S. Korea, Iran to hold policy talks this week

South Korea and Iran will hold talks this week on Tehran's pending nuclear deal with major world powers, the political situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual concern, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.  The annual policy talks will be held in Seoul on Thursday, led by Kwon Hee-seog, director-general of the Africa and Middle East affairs bureau, and his Iranian counterpart, Abdolrassoul Mohajer Hejazi, the ministry said in a press release.  "During the policy talks, the tw

June 10, 2015

S. Korea, Japan to meet over wartime sex slaves

South Korea and Japan will meet again this week over Seoul's demand that Tokyo apologize for its wartime sex slavery, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.  The eighth round of talks will be held in Tokyo on Thursday, led by Lee Sang-deok, the Foreign Ministry's director-general of the Northeast Asia affairs bureau, and his Japanese counterpart, Junichi Ihara, the ministry said in a press release.  The talks come as both countries have been seeking a breakthrough in their strained ties in a year

June 10, 2015

FM Yun considers visiting Japan

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is considering visiting Tokyo to mend ties between South Korea and Japan, which have been strained over the past years for Japan's failure to apologize for its wartime atrocities, government officials said Wednesday.  The bilateral ties have soured under the current administrations of President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe due to disputes over their shared history, including the issue of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese so

June 10, 2015

U.S. Pacific Commander vows strong response to N.K. provocations

The new head of the U.S. Pacific Command reaffirmed  Wednesday stern responses to any provocations by the "dangerous and unpredictable" North Korea based upon the steadfast alliance with South Korea.  Adm. Harry Harris, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, made the pledge during his visit to the South Korean Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, where he paid tribute to sailors killed in the North's deadly attack on the South Korean warship C

June 10, 2015

U.S. senators introduce resolution welcoming Park's visit

U.S. senators have introduced a resolution welcoming South Korean President Park Geun-hye's upcoming visit to Washington, congressional records showed Tuesday.  Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) initiated the resolution (S.Res.194) on Monday, together with Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) as a co-sponsor. It was titled "a resolution welcoming the President of the Republic of Korea on her official visit to the United States and celebrating the United States-Republic of Korea relationship, and for other purpose

June 10, 2015

[News Focus] Korea, Japan haggle over Tokyo’s heritage bid

Seoul and Tokyo struggled Tuesday to hammer out a compromise over Japan’s bid to put its major “industrial revolution” sites, including those related to Koreans’ colonial-era forced labor, on the World Heritage list.During the second round of talks in Seoul, they engaged in another intense debate with Seoul maintaining Tokyo should exclude seven of the 23 sites of “Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution” ― where nearly 57,900 Koreans were forced to work during the 1910-45 colonial era ― from its ca

June 9, 2015

S. Korea, Japan fail to reach deal on UNESCO row

South Korea and Japan ended another round of talks Tuesday with no breakthrough in their sparring over Japan's bid to put some historical sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list, an official here said.Japan has applied to list 23 historical industrial facilities, including coal mines and shipyards, under the period of 1850-1910.South Korea is strongly against the bid as it includes seven sites where nearly 60,000 Koreans were forced to work especially in the 1940s during Japan's 1910-45 occupati

June 9, 2015

Kono says Japan's wartime sex slavery undeniable

A former top Japanese official said Tuesday many women from Korea and other nations were forcibly recruited as "comfort women" for Japanese troops during World War II.  Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono cited dozens of Dutch women from a prison camp in Indonesia who were coerced into providing sexual services.  "It is a clear case that the military forcefully took them and made them serve as comfort women," he said in a discussion with former Prime Minister Tomichi Murayama.  More than 2

June 9, 2015

S. Korea, Japan meet again over UNESCO bid

South Korea and Japan held their second round of talks Tuesday to settle a dispute over Japan's bid to win UNESCO World Heritage status for historical industrial sites linked to wartime Korean slave labor.  The talks, led by Choi Jong-moon, South Korean ambassador for cultural and UNESCO affairs, and Jun Shimmi, the Japanese foreign ministry's director-general for cultural affairs, came after their first meeting on May 22 failed to produce a breakthrough.  South Korea is strongly against the bid

June 9, 2015

Japanese scholars urge Abe to offer apology for history

Hundreds of Japanese pundits urged their Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Monday to offer his own apology for Japan's wartime crimes and atrocities.  The move comes a little over a month after Abe did not apologize for and ignored the issue of wartime sexual slavery in a speech before U.S. Congress, drawing condemnation from South Koreans.    South Korea and Japan will mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties on June 22. In August, Abe is also scheduled to deliver a m

June 8, 2015

N. Korea unlikely to close Gaeseong complex on wage row: S. Korean bizman

North Korea is not likely to shut down an inter-Korean joint industrial park in the North due to a row over Pyongyang's unilateral wage hike, a South Korean businessman said Monday.  The two Koreas have been in dispute for over three months following the North's unilateral move to raise the minimum wage by 5.18 percent for about 53,000 North Korean workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex at the border city of the same name.  In what may be a relief to the drawn-out row, the North accepted the

June 8, 2015

China's No. 3 leader due in Seoul this week

China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang will make a three-day visit to South Korea this week on cementing bilateral ties, a diplomatic source said Monday.  Zhang, who ranks third in China's ruling Communist Party hierarchy, is scheduled to make a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye during the visit starting Wednesday and meet with leaders of South Korea's ruling and opposition parties, the source said.   The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to t

June 8, 2015

S. Korea to install MERS detection devices at joint industrial zone

The Unification Ministry said Monday it plans to install devices to detect the MERS virus at the joint industrial zone in North Korea later in the day to prevent the spread of the virus there.  At the request of the North, South Korea has lent Pyongyang three thermal scanners for those who travel in and out of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, where about 53,000 North Korean workers are employed, ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said in a press briefing.  "The government plans to install the t

June 8, 2015

S. Korea, Japan to hold talks on world heritage

South Korea will press Japan this week to drop its bid to have some early industrial sites linked to wartime atrocities registered as UNESCO's world heritage, Foreign Ministry officials said Monday.  Senior diplomats from the neighboring countries plan to hold their second round of talks on the issue, yet another legacy of Japan's imperialistic past dating back to World War II, in Seoul on Tuesday.  Japan has sought to win UNESCO's recognition for 23 locales including mines, shipyards and factor

June 8, 2015

U.S. expert calls for Seoul to be more vocal about South China Sea tensions

South Korea should be more vocal against China's behavior in the South China Sea, a U.S. expert said, days after a senior American diplomat issued a similar appeal ahead of South Korean President Park Geun-hye's visit to Washington.  Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, made the point in an article, claiming that increasing cooperation in Southeast Asia should be on the agenda for an upcoming summit between Park and U.S. President Barack Obama.  "It would be

June 8, 2015

Jordan celebrates 69th anniversary of independence

The Jordanian embassy on May 29 celebrated the 69th anniversary of its independence day, which marks the country’s liberation from British colonial rule in 1946.The national holiday pays tribute to the bygone generations of Jordanians who sacrificed their lives to contribute to the foundation of modern Jordan. National Assembly Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, president of the Korean-Jordanian Friendship Association, and four Jordanian parliamentarians participated in the event at Lotte Hotel. Jordan and Kor

June 7, 2015