Pompeo to visit S. Korea next month

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will likely visit South Korea next month, government sources said Wednesday. "I heard Pompeo will come to Korea early next month," a source said. "It will be probably a two-day visit starting Oct. 7." He will also travel to Japan to meet with new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, according to another source. Seoul and Washington are in talks to set up Pompeo's South Korean schedule, including meetings President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minist

Sept. 24, 2020

KDCA head, Bong Joon-ho included on TIME 100 list of influential people

 Two South Korean figures -- Jeong Eun-kyeong and Bong Joon-ho -- have been included on the TIME 100 list of the world's most influential people of 2020, the magazine announced Wednesday. Jeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), made the list in the leaders category, with Bong Joon-ho, director of the Oscar-winning Korean film "Parasite," chosen in the artists sector.  Jeong has been serving as the "field commander" of the c

Sept. 23, 2020

S. Korea, US hold nuclear security working group session

South Korea and the United States held a video-linked session of their Nuclear Security Working Group on Wednesday to discuss cooperation on the minimization of the use of highly enriched uranium and other issues, the foreign ministry said. The group is among the four working groups under the High-Level Bilateral Commission, which was launched in 2016 following the 2015 revision of the two countries' nuclear energy cooperation agreement. Park Il, the ministry's director-general for nonprolif

Sept. 23, 2020

New defense minister pushing to visit US next month for first talks with Esper: officials

Defense Minister Suh Wook is likely to visit the United States next month for his first talks with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, officials said Wednesday. Discussions are under way with the US about the new minister traveling to Washington for annual defense ministers' talks between the two countries, known as the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), defense ministry officials said. The visit, if realized, will also be Suh's first overseas trip since taking office last week to replace Jeo

Sept. 23, 2020

Moon calls for fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccine at UN

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for the fair distribution to all countries of vaccines and therapeutics against COVID-19, stressing that “solidarity and cooperation” will prevail against the virus. Addressing the high-level meeting commemorating the 75th anniversary of the United Nations via satellite link, Moon said the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undermine the multilateralism embodied by the UN and proposed three ideas for overcoming the crisis. Stressing the efforts

Sept. 22, 2020

[Newsmaker] Seoul mediates again in diplomat’s alleged groping of New Zealander

The Foreign Ministry has resumed mediation between one of its diplomats and a male staffer in New Zealand who accused the diplomat of groping him in late 2017. 　 The ministry said it has informed the purported victim of its mediation on the case, and is awaiting his reply.　 Under New Zealand labor law, an employee can seek a settlement for an employer’s misconduct against him through the help of a mediator.　 In this case, the administrative staffer, a New Zealander, is the employee, and

Sept. 22, 2020

BTS to deliver 'message of hope' at 75th UN General Assembly

K-pop superstar BTS will deliver a special message at the 75th United Nations General Assembly this week, returning to the annual UN gathering as a speaker in two years, according to UNICEF's South Korean committee Tuesday. According to the Korean Committee for UNICEF, BTS' "message of hope" will be broadcast at 9 a.m. Wednesday (US time) during the high-level meeting of the UN Group of Friends of Solidarity for Global Health Security. The South Korean boy band will talk about the d

Sept. 22, 2020

Trump says Samsung, LG building plants in US thanks to his tariffs on imports

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday that South Korean home appliance makers Samsung and LG are building plants in the United States to avoid tariffs he imposed on imports, claiming credit for creating jobs and protecting American workers. "South Korea and China, they're dumping washing machines. They make washing machines, they dump them into our market, they put everybody out of business, then they charge a lot of money when everyone's gone," Trump said in a campaign

Sept. 22, 2020

Countries issue joint statement calling for fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines

South Korea, the European Union and 13 other countries issued a joint statement Monday calling for "a sufficient and equitable" worldwide distribution of coronavirus vaccines. The statement by the Friends of the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility came as part of ongoing international efforts to launch a multilateral platform aimed at securing safe and fair access and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. "The Friends of the COVAX Facility strongly support vaccine mu

Sept. 21, 2020

Suga hopes for 'forward-looking' ties with S. Korea in letter to President Moon

Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, expressed hope for "forward-looking" relations with South Korea as "important neighbors" in his recent letter to President Moon Jae-in, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. Suga sent a reply to Moon on Saturday for his congratulatory message, as he was sworn in as the successor of Shinzo Abe, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Suga said he hopes that the two sides will establish forward-looking ties by overcoming "diff

Sept. 21, 2020

IHO's expected new numerical system likely to help resolve East Sea naming dispute

An international organization on maritime data is expected to adopt new guidelines later this year to refer to all seas by numbers, rather than specific names, officials said Monday, a move expected to affect a long-running dispute between South Korea and Japan over what to call the East Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) plans to brief its member states on the results of discussions about how to revise the "future of limits on oceans and seas," known as "S-23

Sept. 21, 2020

S. Korea expresses ‘deep regret’ as Japan’s Abe visits wartime shrine

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed deep regret over former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead. The shrine honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals. Visits there by ranking Tokyo officials have often provoked the ire of neighboring countries such as South Korea and China, which suffered from Japan’s brutal war crimes. “We express our deepest concern and regret that Abe paid a

Sept. 20, 2020

Russia to resume flights to and from S. Korea this month

Russia plans to allow the resumption of flights to and from South Korea late this month, Russia's state coronavirus crisis center said.  Russia banned the entry of foreign nationals and international flights in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has been lifting the ban gradually since August.  The government body announced Friday that flights between Moscow and Incheon, west of Seoul, will restart on Sept. 27 on a weekly basis.  Operations to and from Belarus, Kyrgyzs

Sept. 19, 2020

FM Kang sees slim chance of US-NK talks before US election

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Friday chances are slim of progress in stalled nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea before the US presidential election in November. Kang made the remarks during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Hanoi after talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. "Chances are small that something will happen between North Korea and the United States before the US election," she said when asked about the possibility

Sept. 18, 2020

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Vietnam hold talks on easing of COVID-19 entry curbs, bilateral ties

The top diplomats of South Korea and Vietnam held talks in Hanoi on Friday to discuss the easing of coronavirus entry restrictions for essential business travelers, bilateral ties and regional issues. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, shared the understanding on the need to introduce a special entry procedure for businesspeople travelling between the two countries, the foreign ministry said. In particular, Minh noted that measures to allow South K

Sept. 18, 2020

S. Korea’s Yoo advances to second round in race for top post at WTO

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee has advanced to the second round in the race to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization.   The WTO announced the results of the first round of voting on Friday, selecting five of the eight candidates to proceed to the next round. They are Yoo, Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri from Saudi Arabia, Liam Fox from the UK, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria and Amina Mohamed from Kenya. Three other candidates -- from Egypt, Moldova and Mexico

Sept. 18, 2020

S. Korean scholar elected to UN Human Rights Committee

A South Korean expert on human rights has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors civil and political rights, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.  Soh Chang-rok, a professor based at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies, will serve a four-year term starting in 2021 as one of 18 individual experts on the committee, which oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its member stat

Sept. 18, 2020

Mend Japan ties, Assembly ex-speakers urge

Former South Korean National Assembly speakers are urging Seoul and Tokyo to mend ties, saying that allowing bilateral relations to remain in their current state is detrimental to both countries. In an interview with a local diplomacy journal, four former National Assembly speakers -- Chung Ui-hwa, Moon Hee-sang, Lim Chae-jung and Kim Hyung-o, who served in the role between 2004 and 2020 -- said Korea-Japan relations must not be allowed to continue on their current course and proposed ways to

Sept. 17, 2020

S. Korea, US, Japan should work together against assertive China: Knapper

South Korea, the United States and Japan should work together to protect shared liberal values against Chinese threats undermining such principles, a US State Department official said Thursday. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, made the remark as he expressed hope for Seoul and Tokyo to mend their ties badly frayed over wartime history so as to promote trilateral cooperation for security in the region. "Our three countries share the values of freedo

Sept. 17, 2020

S. Korean Foreign Minister heads to Vietnam for talks on fast-track entry program

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday left for Vietnam for talks with her counterpart there on introducing an expedited entry program for essential visitors from South Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We will have to consult intensively. There still remain a lot of parts that need to be coordinated,” Kang told reporters at the Incheon International Airport as she departs for Hanoi for a two-day trip, when asked about the prospect of a fast-track entry pro

Sept. 17, 2020