China's aircraft carrier heads to South China Sea amid air zone concerns

China's aircraft carrier was set to depart for the South China Sea on Tuesday for a training mission, state media said, amid growing concerns over Beijing's newly declared air defense zone that sparked a war of words with Japan.It is the first time that China sent its sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, to the South China Sea since it was commissioned last year, Xinhua news agency reported.The Liaoning was escorted by two missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigat

Nov. 26, 2013

China informed Seoul of air defense zone

Seoul appeared to want to avoid a dispute with Beijing over a new air defense zone in East China, according to a diplomatic source in China who said South Korea had been informed in advance. China had told Seoul of the new zone that overlaps with South Korea's own air defense zone days before it publicly declared area, the source said."We had been recently informed of the Chinese side's decision to set up the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)," the source said on the conditio

Nov. 25, 2013

Foreign Ministry opens international law center

The Foreign Ministry announced the launch of a research institute for international law on Monday to beef up its diplomatic capabilities and networks with think tanks and experts at home and abroad. The Center for International Law has been set up at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, a state-run institution for research and the training of diplomats run by the ministry, which is based in southern Seoul. It also appointed as the inaugural president Shin Kak-soo, former vice foreign minister

Nov. 25, 2013

U.S. says its role limited in Korea-Japan ties

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. government is keeping close tabs on the drawn-out political conflict between South Korea and Japan but it has no intention of acting openly to resolve the problem, the State Department said Friday.The department reiterated a call for Seoul and Tokyo to “work together to resolve concerns over history in an amicable way through dialogue.”The U.S. has been pushing for stronger trilateral cooperation with its two key regional allies in dealing with security issues

Nov. 24, 2013

ASEAN-Korea Centre eyes trade with seminars abroad

A Seoul-based intergovernmental body representing South Korea and Southeast Asian countries held two trade seminars on Thailand and Malaysia, and dispatched trade missions from Seoul to Vietnam and Malaysia, this month in a bid to bolster commercial ties.The ASEAN-Korea Centre on Nov. 19 dispatched a delegation of 14 experts and business people for a five-day trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, and another group to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for five days on Sunday.Organized in cooperation with the Malaysia Ex

Nov. 24, 2013

Envoy showcases Finnish flare for design and education

Finnish Ambassador to South Korea Matti Heimonen promoted Scandinavian education, art and architecture during an exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art in the historic Jeong-dong district of Seoul on Thursday. The exhibition, “Nordic Passion: Architecture and Design from the Nordic Countries,” focuses on the philosophy and artistic vision of Scandinavian countries, and continues until Feb. 16.“Today people are showing a keen interest in public architecture and design. The design trends of Nordic

Nov. 24, 2013

Israel's opposition Labour party elects new leader

Israel's opposition Labour party announced on Friday that its members have elected a new leader -- former government minister Isaac Herzog -- seen as more open to joining the right-leaning ruling coalition.Herzog defeated incumbent Shelly Yachimovich with 58.5 percent of the vote in Thursday's election among the party's some 55,000 members, official results showed.Herzog's victory could affect the make-up of rightwing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition, with the new Labour lead

Nov. 22, 2013

Philippine typhoon death toll rises above 5,000

MANILA (AP) -- The death toll from one of the strongest typhoons on record has risen above 5,000 and is likely to climb further, although recovery efforts are beginning to take hold, Philippine officials said Friday.Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said 4,919 people were killed on Leyte, Samar and nearby islands in the Eastern Visayas region. Civil defense chief Eduardo del Rosario said 290 others died in other parts of the central and southern Philippines.The regions were battered two weeks ago by

Nov. 22, 2013

Japanese military police killed Koreans post-1923 earthquake: lawmaker

Official records have confirmed that Japanese military police massacred Koreans during Tokyo's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula following a powerful earthquake in Japan in 1923, a South Korean lawmaker claimed Friday.The claim by Rep. Yoo Ki-hong of the main opposition Democratic Party comes three days after the National Archives of Korea unveiled decades-old records of Koreans who were killed during the March 1919 independence movement and following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.Histor

Nov. 22, 2013

Seoul launches probe into dumping of Japanese PET film

South Korea's trade commission said Friday that it has decided to launch an investigation into an alleged dumping of Japanese polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film.The decision follows a formal complaint from three South Korean manufacturers, according to the Korea Trade Commission."The commission decided to launch an antidumping investigation after a review of materials submitted by the petitioners yielded a conclusion that their complaint was reasonable," the commission said in a press release

Nov. 22, 2013

Pentagon denies its reported position on Japan's collective self-defense

The Pentagon dismissed a press report Thursday directly linking Japan's envisioned exercise of its right to collective self-defense with possible emergencies on the Korean Peninsula.In a front-page story, the Chosun Ilbo, a major South Korean daily, quoted a Pentagon official as saying the U.S. includes the peninsula in the scope of Japan's right to collective self-defense.The article "mischaracterized U.S. policy with respect to Northeast Asia," Lt. Col. Jeff Pool, a Pentagon spokesman, told Yo

Nov. 22, 2013

Japan won't exercise defense rights without Korea's consent

Japan has made clear its intention to not exercise its right to so-called collective self-defense on the Korea Peninsula without consent from Seoul, the foreign ministry here said Thursday."A ranking security official from the Japanese government has informed us of (Japan's) position that Japanese military forces cannot be deployed to the Korean Peninsula by invoking the collective self-defense rule," South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said in a briefing.Japan's position is i

Nov. 21, 2013

Korea, U.S. differ over Japan’s military role

Japan’s exercising of its right to collective self-defense would help boost the U.S. deterrence against threats such as North Korea’s nuclear program and contribute to regional stability, a ranking U.S. official said Wednesday. The Shinzo Abe administration is seeking to reinterpret the country’s pacifist constitution to expand its Self Defense Forces operations as part of apparent efforts to normalize the state.But the move has fueled concerns in Seoul and Beijing, where resentment still runs d

Nov. 20, 2013

Seoul envoy to visit Iran for release of S. Korean man

A high-ranking diplomat from Seoul will soon travel to Iran to gain the release of a South Korean national in prison on espionage charges, a government source here said Sunday.“Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Kyung-soo will visit Iran at the end of this month,” the source said on the condition of anonymity.“He’s expected to put in efforts to free the South Korean there, which is one of the outstanding bilateral issues between the countries.”This will be the first visit to Iran by a South Korean depu

Nov. 17, 2013

Safety of all 56 S. Koreans confirmed in typhoon-hit Philippines

The South Korean government said Saturday that it has located the whereabouts of the remaining three missing South Koreans in the typhoon-devastated Philippines, confirming the survival of all 56 Koreans there.“We’ve confirmed the survival of all South Koreans who reside in the city of Tacloban and the neighboring areas,” said an official at Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, citing the area hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan.“The government will continue to provide necessary support to them,” he added. At le

Nov. 17, 2013