S. Korean top nuke envoy holds virtual talks on N. Korea with senior US diplomat

South Korea's top nuclear envoy held video talks with a senior US diplomat Thursday about North Korea's denuclearization and related issues, the foreign ministry said. The talks between Noh Kyu-duk and Sung Kim, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, came as the new US administration of President Joe Biden has been conducting a review of policy on North Korea. The US has stressed that the policy review will be carried out in close consultations with South Ko

Feb. 25, 2021

Vice FM calls for multilateral responses to human rights challenges posed by new technologies

Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon has called for multilateral cooperation in addressing the challenges of new and emerging technologies to the efforts to protect human rights at a global forum, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Choi made the call at a virtual session of the Alliance for Multilateralism, a forum launched in 2019 to reinforce multilateralism, on Wednesday (Geneva time), as concerns rise that artificial intelligence and other digital technologies could hurt privacy and other

Feb. 25, 2021

US, S. Korea in consultation over Iranian assets locked in Seoul: Price

The United States and South Korea are in consultation over the possible release of Iranian assets locked in South Korea, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday. Ned Price, however, noted no Iranian funds have been released. "The government of South Korea, the ROK, has made clear it has not released the $1 billion in funds to Iran," the department spokesman told a daily press briefing. His remarks came shortly after Tehran claimed Seoul will first release $1 billion out of about

Feb. 25, 2021

FM stresses Seoul’s ‘sincerity’ in efforts to release frozen Iranian assets

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong told his Iranian counterpart Wednesday that South Korea is making sincere efforts to release Tehran’s assets frozen in Seoul, the foreign ministry said.  The phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif came a day after Tehran claimed that it had reached an agreement with Seoul on the transfer and use of $7 billion of its funds frozen in South Korean banks due to US sanctions. South Korea later said that the two sides agreed in pr

Feb. 24, 2021

US, S. Korea may discuss Iran sanctions but no money transferred yet: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States and South Korea may discuss the proposed release of Iranian funds held in South Korea, but no money has yet been transferred, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday, noting the allies often discuss such issues. Ned Price said it would not be a surprise if the allies are already in such discussions, but noted no money has been transferred yet. "We don't have a comment precisely on that, precisely because there has been no transfer of funds," the depa

Feb. 24, 2021

Vice FM says 'comfort women' tragedy must be addressed as 'universal human rights issue'

Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon has said that the tragedy surrounding victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery must be addressed as a "universal human rights issue," vowing to continue Seoul's efforts to restore their dignity. Choi made the remarks in a prerecorded speech for the virtual high-level segment of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday (Geneva time), as the issue of the wartime sexual slavery resurfaced with a Harvard professor's much-criticized claim that the

Feb. 24, 2021

US missile defense 'clearly focused' on N. Korea: Gen. Hyten

WASHINGTON -- The United States' missile defense capability is "clearly" focused on North Korea and must continue to advance to meet evolving threats from the country, the vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday. Gen. John Hyten argued the North poses one of the most immediate threats to the US in that the country has a real potential of using its weapons against the US. "Our national missile defense capability is clearly focused on North Korea right now, not

Feb. 24, 2021

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Britain discuss bilateral cooperation, G7 summit

The top diplomats of South Korea and Britain spoke over the phone Tuesday and discussed joint efforts to expand bilateral cooperation in climate change and other areas, the foreign ministry said. In the phone talks, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong agreed with his British counterpart, Dominic Raab, to use upcoming events, like the Group of Seven (G7) summit and the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G), as occasions to further strengthen cooperation. It was the first phone co

Feb. 23, 2021

Vice FM urges N. Korea to return to nuke dialogue at UN disarmament conference

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun urged North Korea on Tuesday to return to denuclearization talks, saying that the peace process on the Korean Peninsula is the path that must be taken, the foreign ministry said. Choi made the remark in a speech he delivered virtually for the high-level segment of the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, as he explained Seoul‘s ongoing efforts to engage with Pyongyang toward the goal of building a nuclear-free peninsula and lasting peace in t

Feb. 23, 2021

Seoul says unfreezing Iranian fund in Korea requires US approval first

The South Korean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said unfreezing Iranian assets held in Korean banks would require prior approval from the US, denying Tehran’s claim that a deal had already been reached.  　 On Monday, Tehran announced that the two sides had reached an agreement on transferring the frozen Iranian assets to their desired destinations, during a discussion between Central Bank of Iran Gov. Abdolnaser Hemmati and Korean Ambassador to Iran Ryu Jeong-hyun. 　 According to the

Feb. 23, 2021

US working closely with S. Korea to maintain joint defense readiness: Pentagon official

The US and South Korea have maintained an adequate level of defense readiness and will continue to do so, an official from the US Department of Defense said Monday. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also said the South Korea-US alliance will continue to remain strong as ever. "As Gen. Abrams has said many times, we do have to maintain a significant level of readiness on the peninsula," Kirby said, referring to Robert Abrams, commander of US Forces Korea. "And the secretary is confi

Feb. 23, 2021

US will build on 'Quad' to deal with China: State Dept.

The United States will continue to build on its multilateral dialogue in the Indo-Pacific, known as the Quad, to face many challenges in the region, including China, a spokesman for the US State Department said Monday. Ned Price also said the Quad will play a central role in the region. "When it comes to the Quad...it's an example of the United States and some of our closest partners pulling together for the good of a free and open Indo-Pacific," the department spokesman told a press

Feb. 23, 2021

Foreign ministry calls in Japanese diplomat over Tokyo's renewed Dokdo claims

The foreign ministry called in a Japanese diplomat in Seoul on Monday to lodge a protest over Japan's renewed claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. Kim Jung-han, the ministry's director general for Asian Pacific affairs, expressed regrets to Hirohisa Soma, deputy head of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, after the Japanese prefecture of Shimane held an annual event to publicize Japan's claim to the rocky outcroppings in the East Sea. The latest flare-up of tensions came

Feb. 22, 2021

Harvard professor urged to offer apology for 'comfort women' claims

A controversy surrounding a Harvard professor who wrote a journal article depicting victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery as voluntary prostitutes continues to escalate, with scholars, politicians and students demanding apologies and a retraction. 　 In the paper, titled “Contracting for sex in the Pacific War” and published online in the International Review of Law and Economics, Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi professor of Japanese legal studies at Harvard Law School, argued t

Feb. 21, 2021

Joint efforts of S. Korea, Japan critical to denuclearization of N. Korea: State Dept.

Any US effort to denuclearize North Korea will not be as effective without the support and close cooperation of both South Korea and Japan, a US State Department official said Friday, highlighting the importance of the two US allies working together. Ned Price, press secretary at the State Department, also said three-way cooperation between the countries is important to promoting their shared values in the Indo-Pacific region. “We know that any approach to North Korea, one that puts den

Feb. 20, 2021

Anti-Asian crimes a disgrace to US, must be stopped: US lawmakers

A group of US lawmakers,including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Friday insisted on an immediate stop to racially motivated crimes, including those targeting Asian Americans, calling them a total disgrace to the country. The call comes amid a sharp increase in anti-Asian hate crimes. “I always say, ‘Our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power,’ and we have unity on this subject. So thank you for the opportunity to salute you, and this precedent to call attention to s

Feb. 20, 2021

Diplomats of S. Korea, US, Japan agree to closely cooperate on peninsula denuclearization, peace

Diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to closely cooperate to achieve complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula in video talks Friday, the foreign ministry said. Seoul's top nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, Sung Kim, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Tokyo's foreign ministry, held the conversation to discuss North Korea-related issues.

Feb. 19, 2021

State Department says Japan's wartime sexual slavery an egregious violation of human rights

The US State Department said on Thursday that Japan's trafficking of women for sexual services during World War II was a serious violation of human rights, flatly contradicting a controversial claim by a Harvard professor that such women were rather voluntary prostitutes. "As the United States has stated many times, the trafficking of women for sexual purposes by the Japanese military during World War II was an egregious violation of human rights," a department spokesperson told Yonha

Feb. 19, 2021

Blinken agrees to regular meetings of 'Quad' foreign ministers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to regularly meet with his counterparts from three other countries that form a regional forum known as the Quad, the State Department said Thursday. The agreement was made in a virtual meeting that included Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. "They reiterated their commitment to the Quad meeting at least annually at the ministerial level

Feb. 19, 2021

FM says S. Korea, Japan can seek US' help if it's needed to resolve their rows

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Thursday that South Korea and Japan can seek help from their shared ally, the United States, if it is needed to address their protracted historical rows. Chung made the remarks in a parliamentary session, amid worries that persistent diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan could hurt Seoul's efforts to deepen cooperation with the administration of US President Joe Biden, which is intent on tightening its regional alliances. "As I recently he

Feb. 18, 2021