China blocks access to popular S. Korean drama amid THAAD row

A popular South Korean fantasy-romance drama, "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," has disappeared from China's social media platform Weibo, industry sources said Monday, as it appears to have fallen prey to China's retaliation against Seoul's move to deploy an advanced US missile defense system.The drama's suspension came at a time when China has blocked access to newly updated clips of South Korean music and dramas on the country's online video sharing platforms. This provided image shows a p

Feb. 27, 2017

S. Korea, US, Japan to discuss N. Korea's assassination during trilateral talks: official

The recent killing of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be a key topic when South Korea, the United States and Japan hold trilateral strategy talks on how to deal with Pyongyang, an official said Sunday.Kim Hong-kyun, Seoul's chief negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue, made the remark upon arriving in Washington for the trilateral talks with his US and Japanese counterparts Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, respectively. (Yonhap)The meeting, set for Monday, takes plac

Feb. 27, 2017

Japan to decide on envoy's return after 'comfort women' statue relocation

Japan will decide when its top envoy will return to Seoul after seeing whether a statue symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery will be relocated in Busan. The move followed the delivery of an official letter from South Korea's foreign ministry to municipalities asking for the relocation, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said Sunday.South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday it sent the letter to the Busan regional government, the city's dong ward office and the Busan municipal

Feb. 26, 2017

China blocks access to streaming services of S. Korean pop culture

China has blocked access to newly updated clips of South Korean music and dramas on the country's online video sharing platforms, sources said Sunday, in an apparent bid to retaliate against Seoul's move to deploy an advanced US missile defense system. The move followed China's decision to prevent South Korean pop stars from appearing on Chinese entertainment programs since October as South Korea decided in July last year to station the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system on its soil.(Lov

Feb. 26, 2017

S. Korea, US, Japan nuke envoys to discuss N. Korean missile, assassination

Senior officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan will meet in Washington next week to coordinate their policies toward North Korea, including the recent assassination of its leader's half brother, according to the foreign ministry Thursday.The three countries' top envoys on the North Korean nuclear issue will sit together on Monday in their first joint meeting since the President Donald Trump administration took office last month. (Yonhap)"The meeting will be taking place very time

Feb. 23, 2017

Foreign ministry asks for local government's cooperation in resolving sex slavery statue dispute

South Korea's foreign ministry has sent an official letter to local municipalities in the southeastern city of Busan, asking for cooperation in resolving diplomatic rifts with Japan over a statue symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, officials said Thursday. In December, civic groups installed the girl statue in front of the Japanese consulate in the nation's second largest city. Japan demanded an immediate removal and recalled its ambassador to South Korea in protest last m

Feb. 23, 2017

Sen. Gardner calls for relisting N. Korea as state sponsor of terrorism

A US senator called Wednesday for adding North Korea back to the State Department list of states sponsoring terrorism, saying the regime's recent assassination of its leader's half brother shows its "brutality."Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), a leading voice in Congress for greater pressure on Pyongyang, made the comments to Yonhap News Agency after Malaysian police identified two additional North Koreans, including a diplomat, as suspects in the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the leader's estranged brother

Feb. 23, 2017

Korea strongly denounces Japan for renewing its claim to Dokdo

South Korea on Wednesday denounced Japan for sending a high-ranking official to a local event aimed at promoting its territorial claim to Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo."We strongly protest Japan's central government for maintaining its unjustified claim to Dokdo by sending a high-ranking official again to the so-called Dokdo Day held by Shimane Prefecture," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "We demand an immediate stop to the attempt." South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Ju

Feb. 22, 2017

Talks with N. Korea would give Trump same old lesson Pyongyang isn't interested in disarming: ex-official

Even if US President Donald Trump gives negotiations with North Korea a shot, he would end up learning the same lesson his predecessors learned that North Korea isn't interested in giving up its nuclear weapons, a former senior White House official said Tuesday.Evan Medeiros, who served as senior Asian affairs director at the National Security Council under former President Barack Obama, made the remark on CNBC television amid growing calls for reopening negotiations with the North to curb its n

Feb. 22, 2017

Foreign minister Yun dissuades Tillerson from reward-for-nuclear freeze deal with N. Korea: sources

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se has voiced South Korea's reservations about any US agreement with North Korea that would reward Pyongyang for a nuclear freeze, sources said Tuesday, referring to the policymaker's recent talks with American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.Instead, any deal with Pyongyang should aim to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" manner, the sources quoted Yun as telling Tillerson during their talks in Bonn, Germany o

Feb. 21, 2017

NYT calls for Trump to negotiate freeze on NK nuclear program

US President Donald Trump should negotiate a freeze on North Korea's nuclear production as well as its nuclear and missile testing, even though completely ending the program should be the goal, the New York Times said Monday.The paper made the case in an editorial, arguing that "only a new round of engagement, backed by tougher sanctions, may hold any promise" and warning that the North now possesses the fuel for perhaps as many as 21 nuclear weapons and is steadily building its ability to deliv

Feb. 21, 2017

ASEAN, Korea hash over cultural cooperation

The ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul held its ninth annual council meeting Thursday, hashing out issues to strengthen bilateral ties while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As this is the ASEAN-Korea Cultural Exchange year, events are scheduled on both sides, particularly in May and June. The discussion involving 11 high-level representatives from ASEAN and Korea focused on bolstering two-way cultural ties, according to the center. At the reception at L

Feb. 20, 2017

Lord mayor of London visits Korea to bolster commerce

Andrew Parmley, the lord mayor of the City of London, is visiting Korea this week to strengthen bilateral commercial ties and promote Britain as the leading business hub of Europe. His visit on Tuesday and Wednesday is his second in the last six months, as the UK government strives to shore up economic partnerships around the world ahead of the country’s anticipated exit from the European Union. British Prime Minister Theresa May has stated that she intends to trigger the process by invoking Art

Feb. 20, 2017

‘Local government an apt instrument of diplomacy’

In a globalized world, the mantle of international cooperation falls not only in the hands of national government, but legitimately on local government, according to the new president of the Korean Association for Local Government Studies.Professor Yun Eun-gee of Dong-A University in Busan, who teaches public administration, will become the 19th president of the academic organization in March for one year.“As political, administrative and fiscal authorities are transferred downward across advanc

Feb. 20, 2017

Canada celebrates 150th anniversary of Confederation

Marking the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation, there will be a series of cultural and educational events in Korea this year, according to the Canadian Embassy in Seoul.The Canadian Confederation refers to the process by which the former British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were united into one Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. The new federal state was then composed of the four provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Since the confederation,

Feb. 20, 2017

Preparations under way to set up unofficial talks in New York between N. Korea, US: report

Talks are under way to bring senior North Korean officials to New York in the coming weeks for unofficial talks with former US officials, a news report said Sunday.Choe Son-hui, director-general at the North Korean Foreign Ministry in charge of US affairs, is expected to lead the North's delegation should the "Track 1.5" talks take place in the next few weeks, The Washington Post reported, citing unidentified sources. (Yonhap)Donald S. Zagoria, senior vice president of the National Committee on

Feb. 20, 2017

State Department urges China to use 'unique leverage' over N. Korea

The United States on Sunday kept up its demand for China to use its "unique leverage" on North Korea to pressure the regime in Pyongyang after Beijing suspended coal imports from the neighboring nation.China's Commerce Ministry announced Saturday it is suspending North Korean coal imports starting Sunday through the end of the year in accordance with the latest UN Security Council resolution adopted in December to punish Pyongyang for its fifth nuclear test in September. (Yonhap)The resolution c

Feb. 20, 2017

US lawmakers call for relisting N. Korea as state sponsor of terrorism

Calls are growing in the US Congress for relisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in the wake of Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile test and the killing of the half brother of the North's leader."North Korea illegally launched yet another menacing ballistic missile. This was a high-tech, pre-fueled rocket that can be launched quickly. This type of rocket has a range of about 1,800 miles -- thus, making it an immediate threat to South Korea and Japan, as well as our troops that are

Feb. 20, 2017

Korea, Japan fail to iron out differences on girl statue issue

Top diplomats of South Korea and Japan held bilateral talks on Friday but failed to iron out differences over a controversial statue as they remained firm on their own stances, a government source said.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida met in the German city of Bonn on the sidelines of a group of 20 meeting. The meeting comes amid friction over the girl statue civic groups recently installed before the Japanese consulate in the South Korean por

Feb. 18, 2017

Tillerson urges China to 'use all available tools' to rein in N. Korea

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged China on Friday to "use all available tools" to rein in North Korea when he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his spokesman said.The meeting took place in the Germany city of Bonn on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of 20 nations. It was the first time the top diplomats from the two countries have met since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.(Yonhap)"Secretary Tillerson also highlighted the increasing t

Feb. 18, 2017