US commission claims launch of 'Quad Plus' denied by US govt.

WASHINGTON -- An expanded security forum has taken root in the Indo-Pacific region, a US commission reported Thursday, despite consistent US government denials of any attempt to broaden the so-called Quad. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission claimed China's increasingly assertive behavior has led to an increase in cohesion among the countries participating in the multilateral forum, known as the Quad, initially consisting of the United States, Japan, India and Australia. "

Dec. 4, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae denies report of S. Korea-China-Japan summit postponement

The South Korean presidential office on Thursday denied a news report that an annual trilateral summit between South Korea, China and Japan, which Seoul plans to host this year, will be postponed to next year. Japan's Nikkei reported earlier in the day that the hosting of this year's annual three-way summit will be delayed as the environment in which South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga can meet in person has not been arranged. "No decision has b

Dec. 3, 2020

2nd Vice FM to visit Vietnam for bilateral, Mekong talks

Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho will depart for Vietnam on Thursday for bilateral talks and a multilateral business forum with the Southeast Asian partners in the Mekong region, the foreign ministry said. During the three-day trip, Lee will attend the South Korea-Mekong Business Forum, an annual conference consisting of Korea and the five countries near the Mekong River -- Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, the ministry said in a release. The meeting will be held via video

Dec. 3, 2020

S. Korea denounces killing of Iranian nuclear scientist

South Korea on Wednesday denounced the assassination of a leading Iranian nuclear scientist as a criminal act that does not help bring stability and peace in the region. The foreign ministry's comment came after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear weapons expert, was killed in a bomb and gun attack on a road outside Tehran last week, amplifying tensions between Iran and neighboring nations. "We stress that this kind of violent criminal act is not conducive to stability and peace in the Middle E

Dec. 2, 2020

Berlin district council passes resolution seeking permanent installation of sex slave statue

BERLIN -- A Berlin district council has passed a resolution seeking to keep a statue of a girl symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery permanently installed at a public site, officials and reports said Wednesday. The resolution, approved by a majority vote at Berlin's Mitte district parliament on Tuesday (Berlin time), calls for measures to have the statue remain in the district while extending the statue's installation period by another six weeks to September next year. The

Dec. 2, 2020

US encouraged by S. Korea-Japan efforts to address differences: Knapper

The United States was "encouraged" by recent efforts by South Korea and Japan to "address their differences," a State Department official said Wednesday, highlighting the need for trilateral cooperation against North Korean nuclear and missile threats. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan at the East Asian and Pacific affairs bureau, made the remark in a webinar, apparently referring to a series of visits to Japan by senior South Korean officials on t

Dec. 2, 2020

US wants allies to call out 'bad behavior' from China: Knapper

WASHINGTON -- The United States is not asking its allies, including South Korea and Japan, to sever their ties with China but to call out bad behavior, a senior US diplomat said Tuesday. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, also said his country understands its two Asian allies have a very unique relationship with China. "First of all, we recognize both Japan and South Korea have very complex, very nuanced relations with the People's Republic of China, in

Dec. 2, 2020

FM Kang to visit Bahrain, UAE this week

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will visit Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates this week, in a move to bolster cooperation with countries in the Middle East, her office said Tuesday.  Kang is set to travel to Bahrain from Friday to Saturday, during which she will attend the Manama Dialogue, an annual security conference held in Bahrain’s capital that involves security and political officials and experts in the region.  At the forum, she is set to deliver a speech about globa

Dec. 1, 2020

S. Korea, UN disarmament office to hold joint conference on emerging weapons technologies

South Korea and the UN disarmament office will hold a joint conference on disarmament and nonproliferation this week, with a focus on emerging weapons, such as killer robots and hypersonic missiles, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The 19th Joint Conference on Disarmament and Nonproliferation Issues will take place via video links Wednesday for a two-day run, with government officials and think tank experts from more than 20 countries, as well as those from international organizations, expect

Dec. 1, 2020

Seoul, Washington hold first defense cost-sharing talks since US election

South Korea and the US held defense cost-sharing talks for the first time since the US presidential election, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.   　 During the talks, held via a videoconference Monday evening here, Korea’s chief negotiator Jeong Eun-bo and US counterpart Donna Welton agreed to “closely work together to swiftly reach an agreement that is fair and mutually acceptable,” the ministry said.    The meeting was attended by officials from Seoul’

Dec. 1, 2020

FM to visit Bahrain, UAE this week

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will travel to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this week for a security conference and meetings with senior officials of the two countries, her office said Tuesday. Kang will make a two-day trip to Bahrain starting Friday, during which she will attend the Manama Dialogue, a multilateral security meeting involving countries in the Middle East and Europe, the United States and others, the ministry said in a release. She is scheduled to give a spee

Dec. 1, 2020

US has no plan to establish NATO-like security headquarters in Asia Pacific: Knapper

The United States has no plan as of yet to establish a NATO-like regional security headquarters in the Asia Pacific, a State Department official said in an interview video released Tuesday. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan at the East Asian and Pacific affairs bureau, made the remark in a pre-recorded interview with the US Embassy in Seoul, referring to the Quad, a US-led security forum involving Australia, India and Japan. "At this point, there is no plan to c

Dec. 1, 2020

S. Korea, US are not just allies but family: Ambassador Harris

South Korea and the United States are not just mere friends or allies but "family," and their alliance will remain ironclad based on their deeply shared values, US Ambassador Harry Harris said Tuesday. Harris made the remarks during a peace conference held in Seoul and via video link to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, saying the alliance between the two countries has only grown stronger since the war. "The US and other sending states came to

Dec. 1, 2020

IHO finalizes agreement on marking global sea areas in numbers amid East Sea naming row

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has officially adopted new guidelines to identify seas by numbers instead of names, officials said Tuesday, a decision expected to help ease a long-running row over what to call the body of water between South Korea and Japan. IHO member states had reached a consensus during last month's General Assembly on the proposal to adopt a new digital dataset, known as S-130, as a standard for a world map of oceans. Under the proposal, the current standa

Dec. 1, 2020

S. Korea, US hold first defense cost talks since US election

South Korea and the United States held defense cost talks for the first time since the US presidential election and reaffirmed their principle to seek a fair and mutually acceptable deal, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. During the video talks held Monday night (Korea time), South Korea's chief negotiator Jeong Eun-bo and his US counterpart Donna Welton agreed to "closely work together to swiftly reach an agreement that is fair and mutually acceptable," the ministry said. The nego

Dec. 1, 2020

S. Korea mulls postponing UN peacekeeping conference amid pandemic

South Korea is considering postponing the hosting of a UN ministerial conference on peacekeeping operations slated for next year amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Monday. Defense Minister Suh Wook, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and other senior officials held a preparatory meeting for the UN conference set for April and discussed adjusting the event schedule "in consideration of the COVID-19 situation and opinions from the UN and member states," the defense ministry said

Nov. 30, 2020

S. Korea to provide $700,000 aid to hurricane-hit Latin American nations

South Korea will provide $700,000 worth of humanitarian aid to Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua to help them cope with damage from Hurricane Iota, the foreign ministry said Friday. The Latin American countries were devastated Monday by the category 5 hurricane, the biggest storm this year in the Atlantic Ocean. "Our government hopes that the aid will help the peoples of those countries facing hardship in recovery, due to the stronger hurricane than the previous Hurricane Eta," the mi

Nov. 27, 2020

Wang stresses two Koreas should determine peninsula’s fate

China’s top diplomat on Friday said the two Koreas should decide the fate of the Korean Peninsula themselves, while stressing his country will serve a “constructive role” to bring peace on the peninsula.  “South and North Korea are indeed the true masters of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, the fate of the peninsula should be given to the two Koreas,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during his meeting with National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seung. &

Nov. 27, 2020

Ex-presidential secretary to Moon appointed ambassador to Spain

South Korea appointed Bahk Sahng-hoon, former protocol secretary to President Moon Jae-in, as ambassador to Spain in a regular reshuffle that included 15 other new ambassadors and consul generals.  Bahk, a career diplomat who previously served as ambassador to Panama, is known for his expertise in Latin America affairs and fluency in the Spanish language, the foreign ministry said Friday. Lee Kwang-ho, vice consul-general to the Chinese city of Wuhan who became known for spearheading an

Nov. 27, 2020

Over 70% of S. Koreans support Seoul's role as 'facilitator' in nuclear talks in Biden administration

A majority of South Koreans agree that Seoul should play the role of a "facilitator" to push the stalled nuclear negotiations forward between the United States and North Korea, a survey showed Friday. According to the Nov. 20-21 survey of 1,000 adults by the National Unification Advisory Council, 73.9 percent said South Korea should serve as a "facilitator" in nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang after US President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Among them, 35.3 pe

Nov. 27, 2020