A new defense cost sharing pact signed between South Korea and the United States last month was submitted to the parliament here on Friday for approval, the Foreign Ministry said.Before the submission, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Sung Kim signed the renewal of the Special Measure Agreement, aimed at jointly footing the cost of stationing the 28,500 United States Forces Korea troops, last Sunday.The SMA, signed after months of tough negotiations, was the ninth

Feb. 7, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday his administration will make every effort to win the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American man imprisoned in North Korea.Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Obama noted Bae, a Christian missionary, has been held for 15 months.“His family wants him home, and the United States will continue to do everything in our power to secure his release, because Kenneth Bae deserves to be free,” Obama said.It is the first time that the preside

Feb. 7, 2014

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was confirmed as ambassador to China, elevating the chamber’s top leader on taxes, trade and health care to one of the toughest U.S. diplomatic posts. The Senate vote was 96-0, with Baucus voting “present.” Baucus will head to China at a time of tension in the relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. His successor in the Senate will be chosen as early as this week. The Montana Democrat said at his confirmation hearing that he’d place a

Feb. 7, 2014

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― The Obama administration’s top Asia hand on Tuesday asked for South Korea, Japan and China to make joint efforts to resolve high tensions among them over territorial claims and the interpretation of shared history.“There is an unfortunate spike in tensions in the region. It’s a matter of concern to all of us,” Daniel Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said at a press conference hosted by the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C.S

Feb. 5, 2014

South Korea censured Japan Wednesday for its leader's disparaging remarks about a Korean independence fighter, urging the former colonialist nation to repent for its militaristic past and war aggression.Seoul's criticism came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe disparaged the late Ahn Jung-geun, a colonial-era national hero who fought for Korea's independence, labeling him as a convicted murderer in a response to a parliamentary query.Ahn is hailed as a central figure in Korea's indep

Feb. 5, 2014

A senior U.S. congressman sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on him to pay heed to the issue of the forced sexual servitude of Korean and other Asian women by Japanese soldiers during World War II.Rep. Mike Honda, known for his tireless efforts to address the issue of Japan's wartime atrocities, cited a landmark legislative document attached to a spending bill for fiscal year 2014.President Barack Obama signed it into law in mid-January.The document, albeit nonbinding

Feb. 5, 2014

The Obama administration's top Asia hand on Tuesday asked for South Korea, Japan and China to make joint efforts to resolve soared tensions among them over territorial claims and the interpretation of shared history."There is an unfortunate spike in tensions in the region. It's a matter of concern to all of us," Daniel Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said at a press conference hosted by the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C.South Korea accuses J

Feb. 5, 2014

A legislative committee at Virginia’s lower house on Monday endorsed a bill calling for the use of the name “the East Sea” in school textbooks together with “the Sea of Japan” as the state’s Korean community intensifies its longtime campaign. The House of Delegates’ education panel passed 18 to 3, sending the bill to the plenary session expected to vote Thursday. It requires new school textbooks to note that the body of water between Korea and Japan is also called the East Sea. The legislation,

Feb. 4, 2014

South Korea and the United State are in close communication over U.S. President Barack Obama's potential trip to Seoul during his planned visit to Asia in April, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday."(Seoul) is closely communicating with the U.S. side," foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said in a briefing in response to a question over the April visit.Government sources have earlier said Obama may travel to Seoul and Beijing in April to hold bilateral summits during his planned visit to

Feb. 4, 2014

Use of the name East Sea in textbooks won approval Monday from a Virginia legislative committee, leaving just two steps before a longtime dream of the local Korean-American community comes true.The House of Delegates education panel passed it in a 18-3 vote. The House floor is expected to vote Thursday on the bill, which requires new school textbooks to name the body of water between Korea and Japan the East Sea as well as the Sea of Japan.Chances are high that it will pass the floor, given the

Feb. 4, 2014

Egypt’s top diplomat in South Korea said the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi last year on June 30 was necessary for the future of Egyptian democracy, as the envoy marked the 3rd anniversary of the Jan. 25th Revolution in 2011 at Hankook University of Foreign Studies in Seoul on Jan. 23. Egyptian Ambassador to South Korea Hany Selim said the revolution that took place in 2011 was part of a wider push for democracy and human dignity across the Arab world, and that the Egyptian military’s over

Feb. 2, 2014

Indian and South Korean universities signed MOUs to boost student and educational exchanges in early January.Professor Nah Yoon-jong, executive director of the International Ccoperation Division at Tongmyong University, signed MOUs with the leaders at two Indian universities ― Indian Institute of Technology and Amity University in Guwahati and Dehli, respectively. He also signed a letter of engagement with Banaras Hindu University.The series of cooperation agreements between the centers of highe

Feb. 2, 2014

China's new ambassador to South Korea will likely take office in mid-February, according to the Chinese Embassy here on Sunday.China had requested Seoul's approval for the appointment of Qiu Guohong, the director general of the Department of External Security Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, in early January.Qiu would replace former Ambassador Zhang Xinsen, who finished his four year stint as China's envoy to Seoul and returned home last month."After finishing the bilateral process betwe

Feb. 2, 2014

South Korea lashed out Friday at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his remarks that Tokyo is considering bringing their territorial dispute over Dokdo to the International Court of Justice.Japan has long laid claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, stoking deep resentment among South Koreans against Japan, which colonized the Korean Peninsula in 1910-45.Seoul's Foreign Ministry condemned Abe's comment made a day earlier, calling it nothing but "empty rhetoric and a meaningless

Jan. 31, 2014