S. Korea to receive J&J vaccine for 1m people from US this week: PM

South Korea will receive the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine for 1 million people from the United States this week following Washington's pledge to donate vaccines for Korean troops, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Sunday. It is nearly double the volume that US President Joe Biden vowed to provide, during a meeting with President Moon Jae-in earlier this month, to fully inoculate all 550,000 South Korean service members. "Our military aircraft will bring the vaccine home

May 30, 2021

[Herald Interview] Korea-US alliance should not take aim at China: Chinese envoy

South Korean diplomacy in recent years has been increasingly complicated by a tough balancing act: Weighing the demands of its security ally the US against its top trading partner China.  Seoul’s strategic dilemma was showed again recently when the joint Korea-US statement -- issued following the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart, Joe Biden -- triggered a sharp response from Beijing. Despite relatively toned-down language and no direct refer

May 30, 2021

Moon shares Biden's Twitter message on their summit last week

South Korean President Moon Jae-in publicly thanked US President Joe Biden on Saturday for his note on their White House summit last week. Moon shared Biden's related Twitter message on his Facebook account and also retweeted it. Moon attached a message reading "Mr. President Biden, Thank you." Hours earlier, Biden tweeted, "I was honored to welcome President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea last week at the White House." "The alliance between our nations was forg

May 29, 2021

National Assembly speaker meets Czech leaders, discusses nuclear power plant projects

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has met with political leaders of the Czech Republic to promote Seoul's nuclear power plant solutions, his office said Saturday. Park spoke with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Prague on Friday (local time) and emphasized that South Korea can be an ideal partner for the Czech Republic's nuclear power projects. "We are stronger than any other nation when it comes to construction time, cost and operation capabilities," Park s

May 29, 2021

Belgium recalls ambassador to Seoul, waives immunity for wife over assault case

Belgium ordered its ambassador to South Korea to leave his post this summer and waived diplomatic immunity for his wife, who stands accused of assaulting two clothing shop employees, its foreign ministry said Friday.  Xiang Xueqiu, the spouse of Ambassador Peter Lescouhier, has been questioned by police here over allegations that she slapped a clothing store employee in the face and another staff in the back of her head in early April. The assaults allegedly happened when the employees m

May 28, 2021

British, French, German leaders to join P4G summit: Cheong Wa Dae

SEOUL -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among those who will join a virtual summit of global leaders on climate to be hosted by South Korea, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday. President Moon Jae-in will host the two-day P4G Seoul Summit set to open Sunday with more than 60 leaders and top-level officials of foreign countries and international organizations attending. US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jin

May 28, 2021

Moon-Biden summit further deepens alliance: foreign ministry

The summit talks between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden last week helped the two countries further deepen their alliance in a "comprehensive, constructive and mutually beneficial" manner, the foreign ministry said Friday. The ministry made the assessment in a report to the parliament, saying that the May 21 summit "brought achievements encompassing political, economic cooperation and global issues, while expanding and deepening the realms of cooperation."

May 28, 2021

Seoul to deal with Tokyo's Dokdo claim on Olympic map 'as strongly as possible': FM

Seoul will address Tokyo's renewed claim to sovereignty of South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo on the Tokyo Olympic website as strongly as possible, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Friday. Japan described Dokdo as part of its territory on a map posted on the Tokyo Olympic website to show the route of the torch relay, its latest claiming of the islets. The move has prompted mounting calls to revise it and concerns that the inclusion of the islets could undermine the Olympic spirit

May 28, 2021

Chief nuke envoys of S. Korea, US hold phone talks on peninsula denuclearization

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held their second phone talks in less than a week on Friday to discuss cooperation to achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, the ministry's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his US counterpart, Sung Kim, discussed follow-up efforts to last week's summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden, where the leaders stressed d

May 28, 2021

S. Korea proposes regional medical supply reserve for health emergencies

South Korea has proposed the establishment of a multinational reserve of medical supplies to respond to future health emergencies during a regional cooperation forum, the foreign ministry said Friday. Seoul made the proposal at the third virtual session of the Northeast Asia Conference on Health Security on Thursday. The forum was launched in December based on an initiative that President Moon Jae-in suggested to foster joint efforts to handle pandemics and other challenges. Diplomatic and hea

May 28, 2021

S. Korea provides 10,000 more face masks to Colombia

South Korea's veterans affairs ministry said Thursday it has provided 10,000 additional face masks to Colombia to express gratitude for the country's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The masks were delivered Tuesday as Minister Hwang Ki-chul was in the Latin American country to strengthen the bilateral friendship and cooperation, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. South Korea earlier delivered 140,000 face masks to Colombia to help the country cope with the new

May 27, 2021

Chinese ambassador calls S. Korea-US summit statement 'a bit discouraging'

Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming voiced discomfort again on Wednesday over a joint statement from last week's summit between South Korea and the United States that touched on sensitive issues like the Taiwan Strait. The statement following the first in-person summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden in Washington on Friday made a rare mention of the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of its territory under its One China policy. "We feel it's a bit discouragi

May 26, 2021

[#WeFACE] Seoul to host P4G summit to tackle climate change

South Korea is hosting the P4G summit starting Sunday, bringing together government, business and civil society leaders from around the world to tackle climate change and explore ways to achieve sustainable growth. 　 The second P4G summit, originally planned for last year but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will kick off virtually on Sunday for a two-day run in Seoul. It is the first-ever multilateral conference on the environment hosted by the Korean government. 　 P4G, which stands for

May 26, 2021

US lawmaker calls for Biden to appoint envoy on NK human rights

A Korean-American congresswoman renewed calls Wednesday for US President Joe Biden to appoint a special envoy on North Korean human rights, saying the rights issue would offer "good leverage" against a recalcitrant Pyongyang. Rep. Young Kim of the Republican Party made the remarks, voicing concerns that the upper echelons of South Korea's Moon Jae-in administration views the human rights issue as "destabilizing" to inter-Korean relations. "After this summit, I have yet

May 26, 2021

Sung Kim begins work as special representative with call to Japanese counterpart

The new US special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, spoke by phone with his Japanese counterpart and the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said Tuesday. US President Joe Biden announced Kim's appointment last week after summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim, a career diplomat, has served as ambassador to South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia as well as a special envoy for six-party t

May 26, 2021

US supports Tokyo Olympics but only limited people will travel to Japan: Psaki

WASHINGTON -- The United States supports the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, but only "very limited" categories of Americans, including athletes, will travel to the host nation, a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday. Jen Psaki also said US athletes and other visitors will follow a very strict set of safety protocols while taking part in the quadrennial sporting event that has already been delayed by a year. "Our position has not changed on the Olympics. We respected the decision

May 26, 2021

[#WeFACE] P4G to show Korea’s aspiration to lead global climate action

After decades of refusing to face up to climate change and focusing on economic growth at the expense of the Earth, this year could be a turning point in the global fight against global warming. The coronavirus pandemic was a huge wake-up call for humanity to rethink the way we live, creating an unprecedented opportunity to “build back better and greener.” “This year, we are finally at a starting point of acting on climate change. After 30 years of discussion, gaps on how we

May 25, 2021

‘Special relationship’ with Beijing behind Seoul’s silence on Chinese rights issues

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Tuesday said Seoul refrained from touching on Chinese human rights issues in the joint summit statement with Washington in light of its special relations with Beijing.  “In regards to Chinese (human rights) issue, it’s true that there have been various discussions within the international community,” Chung told reporters during a briefing on the outcome of the summit in Washington between President Moon Jae-in and his US co

May 25, 2021

75% of Americans think denuclearization deal with NK important: poll

Three out of 4 Americans think it is “very important” or “important” for the US to reach an agreement with North Korea on dismantling the North’s nuclear weapons, a survey of 1,000 American adults conducted earlier this month showed. Responses were consistent across political lines, with both Republicans (84 percent) and Democrats (79 percent) favoring an agreement, according to the poll conducted May 6 through 10 by the Korea Economic Institute of America, a Washi

May 25, 2021

S. Korea has refrained from comments on China's internal affairs: FM

South Korea has refrained from specific comments about China's internal affairs and that stance was reflected in last week's joint summit statement with the United States, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Tuesday. Chung made the remarks during a briefing on the outcome of the summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden in response to a question why their joint statement, which calls for improvement in North Korea's human rights situation, made no mention of human rights

May 25, 2021