Yoon returns home from Camp David summit with Biden, Kishida

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned home Sunday after attending a trilateral summit with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. Friday's meeting brought together the three countries' leaders for their first standalone summit and produced three documents outlining their commitments to enhance security and economic cooperation. The agreements included a commitment to consult one another expeditiously in the event

Aug. 20, 2023

Japan PM to visit Fukushima plant before water release

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will visit the Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday, ahead of the discharge of treated water which is scheduled to begin by the end of summer. Tokyo's plan to release treated water from the tsunami-hit nuclear plant into the sea over the next few decades has raised concerns in neighbouring countries, prompting China to ban some food imports and sparking protests in South Korea. Kishida, who was in Washington for a trilateral summit with US Presid

Aug. 19, 2023

China launches military drills around Taiwan as 'stern warning'

China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a "stern warning" after voicing anger over a stopover in the United States by the island's vice president, William Lai. Lai, who is the frontrunner in Taiwan's presidential election next year, stopped in New York and returned via San Francisco on a trip to Paraguay, one of a dwindling number of nations that diplomatically recognise Taipei. China on Saturday called Lai a "troublemaker" and vowed to take &quo

Aug. 19, 2023

S. Korea-US-Japan summit outcomes herald deeper, consistent security cooperation against N. Korean, other challenges: analysts

From a shared commitment to crisis consultation to the "principles" of trilateral engagement, the outcomes from this week's landmark summit between South Korea, the United States and Japan are likely to put their once-fragile security cooperation on a more robust, sustainable, consistent footing, analysts said Saturday. President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US and Japanese counterparts, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, adopted a series of documents committing each other to sturdier three-wa

Aug. 19, 2023

Yoon, Biden agree to closely cooperate to strengthen credibility of US extended deterrence

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden agreed Friday to continue to closely cooperate on strengthening the credibility of the US extended deterrence commitment to South Korea, the presidential office said. The two leaders held a bilateral meeting ahead of a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland and discussed the South Korea-US alliance, as well as regional and global issues, the office said in a pr

Aug. 19, 2023

Yoon, Biden, Kishida commit to immediately consult in event of common threat

Leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Friday to significantly expand trilateral security cooperation, pledging to immediately consult one another in the event of common threats, hold annual joint military exercises and cooperate closely for stronger missile defense against North Korea. The agreements were reached during a trilateral summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presid

Aug. 19, 2023

US, Japan, Korea leaders meet to bolster mutual security over objections of Beijing

President Joe Biden marked the historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday by saying that “our countries are stronger and the world is safer … as we stand together.” He described the meeting as the first standalone summit among leaders of the three countries. Addressing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida , Biden said, “I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.” He ad

Aug. 19, 2023

Biden ramps up three-way Japan, S. Korea ties in sign to China

US President Joe Biden on Friday will announce new security cooperation with Japan and South Korea including joint exercises at a first-of-a-kind three-way summit with their leaders that has already rattled China. The summit at the Camp David presidential retreat would have been unimaginable until recently, with the two treaty-bound allies -- together the base for some 84,500 US troops -- at loggerheads for decades over the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsul

Aug. 18, 2023

China blasts US-Japan-South Korea summit, warns of 'contradictions and increasing tensions'

China is renewing its criticism of this weekend’s summit among the leaders of the US, Japan and South Korea, saying no country should “seek its own security at the expense of the security interests of others and of regional peace and stability.” “The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday. “Attempts to form va

Aug. 18, 2023

Yoon, Biden, Kishida plan to approve 'duty to consult' policy in case of crisis

President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plan to adopt a trilateral summit document stipulating a "duty to consult" with one another in the event of a crisis, a senior US official has said. The leaders are poised to issue the document during a landmark three-way summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, the official said, in a sign of deepening solidarity amid North Korea's military threats, China's assertivene

Aug. 18, 2023

Yoon, Biden, Kishida to commit to consult in event of common threat: S. Korean officials

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will adopt a document committing each side to consult with one another in the event of a common security or other threat, officials said. The document titled "Commitment to Consult" will be adopted at a trilateral summit involving the three leaders at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, according to the officials. It will be the first such commitment that has be

Aug. 18, 2023

US prepared to deter N. Korean aggression, ensure regional stability: Pentagon

The United States will continue to work with its allies to deter any potential aggression by North Korea, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday, following reports that Pyongyang may be preparing to make various provocations, including a long-range missile test. South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, earlier noted that the North may test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to protest against a trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and the

Aug. 18, 2023

Court dismisses complaint seeking to block Fukushima water release

The Busan District Court on Thursday dismissed a complaint seeking to block Japan from releasing its wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant, saying the court has no jurisdiction to review the case. In April 2021, a coalition of 166 local environmental groups asked the trial court to stop the discharge by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., citing the London Convention -- a global pact on ocean pollution by preventing the dumping of waste. The release, which could start

Aug. 17, 2023

[Photo News] India marks 77th Independence Day

INDEPENDENCE DAY – Members of the Indian community in South Korea and Indian Ambassador to South Korea Amit Kumar hoist up the Indian flag and sing the national anthem marking India’s 77th Independence Day in Seoul on Tuesday. India was a British colony from 1757 to 1947 and gained independence on Aug. 15, 1947. (Sanjay Kumar/The Korea Herald)

Aug. 17, 2023

S. Korea delivers relief supplies to Hawaii over wildfire damage

South Korea has provided Hawaii with food and other emergency supplies to help cope with a series of devastating wildfires that recently ravaged the island of Maui, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday. Lee Seo-young, South Korean consul general in Honolulu, expressed hopes for Hawaii's speedy recovery as he delivered water, food, blankets, electric generators, and other aid items to Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke on Wednesday (Hawaii time), it added. The relief items are part of th

Aug. 17, 2023

US continues to seek safe return of American soldier in N. Korea: Kirby

The United States is seeking and will continue to seek the safe return of a US service member who crossed into North Korea last month, a White House official said Wednesday, dismissing the North's claim that the American soldier is seeking asylum in the reclusive country. John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, insisted that North Korean claims cannot be trusted. "I think anything that comes out of Pyongyang, you got to look at skeptically,"

Aug. 17, 2023

S. Korea, Japan, US summit to move trilateral cooperation to 'new level': Kirby

The upcoming trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States will take their countries' three-way cooperation to a new level, a White House official said Wednesday. John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said the leaders will also focus on ways to institutionalize such cooperation among their countries. "This trilateral summit is all about taking affirmative steps towards improving our cooperation with each othe

Aug. 17, 2023

Joint defense initiatives to be unveiled at Camp David: report

The US, South Korea and Japan will roll out joint initiatives on defense and technology at a Camp David summit in Maryland on Friday, according to a report. Citing senior US officials, Reuters said Wednesday that the gathering US President Joe Biden is hosting at the presidential retreat will lead to a three-way hotline and mutual understanding about regional responsibilities amid North Korea’s aggression and China’s influence. “It’s too much to ask -- it’s a bridge

Aug. 16, 2023

US commitment to defense of S. Korea remains firm, supports inter-Korean dialogue: Pentagon

The United States remains committed to the defense of South Korea and will work with its allies to address threats posed by North Korea, a US Department of Defense spokesperson said Friday. The spokesperson also reiterated that the US holds no "hostile" intention toward Pyongyang. "We have been very clear about the threat posed by North Korea, and we have been very clear in our defense to South Korea and Japan and our commitment to the region in order to ensure stability," de

Aug. 16, 2023

Trilateral summit of S. Korea, US, Japan to strengthen global peace, stability: Blinken

The upcoming trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan and the United States will help strengthen their joint efforts to promote peace and stability not only in the region but around the world, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. The top US diplomat also noted that the countries will likely hold regular meetings down the road. "This summit comes at a moment when our region and the world are being tested by geopolitical competition, by climate crisis, by Russia's war o

Aug. 16, 2023