US working on details of vaccine provision to S. Korean soldiers: Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- The US Department of Defense is working on details of how and when US vaccines will be provided to South Korean troops working with US Forces Korea, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday. US President Joe Biden made a surprise announcement Friday that the US will help fully inoculate all 550,000 South Korean service members, who work closely with US troops in South Korea on a daily basis. "Obviously we support the president's direction here to provide the vaccines to our ROK alli

May 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] US raises travel advisory on Japan to highest Level 4: Do Not Travel

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Monday raised its travel warning for Japan to the highest level, advising Americans not to travel to the Asian nation. "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Japan due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. There are restrictions in place affecting US citizen entry into Japan," said the latest US travel advisory on the country. The move comes ahead of the Tok

May 25, 2021

'China is aware Moon-Biden statement targets China despite no mention of Beijing': Chinese amb.

China is aware that part of a joint statement from last week's summit between South Korea and the United States is targeted at Beijing, though it made no mention of the country, the top Chinese envoy here said Monday. Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming made the remarks amid expectations that the statement following the first in-person summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden on Friday could stir unease in China, as it touches on sensitive issues involving the Taiwan Strait and the South

May 25, 2021

Vice FM expects China to 'highly assess' S. Korea for not mentioning Beijing in Moon-Biden statement

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Monday he believes China will think highly of the fact that a joint statement issued after last week's summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden made no mention of China. The statement, issued after the summit Friday (Washington time), stressed "the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," the first time the Taiwan issue has been included in a joint summit statement between Seoul and Washin

May 24, 2021

[Newsmaker] Harris under fire for wiping hand after handshake with Moon

US Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire in the US for an “insulting” gesture: She wiped her hand after shaking hands with President Moon Jae-in at the White House last week. Footage of Harris wiping her right hand on her jacket immediately after shaking hands with Moon at the end of a joint press conference last Friday went viral. Conservative US broadcaster Fox News said many Americans had become more germ-conscious since COVID-19 started, but that Harris may have made her

May 24, 2021

No complaints by China about termination of missile guidelines: Seoul

China has raised no complaints about a recent agreement between South Korea and the United States to lift restrictions on Seoul's missile development, the defense ministry said Monday. After his first in-person summit talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday, President Moon Jae-in announced the decision to scrap the bilateral guidelines that ban South Korea from developing or possessing missiles with a maximum flight range greater than 800 kilometers. Asked if there was any re

May 24, 2021

Vice FM says stability, peace in Taiwan Strait have direct impact on S. Korea's national interest

A senior foreign ministry official said Sunday that a joint statement adopted after a recent summit between President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Joe Biden mentioned the Taiwan Strait to show Seoul's view that the stability and peace in the region are in its national interest. Moon and Biden held their first face-to-face summit in Washington on Friday (US time) and adopted the statement in which they emphasized "the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.&

May 23, 2021

Moon visits SK's battery plant construction site in US

ATLANTA/SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited a plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., the country's leading battery maker, in the United States on Saturday. The facility in the state of Georgia is regarded as symbolizing close partnerships between the two countries in the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector. The company is investing around 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the construction project, with trial production under way starting in March. "This plant symbo

May 23, 2021

Moon leaves US after visit for summit with Biden

ATLANTA/SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in left the United States on Saturday following a four-day trip for summit talks with US President Joe Biden. Earlier in the day, he flew to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. to make a brief visit to a Georgia plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., a South Korea-based battery maker. It marked Moon's first overseas travel since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he is returning home with "better-than-expected" results fro

May 23, 2021

S. Korea, US, Japan rearranging schedule for defense ministers' talks

South Korea, the United States and Japan are rearranging trilateral defense talks after they were forced to cancel a meeting slated for June in Singapore due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Sunday. Defense Minister Suh Wook and his US and Japanese counterparts -- Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Minister Nobuo Kishi -- had initially planned to hold talks on the sidelines of the security forum of the Shangri-La Dialogue, set to take place in the Southeast Asian country on June 4-5.

May 23, 2021

[Newsmaker] Crab cakes served as main lunch course for Moon and Biden

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's summit meetings with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday presented contrasting appearances from those held about a month ago between the leaders of the United States and Japan, officials said. The most noteworthy differences were the length of the summit meetings and the lunch menu. Moon and Biden held 171 minutes of one-on-one, small group and expanded summit meetings, about 20 minutes longer than the April 16 meetings between the US president a

May 22, 2021

Biden makes strong case for engagement, but N. Korea unlikely to react soon: experts

US President Joe Biden has demonstrated a clear commitment to engaging with North Korea by appointing a special envoy to specifically deal with North Korea issues, but whether the North will come to the table in the near future remains to be seen, US experts said Friday. In a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Biden announced his appointment of Acting Assistant Secretary of State Sung Kim as "US special envoy for the DPRK" to "help drive all these eff

May 22, 2021

Seoul, Washington to cooperate on overseas nuclear plant projects

South Korea and the United States announced said Friday they will broaden cooperation in the nuclear energy sector to penetrate deeper into overseas markets. "We commit to develop cooperation in overseas nuclear markets, including joint participation in nuclear power plant projects, while ensuring the highest standards of international nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation are maintained," the two countries said in a joint statement. The statement came in line with the summit

May 22, 2021

Full text of joint statement of S. Korean, US presidents

The following is the full text of a joint statement by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden released by the White House at the end of their bilateral summit in Washington on Friday. US-ROK Leaders' Joint Statement Over seventy years ago, the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea was forged on the battlefield, as we stood shoulder-to-shoulder in war. Bonded in common sacrifice, our partnership has helped to keep the peace in the decades since, al

May 22, 2021

Moon, Biden share commitment to vaccine partnership, NK dialogue

President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden agreed at their summit Friday to pursue a global COVID-19 vaccine partnership while reaffirming their commitment to dialogue with a recalcitrant North Korea. The leaders held their first in-person meeting in Washington four months after Biden took office as the pandemic rages on and Pyongyang shows no interest in resuming talks with either Seoul or Washington. Speaking in a joint press conference at the White House following their talks, Biden p

May 22, 2021

Moon-Biden summit agreement broadens alliance amid Sino-US rivalry

This week's summit agreement between South Korea and the United States on COVID-19 vaccines, tech supply chains, climate change and other non-security issues underscored a broadening of their alliance amid heightened Sino-US rivalry, analysts said Saturday. During their first in-person summit in Washington on Friday, Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden agreed on broad-based cooperation, as the US seeks to rally its democratic allies to confront shared challenges such as an assertive China and

May 22, 2021

S. Korea's health minister to meet with US health secretary

South Korea's health minister said Friday that he will hold talks with his US counterpart this week to discuss ways to cooperate on COVID-19 vaccines. Kwon Deok-cheol said his meeting with US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in Washington on Friday will be a good opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the two countries on health issues. Kwon made the comments to reporters ahead of his departure to Washington earlier in the day. The meeting comes on the sidelines of S

May 21, 2021

Expert says it's time S. Korea makes strategic choice between US, China

South Korea should make a strategic decision in the face of intensifying rivalry between the United States and China, an American expert said Friday, warning that Seoul has been increasingly isolated from the region's multilateral diplomacy due to its "ambivalent" stance. Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the point in a presentation for a seminar on the South Korea-US alliance, saying that such isolation will ultimately leave South Kor

May 21, 2021

Biden signs Asian hate crimes act

WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law an anti-Asian hate crimes act, enabling expedited federal government investigation into hate crimes targeting Asian and Pacific Islander communities. The signing of the law came one day after the House of Representatives voted 364-62 to pass the bill. The Senate had voted 94-1 to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on April 22. "For centuries, Asian Americans, native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, diverse and vibrant communitie

May 21, 2021

US welcomes chance to discuss vaccine cooperation with S. Korea: White House

WASHINGTON -- The United States welcomes the opportunity to discuss ways to help South Korea's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and how they can work together to help the rest of the world, a White House spokesperson said Thursday. Jen Psaki made the remarks one day before President Joe Biden was set to hold a bilateral summit with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in. "We certainly expect that the leaders will discuss ways the United States can support South Korea in its fight ag

May 21, 2021