S. Korea, U.S., Japan to discuss N. Korea next week

South Korea will hold high-level trilateral talks next week with the United States and Japan on North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.  In the two-day session starting Tuesday in Seoul, the regional powers will "share assessments of recent situations in North Korea and its threats," the ministry said.  "(The three nations) will also have in-depth consultations on various ways for substantive progress in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue in terms of deterrence, pressure and dial

May 22, 2015

Uzbekistan president to visit S. Korea next week

President Park Geun-hye will meet with Uzbek President Islam Karimov here next week to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in defense, infrastructure and other areas of mutual concern, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.   The two leaders are set to meet on Thursday, the first day of Karimov's three-day trip here, the presidential office said in a statement.  The planned visit is the first foreign trip after Karimov won reelection in March, a move Seoul says illustrates Uzbekistan's commitment to develop

May 22, 2015

Abe should face 'comfort women' issue: ex-envoy

A retired Japanese ambassador called on the Shinzo Abe administration to directly address the wartime sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women."If Japan tries to dwarf the 'comfort women' issue, it will rather draw criticism from the international community," Masatoshi Muto, once Tokyo's ambassador to Seoul, said in his new book. He returned to Japan in 2012 after serving three years in South Korea.He is known for his expertise in Seoul-Tokyo relations, having long worked in the field

May 21, 2015

Korea, Japan to hold top defense meeting after 4-year hiatus

The defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan plan to hold their first bilateral talks in more than four years next month as the countries seek to mend their relationship in the face of historical and territorial feuds, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday. Defense Minister Han Min-koo will meet his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit in Singapore on May 29-31. They are expected to discuss ways to stave off North Korea’s growing threats in the wake of i

May 21, 2015

U.S. bill calls for more punishment of N. Korea

U.S. Congress saw a bill this week calling for relisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and levying further sanctions as tension rises over its growing nuclear and missile threats and unabated human rights abuses. The resolution presented on Tuesday by Sen. Cory Gardner, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, said Pyongyang poses a “serious threat” to the U.S. and its regional allies, citing the Kim Jong-un regime’s underwater

May 21, 2015

China urges restraint after N. Korea's miniature nuclear warheads claim

China Thursday called for restraint and efforts to ease tensions after North Korea claimed it has made nuclear warheads small enough to mount on missiles.   China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks a day after North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission made the claim, saying the country's "nuclear striking means have entered the stage of producing smaller nukes and diversifying them."   "We have taken note of such reports," Hong replied, when asked about the North's c

May 21, 2015

S. Korea voices woes over N. Korea's erratic behavior

South Korea voiced concerns Thursday over the instability of North Korea's decision-making process as Pyongyang has abruptly canceled an invitation for the U.N. chief to visit an inter-Korean industrial park in the North.  Without a reason being given, North Korea on Wednesday rescinded its permission for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's trip to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was originally supposed to be made on Thursday.  "South Korea has concerns about the North's unpredictability

May 21, 2015

S. Korea, Japan to reopen finance ministers' talks on weekend

South Korea and Japan plan to resume their finance ministers' talks this weekend to seek ways to expand economic ties amid growing global uncertainties, the government said Thursday.  The meeting between Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, set for Saturday in Tokyo, is the first since the November 2012 meeting held in Seoul, the finance ministry said. Choi's visit marks the first time that a deputy prime minister level official is visiting Japan since relations soured.   The t

May 21, 2015

S. Korea, Japan to hold defense ministers' talks next week

South Korean and Japanese defense chiefs will meet next week for the first time in four years amid soured ties over history rows, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.  Defense Minister Han Min-koo "is scheduled to meet with his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani on May 30 in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue," the ministry said in a release, citing the three-day regional security forum slated to start May 29.  If held, it will be the first bilateral talks between the top defens

May 21, 2015

Ruling party chief urges N. Korea to allow Ban's N.K. tour

The head of the ruling Saenuri Party called on North Korea  Thursday to allow U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to the communist country as the North abruptly canceled the planned visit the previous day.  Ban was to cross over to North Korea from the South on Thursday to visit an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border town of Kaesong as part of peace-promoting efforts.   One day ahead of the planned visit, however, the North called off the visit without explanation.

May 21, 2015

S. Korea urges N. Korea to resume reunion of separated families

South Korea called on North Korea on Thursday to make efforts to resume the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean war as the North blamed the South for soured inter-Korean ties.  Earlier in the day, the North rebuked President Park Geun-hye for calling on Pyongyang to be sincere in holding the reunion of the separated families, saying that she "politicized" the humanitarian issue.  South Korea is claiming that it would "try to do something to substantially settle the issue of reuni

May 21, 2015

S. Korea, Japan to hold talks over UNESCO row

South Korea and Japan will hold talks this week to resolve a row over Japan's attempt to win world heritage status for industrial facilities linked to wartime Korean slave labor, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.  Choi Jong-moon, South Korean ambassador for cultural and UNESCO affairs, will meet with Jun Shimmi, director-general for cultural affairs at Japan's foreign ministry, in Tokyo on Friday, along with relevant diplomatic and culture officials from both sides, the ministry said in a pres

May 21, 2015

S. Korea, Australia to discuss N. Korea, regional security

South Korea and Australia will hold foreign ministerial talks Thursday to discuss North Korea and broader regional security issues, officials said.  Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for a three-day stay.  She plans to meet with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se for their eighth round of bilateral talks, according to a Foreign Ministry official here.  "They will focus consultations on the North Korean issue and security affairs in the Asia-Pacific region," he sai

May 21, 2015

Park voices against Japan's world heritage bid

President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday condemned Japan's bid to list its wartime industrial facilities as world heritage sites, saying the move creates conflict between it and the nations that suffered under Japanese colonial rule.   Park made the remark in a meeting with UNESCO chief Irina Bokova as Japan was campaigning to win UNESCO world heritage status for several industrial facilities where Koreans were taken to toil away as slaves during World War II.  "Japan ignoring the history of forced

May 21, 2015

N. Korea slams South over wage row at Gaeseong complex

North Korea rebuked South Korea on Wednesday for refusing to raise wages for North Korean workers at their joint industrial park, claiming that the North has a legal right to decide the issue.  The North's criticism came as it rescinded its approval of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's planned visit to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex this week.  Many expected the U.N. chief's trip to help resolve stand-offs between the two Koreas, including the wage row at the complex, where about 53,000 Nort

May 20, 2015