S. Korea remains willing to reconsider GSOMIA decision if Japan changes course: defense ministry

South Korea remains willing to reconsider its decision to terminate a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan if Tokyo first retracts "unfair" export curbs, the defense ministry said Thursday.The General Security of Military Information Agreement is set to expire on Nov. 23, following South Korea's decision in August to terminate it after Japan imposed export curbs on Seoul in a row over wartime forced labor. US officials have called strongly for renewing the pact as they conside

Nov. 14, 2019

Trump says he will decide on auto tariffs soon

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will make a decision soon on whether to impose tariffs on imported cars and auto parts.Trump made the remark to reporters at a meeting with Turkey's president at the White House amid expectations he would announce the decision as early as Wednesday following a six-month delay in May.South Korea has lobbied hard to win an exemption from any further tariffs, citing its renegotiated trade deal with the US."I'll make a decision fair

Nov. 14, 2019

US pressure expected to intensify on Seoul over GSOMIA this week

The United States is expected to use a series of high-level defense meetings with South Korea in coming days to intensify pressure on Seoul to reconsider its decision to end a military information-sharing pact with Japan.US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Wednesday, 10 days before the General Security of Military Information Agreement between Seoul and Tokyo expires on Nov. 23.South Korea decided to end the three-year-old pact in response

Nov. 13, 2019

Trump again cites questionable numbers related to Korea trade deal

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump again cited questionable numbers on Tuesday as he touted his administration's renegotiated free trade agreement with South Korea.Trump told the Economic Club of New York that the revised FTA, which took effect early this year, doubled the number of American cars that can be sold in South Korea under US standards and extended American tariffs on Korean pickup trucks by another 20 years to 2041. He then took a swipe at the previous administration of Barack O

Nov. 13, 2019

US military chief voices hope for resolution of Seoul-Tokyo intel-sharing pact

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley expressed hope Tuesday of finding a way for South Korea and Japan to renew their military information-sharing pact before it expires next week, a news report said.Milley, who was in Tokyo as part of a trip to the Indo-Pacific region, made the remarks following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's Kyodo News reported. Milley is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday from Japan.Milley said he and Abe discussed the issue of

Nov. 12, 2019

Moon highlights importance of ASEAN ahead of summits

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the importance of strengthening ties with ASEAN member states, saying the region is key to his administration’s foreign policy. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Busan ahead of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the Mekong-Korea Summit scheduled to be held in the southern port city Nov. 25-27, Moon highlighted the importance of the region and developments in Korea-ASEAN relations and said his foreign policy differs from that of past administrati

Nov. 12, 2019

US JCS chairman addresses questions about troop presence in S. Korea, Japan

WASHINGTON -- US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has said the American public poses questions about why the United States should station troops in South Korea and Japan and why the Asian allies can't pay for their own defense, according to a Pentagon account of his recent conversation with reporters.Milley made the remark Sunday as he departed for the Indo-Pacific region, his first overseas trip since taking office in September.He was emphasizing the importance of the US alliance

Nov. 12, 2019

S. Korea appoints new ambassadors to 10 countries

South Korea appointed new ambassadors to Malaysia, Mongolia and eight other countries, the foreign ministry said Monday, in a regular reshuffle that also includes replacements of those under probe over alleged misconduct. Former Environment Minister Lee Chi-beom will head the South Korean Embassy in Malaysia and Lee Yeo-hong, previously a minister at the South Korean Embassy in China, will serve as the ambassador to Mongolia, the ministry said in a release.  The former top envoy to Malaysia

Nov. 11, 2019

S. Korea open to settling spat with Japan over intel-sharing pact if relations improve

President Moon Jae-in’s top security adviser reaffirmed Sunday that South Korea’s bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan could be renewed, as the expiration date draws near.Chung Eui-yong, chief of Cheong Wa Dae’s National Security Office, laid the blame on Japan for the strained relations, which have sunk to their lowest point in decades. “The government is willing to rethink an extension of the GSOMIA if South Korea-Japan relations normalize,&rdquo

Nov. 10, 2019

FM Kang holds talks with French digital affairs secretary over bilateral ties

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held talks with France's digital affairs secretary in Seoul Friday to discuss bilateral relations, peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula and cooperation in new technologies, Seoul's foreign ministry said. During the talks with Cedric O, Kang noted that bilateral cooperation has deepened in various areas since South Korean President Moon Jae-in's visit to France in October last year, the ministry said in a press release.She also expressed gratitude to the French se

Nov. 8, 2019

UN First Committee adopts resolution submitted by Seoul

The First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted on Wednesday a resolution submitted by South Korea to encourage youth participation in disarmament and nonproliferation efforts.It is the first resolution Seoul has proposed as the single “main sponsor” to the First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security matters, since it joined the UN in 1991. Eighty-four countries including South Korea co-sponsored the resolution on “youth, disarmam

Nov. 7, 2019

Asia-Pacific news agency chiefs open Seoul session on challenges facing media

President Moon Jae-in will meet with chiefs of news agencies in the Asia-Pacific region Thursday afternoon, Cheong Wa Dae said, as he's expected to seek continued attention and support for the Korea peace process and the upcoming special summit with Southeast Asian nations.Moon will sit down with representatives of 32 news agencies from 28 countries, including Yonhap News Agency CEO Cho Sung-boo and delegates from China's Xinhua News Agency, Japan's Kyodo News and Russia's TASS news agency, at h

Nov. 7, 2019

Stilwell says he had ‘fantastic’ discussions with Korean government

David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, on Wednesday welcomed “fantastic” talks with South Korean government officials. Visiting the country as part of his Asia tour, the senior US official met with Korean government officials to discuss the alliance and ways to cooperate in the region, including separate meetings with Kim Hyun-chong, second deputy director of the presidential National Security Office, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa, and w

Nov. 6, 2019

S. Korea, US senior officials discuss economic cooperation in APAC

South Korea and the US held a joint public-private economic forum to discuss ways to strengthen their economic ties and enhance cooperation on issues of common interest, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The fourth Republic of Korea-United States Senior Economic Dialogue was held in Seoul on Wednesday to take stock of the progress and explore avenues of further cooperation between the two countries, particularly in line with Seoul’s New Southern Policy and Washington’s Indo-Pacifi

Nov. 6, 2019

Top US negotiator for defense cost-sharing deal visits South Korea

James DeHart, the chief US negotiator for the defense cost-sharing deal with South Korea, is in Seoul for an informal visit. South Korean government officials view the visit as aimed at learning more about public sentiment here toward the negotiations.DeHart, who arrived Tuesday, was scheduled to hold an unofficial dinner with his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Eun-bo, and other government officials during his four-day trip. It would be the second meeting of the top negotiators since they met f

Nov. 6, 2019

National Assembly speaker stresses need to resolve Seoul-Tokyo row

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang on Wednesday stressed the need to lay the grounds for resolving the latest Seoul-Tokyo friction within the year, while Japanese media reported that Tokyo would not accept the plans Moon proposed the previous day. Speaking at a meeting with leaders of a Korean school in Japan, Moon said that legislative processes regarding the matter must be resolved within the year. “There are two important turning points on Nov. 23 and at the end of the year. O

Nov. 6, 2019

Speaker Moon proposes new idea for resolving Japan's wartime forced labor issue

South Korea's parliamentary speaker on Tuesday proposed to Japan that companies and ordinary people of the two nations voluntarily create a fund to resolve a dispute over Tokyo's wartime forced labor.National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang made the proposal at a special lecture in Japan as he is visiting Tokyo as part of parliamentary diplomacy to mend frayed ties between Seoul and Tokyo, highlighted by a trade spat and the history issue.His idea came as Japan has rejected Seoul's so-called one-

Nov. 5, 2019

Top US official for Asia arrives in Seoul, expected to discuss GSOMIA

David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, arrived in Seoul late Tuesday for talks with Korean officials on their bilateral alliance and ongoing regional affairs. He is on a tour of Asia.Stilwell is expected to hold a series of meetings with government officials here and to pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, according to Foreign Ministry officials. One of the top issues the two allies are expected to discuss is the ongoing row be

Nov. 5, 2019

Moon assesses his latest meeting with Abe was 'meaningful'

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday he has had a "meaningful" meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that could herald the start of dialogue for mending soured ties between Seoul and Tokyo.Moon held an 11-minute conversation with Abe on Monday ahead of an ASEAN Plus Three summit in Bangkok, the first one-on-one talks in more than a year amid frayed ties."I've held a meaningful meeting with Abe that could be a start point for dialogue," Moon said on his social media, w

Nov. 5, 2019

US underscores commitment to Indo-Pacific region after RCEP deal

WASHINGTON -- The United States Monday underscored its commitment to free trade with the Indo-Pacific region after a bloc of nations led by China struck a major trade deal without US participation.The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free trade agreement, was announced earlier Monday by the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and its dialogue partners -- South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.The China-led RCEP is seen as

Nov. 5, 2019