S. Korea's top nuke envoy begins five-day visit to China

South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for China on Tuesday for a five-day visit to discuss ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea, Seoul officials said.The six-nation negotiations, involving South Korea, North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been dormant since late 2008 when the North walked away from the negotiating table.Pyongyang conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.Hwang Joon-kook, special representative for peace and security af

Oct. 28, 2014

Abe voices no desire to revise Kono Statement: Seoul's parliament chief

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed no desire to revise a past government apology for Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, South Korea's parliamentary speaker said Monday, indicating Japan's continued efforts to improve strained ties between the two historically rival countries.South Korea's National Assembly speaker Chung Ui-hwa met with Abe at the prime minister's office, where the two sides discussed a range of bilateral issues, including the issue of the f

Oct. 27, 2014

S. Korea's nuclear envoy to make rare visit to northeastern China

South Korea's top nuclear envoy will embark on a five-day visit to China this week, including a rare trip to China's northeastern provinces where thousands of North Korean defectors are believed to be hiding before eventually resettling to the South, Seoul officials said Monday. Hwang Joon-kook will leave for a northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Tuesday for "meetings with Chinese experts from various sectors, including researchers on Korean Peninsula issues," South Korea's foreign ministry

Oct. 27, 2014

U.S. nuclear envoy visits S. Korea to attend peace forum

The U.S. special envoy for the long-stalled six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue arrived in Seoul Monday for an international conference on a regional peace initiative proposed by South Korean President Park Geun-hye.Sydney Seiler is also scheduled to have meetings with senior government officials, including his counterpart Shin Chae-hyun, the foreign ministry's director general handling the North Korean nuclear issue, the U.S. State Department said in a press release Sunday.It mark

Oct. 27, 2014

S. Korea, Vietnam agree to boost environmental cooperation

South Korea and Vietnam agreed Monday to expand their cooperation in environmental fields such as biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, officials here said.The agreement was reached during a meeting between South Korea's Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Quang in Vietnam's capital, Ho Chi Minh City, they said.During the talks, the 11th of its kind, the two ministers agreed to further mutual cooperation for biodiversity

Oct. 27, 2014

S. Korea's nuclear envoy to visit China this week

South Korea's top nuclear envoy will travel to China this week to discuss efforts to revive long-stalled international nuclear negotiations with North Korea, a diplomatic source said Monday. Hwang Joon-kook plans to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, and other officials in Beijing on Thursday, the source said on the condition of anonymity. Hwang is set to leave for China's northeastern provinces, which border North Korea, on Tuesday and hold meetings with Chinese experts on the Korean Penin

Oct. 27, 2014

S. Korea, Germany to launch unification advisory panel this week

South Korea and Germany plan to launch an advisory panel on unification this week in an effort by Seoul to learn the lessons from the European country's reunification, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.The two sides inked a preliminary deal in September to create the panel, an idea that Berlin first raised in February. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to make a two-day visit to Seoul starting Friday for the talks, the government said.South Korean Foreign Minister Yu

Oct. 27, 2014

S. Korea denounces terrorist attack in Egypt

The South Korean government on Sunday condemned a car-bomb terrorist attack in Egypt last week that killed 30 Egyptian troops and wounded 28 others."(South Korea) strongly condemns the terror against a military check point in El Arish in North Sinai," the foreign ministry said in a statement.The ministry also sent a condolence message to the Egyptian government and the bereaved families, adding terrorist attacks can't be justified under any circumstances.Such a crime against humanity "must be er

Oct. 26, 2014

Japan rejects help in searching for remains of conscripted

The Japanese government has rejected a request by South Koreans to participate in searching for the remains of their family members who were forced to work for the Japanese military during the Pacific War, a Seoul civic group said Sunday.Earlier, the Association for Requesting Compensation for the Pacific War Victims had asked Tokyo to let South Korean families take part in its project to find and excavate the remains of Koreans who were conscripted by the Japanese military during its colonial r

Oct. 26, 2014

Abe calls for summit with Park to improve ties

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a summit with South Korean President Park Geun-hye to improve relations soured by historical disputes between the two neighbors, Park's office said Friday.Abe conveyed his offer to Park through Fukushiro Nukaga, a lawmaker who led a Japanese parliamentary delegation to South Korea.In response, Park called for sincere efforts to ensure a possible summit can be successful through thorough preparations, saying bilateral ties worsened in the past followi

Oct. 25, 2014

Ex-US President Bush meets N. Korean defectors

Former U.S. President George W. Bush hosted a forum on North Korean human rights in Texas on Thursday (local time), his institute said.The George W. Bush Presidential Center said he met with leaders from the public and private sectors to discuss ways to address the North Korean human rights problem."Five North Korean refugees also shared their stories of escape and their experiences building new lives in the United States as a result of the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act, which President Bus

Oct. 24, 2014

S. Korea, U.S. to hold 'two plus two' talks

South Korea and the United States will hold a high-level security meeting Friday that will bring together their top diplomats and defense chiefs for talks on their alliance and cooperation on regional and global matters, the State Department said.It will be the third time that the two allies have held the so-called "two plus two" meeting after the first one in 2010 and the second in 2012. Attending Friday's meeting will be South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Defense Minister Han Min-koo,

Oct. 24, 2014

Park calls for expanding ties with U.S. in energy, healthcare

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called Wednesday for expanding cooperation with the United States in energy and healthcare, saying both sectors offer bright prospects.Park made the remark in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker at the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, where the two sides discussed a range of issues, including the global economy, economic policies, entrepreneurship and ways to cooperate in the energy and health sectors, the office said in a news release

Oct. 22, 2014