S. Korea joins U.N. resolution on N. Korea's human rights

South Korea has joined hands with Japan and the European Union in drafting a resolution on North Korea's human rights situation, calling on the United Nations to refer the case to an "appropriate" international justice mechanism, officials here said Tuesday.The resolution led by Japan and the EU was presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Sunday, with member states working on details for possible revisions.It condemned the communist country "in the strongest terms" for its "systematic, wid

March 25, 2014

Park discusses economic cooperation with Dutch P.M.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye met bilaterally with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday and discussed ways to expand economic cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, her office said.The meeting took place in The Hague on the sidelines of a global leaders' summit on anti-nuclear terrorism opening later Monday for a two-day run. South Korea hosted the biennial Nuclear Security Summit in 2012 that was initiated by U.S. President Barack Oba

March 23, 2014

Probe launched into Qingdao consul amid sex trade claims

The Foreign Ministry said Sunday it will dispatch a group of officials to the consulate-general in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao to look into allegations that a consul there failed to pay after having sex with prostitutes. In a complaint made Saturday by a former local hire, part of the mission’s budget is allegedly misused for unintended purposes, while the consul-general has been pocketing some of funds allotted for public events. The ministry said it will launch an investigation on the

March 23, 2014

Korea, Russia discuss railway, logistics projects

Deputy foreign ministers of South Korea and Russia met on Tuesday for bilateral consultations on topics including railway and logistics projects that involve North Korea, according to an official at the Russian Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday.1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tai-young and Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo sat down with Igor V. Morgulov, Russian deputy minister of foreign affairs, for talks along with Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin Vnukov.Lee

March 23, 2014

Envoys briefed on risks from intelligence failure in Korea

North Korea is the country one might think of first during a discussion about intelligence and the risks of a possible intelligence failure, but what are the risks from intelligence missteps right here in South Korea?About three dozen researchers, executives and foreign envoys of countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa attended a luncheon lecture on the risks associated with intelligence failure during the Asia Society Korea Center’s March luncheon lecture at the ASEAN-Korea Centre in

March 23, 2014

Japan's Abe plots warmer ties with S. Korea ahead of summit

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated Sunday that he wanted Tokyo and Seoul to put wartime enmities behind them ahead of his first meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.Relations between the two countries are at their lowest ebb in years, mired in emotive issues linked to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule and a territorial dispute, as well as Japan's use of "comfort women" in wartime brothels.Abe left Tokyo's Haneda airport for a three-day visit to the Netherlands to attend a Nucl

March 23, 2014

U.S. says trilateral summit with S. Korea, Japan will show its security commitment to Asia

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Friday next week's trilateral summit meeting between the U.S., South Korea and Japan is of great significance in that it will demonstrateWashington's unswerving security commitment to Northeast Asia.National Security Adviser Susan Rice emphasized that the Obama administration stays focused on its policy of re-balancing toward Asia."After a period of tension, we will bring together two of our closest allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, in a trilateral meeti

March 22, 2014

Park, China's Xi to hold talks during nuclear summit in The Hague

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague next week, China's foreign ministry said Thursday. China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the announcement during a regular press briefing. Xi will also hold bilateral talks with U.S. President Barack Obama as well as the leaders of Britain, Finland and Kazakhstan, Hong said, without elaborating. It will be Park and Xi's second sum

March 20, 2014

N. Korea, China discuss ways to resume nuclear talks: Beijing

China's top negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue, Wu Dawei, has been holding talks with his North Korean counterpart in Pyongyang on restarting the six-party talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday. Wu arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, the North's state media said in a one-line report, without giving details of his itinerary.China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters during a regular press briefing that Wu has b

March 19, 2014

German state finance minister pitches $1.4b in bonds

The finance minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia pitched $1.4 billion in treasury bonds, as well as ways Seoul can completely eliminate tax evasion, during his visit in Seoul on Thursday. Finance Minister Norbert Walter-Borjans of North Rhine-Westphalia talked up investing in the state’s recent issuance of over a billion dollars in bonds, as well as creating people-friendly tax payment procedures to completely eradicate tax evasion. Walter-Borjans was on a whirlwind four-day, t

March 16, 2014