Tokyo on Wednesday, the ninth session of the forum launched in 2008, according to the Ministry of National Defense.An image of three-way defense cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan against North Korea in this file photo provided by Yonhap N

April 17, 2017

Japan calls on next Korean gov't to implement deal on 'comfort women'

TOKYO -- Japan on Monday urged the next South Korean government implement a landmark 2015 deal to resolve the long-running rift over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women as the official campaign period for South Korea's upcoming presidential election began the same day."The two countries promised to implement the December 2015 agreement that was highly esteemed in the international community regardless of the internal affairs (in South Korea)," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshi

April 17, 2017

[Newsmaker] 5 things to know about US Vice President Mike Pence

US Vice President Mike Pence has embarked on a 10-day, four nation tour of the Asia-Pacific region, arriving in South Korea on Sunday amid tensions over North Korea’s aggressive flaunting of its nuclear and missile program.　Pence will also visit Japan, Indonesia and Australia during his trip, meeting with leaders in the region, military troops and business groups. It is Pence’s second foreign trip as vice president. He traveled to Germany and Belgium in February to meet with NATO and European Un

April 16, 2017