Korea, Australia voice concerns over NK nukes, call for diplomatic efforts

South Korea and Australia voiced strong concerns Friday over rising tensions caused by North Korea's continued provocations and emphasized the importance of diplomatic efforts to tackle the current nuclear stalemate.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Defense Minister Song Young-moo met with their Australian counterparts, Julie Bishop and Marise Payne, in Seoul for the third biennial "two-plus-two" talks, which were launched in 2013."We shared our deep concerns that the North's nuclear threats h

Oct. 13, 2017

China asks S. Koreans to evacuate due to NK abduction risks

Chinese police asked South Korean citizens near the North Korea-China border to evacuate the area due to risks of an attack and abduction by the North, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “We are aware that Chinese authorities have suggested South Korean citizens there evacuate on the possibility of an attack by North Korea,” the ministry here said.  Border bridge connecting North Korea`s Manpo and China`s Jian. (Yonhap)Local media reports said Tuesday that Chinese police warned around 10 So

Oct. 12, 2017

[Herald Interview] Latvian leader backs PyeongChang

RIGA, Latvia – Latvia will participate in next year’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics despite security concerns over North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, its president Raimonds Vejonis has confirmed. In an interview with Korean media, the leader also confirmed his official visit to South Korea in February, timed to coincide with the sports event. Latvian president Raimonds Vejonis (Yonhap)“I will be the first Latvian president to visit your country,” Vejonis told a group of Korean repo

Oct. 9, 2017

Tillerson carries full agenda as he prepares to visit China

 U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is making his second trip to China since taking office in February, and relations between the two world powers have rarely mattered so much.    The standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons has entered a new, dangerous phase as its leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump exchange personal insults and threats of war with no sign of a diplomatic solution.    Even as Washington and Beijing grapple with that security crisis, Trump wants action from Ch

Sept. 29, 2017

Korea's new amb. calls for more efforts to clear China's misunderstanding on THAAD

South Korea's new top envoy to Beijing said Friday that it is necessary to assure China both politically and technologically that a US missile defense system installed here is not targeting it.Noh Young-min, set to leave for China next month, said that he will do his utmost to remove any misunderstandings that China has about the armament called THAAD by meeting Chinese leaders and experts. (Yonhap)"I think that China will believe if we explain with sincerity that it was installed to defend agai

Sept. 29, 2017

Foreign ministry unveils road map to tackle closed, male-dominated organization

South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday that it will fill up to 20 percent of its manager-level positions with women under the current Moon Jae-in administration.The ministry also plans to launch a new office that will serve as a control tower to coordinate its diplomatic polices, while consolidating divisions and teams doing similar work as part of efforts to streamline its structure. They are part of a self-reform road map unveiled Friday after its monthslong review of what needs to be done

Sept. 29, 2017

Foreign ministry to unveil self-reform roadmap this week

South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday that it will this week unveil a roadmap to reform and renew itself after conducting a monthslong review of what needs to be done.A task force was launched in July to come up with measures to tackle problems deemed to be hurting the competitiveness and structural health of the ministry.  Foreign Minister nominee Kang Kyung-wha (Yonhap)"Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will unveil the innovation roadmap Friday," ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told a regu

Sept. 28, 2017

Korea's outgoing amb. to China hopes things have 'bottomed out'

The outgoing South Korean ambassador to China hoped Wednesday that his country's relations with China, which have been strained over a US missile defense system, have already bottomed out and will only improve going forward.Kim Jang-soo said he feels sorry for Korean people, businesses and small merchants hit hard by the fallout from the prolonged feud over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to South Korea."I just hope that while I was there, things had already bott

Sept. 27, 2017

FM emphasizes importance of alliance with US, asks for full parliamentary support

South Korea's top diplomat has emphasized the importance of alliance with the United States in dealing with the evolving threat from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and called for full support from the US parliament, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held discussions with bipartisan groups of lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives in back-to-back meetings in Washington on Tuesday, according to the ministry. Kang had talks sepa

Sept. 27, 2017

No country has opted out of PyeongChang Olympics for security reasons: Seoul

Not a single country has officially decided not to join the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics so far despite tension over North Korea's provocations, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday, vowing to ensure the safety of the global sports event.  "The South Korean government is making the utmost efforts to make the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics safe events," foreign ministry spokesman Nok Kyu-duk said in a press briefing. "Regarding the concerns some countries have expresse

Sept. 26, 2017

[Herald Interview] US deputy governor upholds S. Korea-US alliance, FTA

US President Donald Trump‘s use of personal communications channels to voice views on North Korea is a cause of concern, state of Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib says. “I have had the privilege of being briefed by the Council on Foreign Relations and nobody that I know of in the diplomatic or foreign relations community believes it is helpful for President Trump to be using his personal communication channel in this fashion in resolving this conflict,” said Habib, who is a CFR member, while sitt

Sept. 26, 2017

Comfort women monument not in breach of deal with Japan: Seoul

South Korea's plan to install a memorial monument for women sexually enslaved by the imperial Japanese army during World War II does not run counter to the country's 2015 agreement signed with Japan to settle the wartime atrocity issue, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.The stance came in response to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga's criticism of the South Korean gender ministry's plan to build a memorial monument at the National Mang-Hyang Cemetery, a resting place in Cheonan, c

Sept. 26, 2017

Late Dutch Korean War vet to be laid to rest in Korea

The cremated remains of a Dutch veteran, who fought for South Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean War, will be buried in the country next week in accordance with his wishes, the veterans affairs ministry said Thursday."A ceremony to receive the remains of the late Johan Theodoor Aldewereld of the Netherlands, who participated in the Korean War as a UN soldier, will be held at Incheon International Airport on Monday, with the minister presiding over it," the ministry said. The remains will be laid

Sept. 21, 2017

Senators call for Trump to fill vacant Korean-affairs posts promptly

A group of 10 US Democratic senators has urged US President Donald Trump to quickly fill major posts in charge of Korean affairs that have been vacant for months, given escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a US broadcaster reported Thursday. The senators made the demand in a joint letter Friday, saying it is very worrisome that the posts are still vacant despite the tensions, Voice of America said. US President Donald Trump (AP-Yonhap)The roles the senators pinpointed are ambassador to S

Sept. 21, 2017

Korean leader to attend UN assembly, hold bilateral talks

NEW YORK -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set for a series of bilateral talks with other global leaders in New York on Tuesday, following his participation in the opening of the UN General Assembly.The new South Korean leader will begin the second day of his four-day visit here with a meeting with International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach, in which he is widely expected to call for stepping up of joint efforts between his country and the IOC to ensure a successful 2018 Winter Oly

Sept. 19, 2017

Korea, US, Japan in talks to set up trilateral summit: official

South Korea, the United States and Japan are in talks about holding a trilateral summit in New York later this month when their leaders gather for the UN General Assembly, a presidential official said Wednesday.Earlier in the day, a Japanese newspaper reported that fine-tuning is under way to set up a meeting among President Moon Jae-in, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the UN session.Asked to confirm the report, an official at Seoul's presiden

Sept. 13, 2017

Seoul working to identify Koreans among IS family members

The Korean government is looking into recent reports that its citizens were sighted among more than 1,000 wives and children of suspected Islamic State group fighters detained in Iraq.“We are currently working with the Iraqi government, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Committee of the Red Cross through our embassy in Iraq to look further into the matter,” the Foreign Ministry here said Tuesday.  A woman and a small child lie on the floor of a tent in a camp for di

Sept. 12, 2017

Ranking US lawmakers urge Trump to strengthen Korea alliance

WASHINGTON -- Two ranking US lawmakers urged President Donald Trump on Monday to bolster Washington's alliance with South Korea in the face of North Korea's escalating threat and China's growing regional influence.Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, and Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), chairman of the subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, said it was clear the bilateral relationship has never been more important in their letter to Trump reflecting on their recent trip

Sept. 12, 2017

PM discusses economic cooperation with chairman of Oman's lower house of parliament

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met with the chairman of Oman's lower house of parliament Monday, and discussed ways to bolster economic and other ties between the two countries, his office said.Khalid Al-Maawali, chairman of the Consultative Assembly of Oman, arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a five-day trip at the invitation of South Korean National Assembly Speaker Chung Se-kyun. It was his first trip to South Korea.Lee welcomed Al-Maawali, saying relations between the two countries have moved

Sept. 11, 2017

Former German chancellor to visit sexual slavery victims this week

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will come to South Korea early this week to meet people forced to endure World War II sexual slavery, an organization representing the victims said Sunday.Schroeder is due to visit the House of Sharing, a shelter for the surviving victims of the sexual enslavement in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, located on the outskirts of Seoul, on Monday, the organization said.During the war that ended in 1945, as many as 200,000 South Korean women were estimated to ha

Sept. 10, 2017