Yoon pledges $24m donation to epidemic coalition

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged $24 million to a coalition combating epidemics and double its provision of grain through the UN World Food Program during an expanded meeting of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday. Yoon pledged the new donation to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to strengthen global health care systems. The coalition was created at the 2007 Davos Forum as a public-private joint venture whose backers included the Norwegian government and the Bill Gate

May 20, 2023

China's exports to North Korea surge in April

China's exports to North Korea soared in April from a year earlier, with wigs and fertilizer among major shipments, Chinese customs data showed on Saturday. Chinese outbound shipments to the isolated country surged 69% year-on-year to $166 million in April, data released by China's General Administration of Customs showed. The top export items in terms of value were processed hair and wool used in wigs, worth about $11.6 million, and diammonium hydrogen phosphate, a widely used fertili

May 20, 2023

Biden says still optimistic on US debt talks

Talks to avoid a US debt default were on a knife edge Saturday as President Joe Biden warned he would not accept "extreme" Republican demands but said he remained optimistic. "I still believe we'll be able to avoid a default and we'll get something decent done," he told reporters at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. With the Treasury Department warning that the US government could run out of money as early as June 1 -- triggering massive economic disruption in the

May 20, 2023

Yoon, Modi agree to strengthen defense cooperation

President Yoon Suk Yeol and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to develop cooperation in the defense industry, and advanced technologies in digital, biohealth and space during a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of the G7 summit, according to the Korean presidential office on Saturday. On the second day of his visit to Japan, Yoon met Modi at a hotel in Hiroshima at around 10:30 a.m. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, whose nations commemorate the 50

May 20, 2023

S. Korean, Vietnamese leaders agree to expand trade, economic cooperation

The South Korean and Vietnamese leaders on Friday committed to expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the city of Hiroshima, Japan. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as cooperation between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, the South Korean presidential office said Friday.

May 19, 2023

S. Korean, Australian leaders agree to further expand defense cooperation

South Korea's and Australia's leaders on Friday committed to stepping up defense and arms industry cooperation amid North Korea’s persisting provocations, the South Korean presidential office said. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held an in-person bilateral summit from 5:30 p.m. local time on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Both sides agreed to "further expand defense and arms industry coop

May 19, 2023

Yoon harnesses G-7 debut to overcome past disputes with Japan

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is poised to make his debut at the Group of Seven summit, which has been largely overshadowed by Russia's grinding war on Ukraine and China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. But while these geopolitical challenges loom, Yoon has his own separate goal. The president seeks to use his visit to the city of Hiroshima as an opportunity to improve ties between South Korea and Japan, as well as display the two country's concerted efforts

May 19, 2023

Doors to Korean companies open in El Salvador, says vice minister

The doors for Korean businesses, investors and projects are open in El Salvador, according to Nelson Reyes, El Salvador's vice minister of transportation, referring to a recent infrastructure project deal won by two South Korean builders. South Korea's Dongbu Corp. has won a bid for the construction of the Los Chorros road project that would expand the Los Chorros highway and connect key regions of El Salvador. Dohwa Engineering also has won its bid for the supervision of the Los Chorr

May 18, 2023

Yoon to hold 7 summits at G-7, 2 more in Seoul

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold summits with leaders of seven nations including Japan on the sidelines of the three-day G-7 summit that kicks off on Friday in Hiroshima, Japan, according to the presidential office on Thursday. Yoon is set to hold summit talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Friday. On the following day, he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and British Prime Minis

May 18, 2023

3-way summit to focus on 'real-time' military information sharing: experts

President Yoon Suk Yeol is set for a trilateral summit with the leaders of the United States and Japan on Sunday, where the focus of the meeting is expected to be on enhancing real-time information sharing to effectively tackle persistent North Korean missile threats, according to experts. Six months after their previous meeting in November, the three leaders will resume talks on the last day of the G-7 summit which kicks off on Friday. The last summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, resulted in the th

May 18, 2023

Ukraine seeks S. Korea's participation in reconstruction projects: senior official

Ukraine expects South Korean companies to participate in various reconstruction projects, particularly regarding nuclear power and other energy fields, a ranking Ukrainian government official said Wednesday. Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, made the remarks during a forum held in Seoul, where Ukraine's eight-member delegation explained a mid- to longer-term reconstruction plan after the war with Russia to major firms here, including POSCO International

May 17, 2023

S. Korea, Canada vow stronger ties in push for shared Indo-Pacific strategy

President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau agreed to build on common economic and security priorities set out in their Indo-Pacific strategies at a summit in Seoul on Wednesday. The highlight of the three-day trip by Trudeau that ends Thursday comes as Yoon seeks economic partners while attracting support for his efforts for North Korean denuclearization. “We have jointly denounced growing nuclear threats from North Korea, which thwart regional peace and stability. W

May 17, 2023

PM rules out water sampling by Seoul's Fukushima inspection team

SEJONG -- South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday the inspection team will not take wastewater samples from earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan, amid political opponents' calls on the team to take more proactive actions including water sampling. Sampling activities by an inspection team from a certain country could breach the independence of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Han told reporters in a briefing at the Government Complex Sejong.

May 17, 2023

'Washington Declaration' a huge but not last step in deterring N. Korean provocation: experts

WASHINGTON -- The recent agreement reached between South Korea and the United States on strengthening US extended deterrence is a significant step in dealing with North Korea's evolving nuclear threat but possibly not the last step to be taken by the allies, US experts said Tuesday. They also insisted that while the agreement, dubbed the Washington Declaration, may enhance the allies' joint deterrence against North Korea, it may fall short of preventing future provocations by the rec

May 17, 2023

Ukraine first lady calls for ‘radical’ war support, visit by Yoon, Kim

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska called for “more radical” support to push back against Russia’s war in the country, saying a visit to her country by its friends like President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee would rally Ukrainians. "Indeed, when there is a criminal in the house, the owners clearly need not only humanitarian aid, food and medicine, but something more radical to drive the criminal out," she said in a written interview with Yonhap News

May 16, 2023

Uzbekistan, a diverse, ancient cultural crossroads

Uzbekistan is home to rich cultural diversity, fresh organic food and spiritual sites for some of the world's oldest religions. The country has all the potential of a world-class tourism ecosystem with its harmonization of cultural diversity, efficient connectivity and ongoing infrastructure development under the "New Uzbekistan" vision. The ancient civilization of Uzbekistan was a crossroads of advanced cultures. Uzbekistan's cities such as Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiv

May 16, 2023

Peru is Korea's gateway to Latin America, says vice FM

Peruvian Vice Foreign Minister Ignacio Higueras urged South Korea to partner with the Peruvian government’s "Con Punche Peru" measures in an interview with The Korea Herald last month. Con Punche Peru is a rapid execution plan initiated by the Peruvian government with investments of $1.5 billion. The plan aims to create 130,000 jobs by 2023 and recover from a critical economic situation by focusing on families, as well as the regional and national economy, to reactivate Peru&rsqu

May 15, 2023

Forced labor victim's family accepts govt compensation, withdraws legal action against Japanese firm

The bereaved family members of a wartime forced labor victim have withdrawn their request for a court order to dispose of a Japanese company's assets after accepting the Seoul government's compensation plan, legal sources said Monday. The four family members of the late victim, Yeo Un-taek, on April 27 submitted a letter of withdrawal to the Supreme Court, which was reviewing the case, they said. Yeo was one of the four forced labor victims who initiated a compensation suit against Nip

May 15, 2023

S. Korea, US conduct joint analysis on possible Korean War remains

South Korea and the United States began joint regular identification work Monday on possible remains of American soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul's defense ministry said. The two-day examinations on the remains suspected to be those of four US soldiers got under way between officials from the ministry's war remains excavation team and the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency at the team's office in southern Seoul. DPAA Laboratory Director John Byrd joined this

May 15, 2023

S. Korea-US-Japan to hold summit in Hiroshima without joint statement

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of Seven summit to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, to discuss ways to cooperate on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, according to the presidential office on Sunday. The trilateral summit comes six months since the three leaders' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November last year. It marks the third such meeting since Yoon

May 14, 2023