South Korean President Park Geun-hye left for Tehran on Sunday on a historic trip meant to boost political and economic relations between the two countries.Park is set to meet with her Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday in the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1962. The summit will set the tone for relations at a time when the Islamic Republic has emerged as a promising market following the lifting of i

May 1, 2016

The foreign ministers of China and Japan held bilateral talks in Beijing on Saturday with the aim of improving ties strained by territorial and historical disputes. Meeting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing is willing to develop a "healthy and stable" relationship with Tokyo, according to a statement released by China's foreign ministry. But, Wang told Kishida that China would judge Japan's hope to improve relations with China by its actions,

April 30, 2016

The U.S. will lose much of its leverage in Asia if it pulls troops out of South Korea, a U.S. congressman said Friday, criticizing Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. should end defense support for allies unless they pay more."If we pull out of the Pacific and we, you know, take our troops out of Korea and take our troops out of Japan, then we lose much of the leverage," Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said on CNN. "It certainly, you know, it weakens the leverage we have against China and it, in effe

April 30, 2016

The U.S. Treasury Department put South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Germany on its "monitoring list" for foreign exchange policies Friday, but none  was designed as a currency manipulator."Korea has a significant bilateral trade surplus with the United States and a material current account surplus," the epartment said in the Report on Foreign Exchange Policies of Major rading Partners of the United States."Treasury estimates that during the second half of 2015 through March 2016, the Korean a

April 30, 2016

South Korea on Thursday endorsed a revision to the enforcement ordinance of the Passport Act to further tighten its travel bans on several conflict-laden countries, including Iraq and Syria, a move aimed at ensuring the safety of its citizens.The revision was endorsed during a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Park Geun-hye.The previous ordinance carried a clause stipulating that South Korean citizens can enter those war-prone countries only when they have to conduct humanitarian activi

April 28, 2016

South Korea, Japan and China held their first high-level talks on Arctic affairs in Seoul on Thursday, seeking to expand areas of trilateral cooperation to jointly tackle regional and global challenges including climate change.The first Trilateral High-Level Dialogue on the Arctic was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul, led by South Korean Arctic Affairs Ambassador Kim Chan-woo and his Japanese and Chinese counterparts Kazuko Shiraishi and Ma Xinmin.During a trilateral sum

April 28, 2016

LONDON (AP) -- Most people send a card, call, or post on Facebook for someone's birthday, but President Barack Obama went the extra mile on Friday -- thousands of miles, actually --  to deliver 90th birthday greetings to Queen Elizabeth II over lunch at Windsor Castle.Britain's oldest and longest-serving monarch celebrated her birthday a day earlier, the same day Obama arrived in the evening for what likely is the final visit here of his presidency. So the two heads of state sat down for an only

April 22, 2016

BEIRUT (AP) -- At least 10 people were killed Friday when airstrikes hit several rebel-held neighborhoods in Syria's contested northern city of Aleppo and neighboring Idlib province, anti-government activists said. Aleppo, Syria's largest city and former commercial center, has seen sporadic clashes since the February 27 cease-fire, as government troops advanced, boxing in opposition-held areas from all sides except for a corridor from the northwestern edge of the town. The Britain-based Syrian O

April 22, 2016

The top Ecuadorian envoy in Seoul made a desperate appeal Friday for Koreans' financial support to help his country emerge from the devastation caused by last week's massive earthquake and ensuing aftershocks that claimed nearly 600 lives.During a press conference, Ecuadorian Ambassador Oscar Herrera Gilbert underscored the severity of material damages and human casualties, and the pressing need to secure relief supplies such as tents for more than 25,300 people displaced by the quakes."Your sup

April 22, 2016

South Korea condemned a group of Japanese lawmakers Friday for paying tribute at a shrine viewed as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.More than 90 Japanese lawmakers, most of them members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visited Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine earlier in the day to mark the annual spring festival. The shrine honors millions of Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals."Our government cannot help but deplore the fact that some Japanese Cabinet members and lawmak

April 22, 2016

South Korea will provide $100,000 worth of relief supplies to Japan, which was hit by massive earthquakes last week, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Friday.Two C-130 military transport planes carrying blankets, bottled water, tents and other supplies will arrive in the worst-hit Kumamoto prefecture in southern Japan on Friday afternoon, the ministry said in a press release.Two powerful earthquakes struck the southern Japanese island of Kyushu last Thursday and Saturday, leaving nearly 60 dead and

April 22, 2016

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is considering visiting South Korea next month to attend a non-governmental organization conference nearly one year after his last visit here, a government source said Thursday.South Korea hosts U.N. Department of Public Information and Non-Governmental Organizations Conference in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers south of Seoul, from May 30 to June 1. The 66th conference will bring in U.N. officials, diplomats, policy experts and politicians to discuss education and su

April 22, 2016

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is considering visiting South Korea next month to attend a non-governmental organization conference nearly one year after his last visit here, a government source said Thursday.South Korea hosts U.N. Department of Public Information and Non-Governmental Organizations Conference in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers south of Seoul, from May 30 to June 1. The 66th conference will bring in U.N. officials, diplomats, policy experts and politicians to discuss education and su

April 21, 2016

South Korea expressed concern Thursday over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ritual offering to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, urging him to make efforts to develop a "future-oriented" bilateral relationship.Our government cannot help but express concern over the fact that he sent an offering again to the Yasukuni Shrine that glorifies the past colonial invasion and honors war criminals," Seoul's Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said during a regular press briefing."We urge th

April 21, 2016