S. Korea-US alliance to remain firm despite GSOMIA withdrawal: envoy

The South Korea-United States alliance will remain firm despite the planned termination of a military intelligence-sharing agreement between South Korea and Japan, Seoul's top envoy to Washington said Wednesday.Amb. Cho Yoon-je said the US's disappointment at South Korea's decision to withdraw from the General Security of Military Information Agreement is understandable, given that Washington had opposed it. "It's true that the American side delivered its position on wanting the renewal of

Aug. 29, 2019

Seoul expresses deep regret over exclusion from Japan’s whitelist

South Korea on Wednesday expressed deep regret over Japan’s removal of the country from its whitelist of trusted trading partners, with deputy national security adviser Kim Hyun-chong saying it was now up to Japan to decide whether the two countries terminate their bilateral intel-sharing deal.At midnight Tuesday, Korea became the first country to be taken off the list, meaning Japanese exporters must now apply for clearance to export a wide range of goods to Korea. Japan now has 26 countr

Aug. 28, 2019

S. Korea calls in Japanese ambassador to protest removal from whitelist

The foreign ministry on Wednesday called in Japan's top envoy in Seoul to protest Tokyo's official removal of South Korea from a list of favored trade partners, a move that deepened a row between the two countries over trade and wartime history.Tokyo put into force its decision to drop South Korea from the "whitelist" despite Seoul's repeated calls to stop such export curbs, which are seen as political retaliation for last year's South Korean Supreme Court rulings against Japanese firm

Aug. 28, 2019

US hopes South Korea and Japan can rebuild ties from 'rock bottom'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States hopes a damaging row between the leaders of US allies South Korea and Japan has hit rock bottom but believes recent military exercises by Seoul have not helped, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.Briefing reporters in Washington, the official said that both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had made "unhelpful" choices in the dispute, which has taken relations between Seoul and Tokyo

Aug. 28, 2019

S. Korea scrapping Japan pact helps China: US official

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- South Korea's decision to end a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan will benefit China and reduce the allies' ability to respond in crises with North Korea, US officials said Tuesday.Seoul said last week that it would exit the agreement as a row intensified over compensation of wartime forced labor by former colonial ruler Japan, which earlier ended preferential export treatment with South Korea."I don't think Beijing is unhappy about this outcome," a seni

Aug. 28, 2019

US offers to help resolve Seoul-Tokyo row after 'whitelist' removal

The United States will do what it can to help South Korea and Japan resolve their differences, the US State Department said Tuesday in response to Tokyo's latest trade restrictions against Seoul. Japan decided early this month to remove South Korea from its "whitelist" of trusted trading partners, and the decision took effect Wednesday (Seoul time), adding to the already high tensions in their tit-for-tat row stemming from differences over their shared history."The ROK and Japan m

Aug. 28, 2019

S. Korea rejects Abe's accusations, urges Japan to retract economic retaliation

The foreign ministry flatly rejected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's accusations Tuesday that South Korea is reneging on past promises, and urged Tokyo to retract retaliatory economic measures against Seoul.During a news conference after the conclusion of a Group of Seven summit in France, Abe claimed that South Korea's decision last week to terminate a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan damages trust between the two countries. Abe also accused Seoul of failing to keep promi

Aug. 27, 2019

Japan says no specific decision yet on disposal of Fukushima radioactive water

Japan notified South Korea on Tuesday that it has not made any specific decision yet on how to dispose of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Seoul officials said.Tomofumi Nishinaga, an economic minister from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, delivered a diplomatic note in response to South Korea's request last Monday to clarify its disposal plans and verify speculation that it could discharge the radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, they said. "The Japanes

Aug. 27, 2019

S. Korea, Ethiopia to create ministerial joint committee for broader cooperation

South Korea and Ethiopia agreed during a summit between their leaders in Seoul on Monday to launch a joint committee, led by their top diplomats, for deepening bilateral partnerships.President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, who's on a state visit to South Korea, shared a view that the two sides need to expand their traditional friendly ties to "mutually beneficial, substantive" cooperation in such sectors as trade, investment, development cooperation, forestry and envir

Aug. 26, 2019

State Department spokeswoman voices disappointment again over GSOMIA

The spokeswoman of the US State Department has expressed disappointment again over South Korea's decision last week to terminate its military information-sharing agreement with Japan.  Amid a rancorous row with Tokyo over wartime history and trade, Seoul announced its decision last week to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), seen as a rare symbol of security collaboration between the two countries and a platform to promote their trilateral defense coope

Aug. 26, 2019

Trump calls allied exercise 'unnecessary,' 'total waste of money'

US President Donald Trump has called the recently concluded South Korea-US combined military exercise "unnecessary" and a "total waste of money" despite heightened tensions caused by Pyongyang's recent launches of short-range projectiles.During the Group of Seven summit in France on Sunday, Trump also told reporters that Pyongyang's projectile launches do not represent a breach of his agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that involves nuclear and longer-range ballis

Aug. 26, 2019

Seoul and Tokyo should contain dispute within political sphere

South Korea and Japan must make separate efforts to address history and must maintain a relationship of cooperation to resolve the current diplomatic issues, says Korean Culture and Information Service Director Kim Tae-hoon. “Just like domestic politics, international politics need compromise. Fundamentally, trust (between Korea and Japan) must be rebuilt based on (mutually acceptable) historical views,” Kim said, describing the current situation as a case where trust has been damage

Aug. 25, 2019

Japan must show ‘sincere, consistent contrition’ toward Koreans: US scholar

An op-ed piece on the trade row between Korea and Japan, published Aug. 11 by the Washington Post, has grabbed the spotlight in both nations. Written by Gregg A. Brazinsky, a professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University in the US, the piece blamed the bilateral spat on Japan’s lack of apology for past wrongdoings.  Specializing in East Asian history and diplomacy, the scholar is an expert on Korea’s international relations and has written two bo

Aug. 25, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae: S. Korea has talked enough with US on GSOMIA issue

South Korea consulted with the United States often and adequately on the fate of a bilateral pact with Japan on sharing military intelligence, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday, as Washington has voiced "strong concern" and "disappointment" over Seoul's decision to discard the key tool for strengthening trilateral security cooperation in Northeast Asia."It's true that the US hoped for the extension of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA)," South K

Aug. 23, 2019

S. Korea officially notifies Japan of intent to end military pact

South Korea's foreign ministry called in Japan's top envoy in Seoul on Friday to officially notify Tokyo of its intent to end a bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact. First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young gave Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine a note verbale, a diplomatic document, to formally express Seoul's intent to terminate the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).But the two sides shared the view that it is important to continue diplomat

Aug. 23, 2019

Esper raises concerns over S. Korea's decision to end intel-sharing pact with Japan: ministry

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper voiced concerns Friday over South Korea's decision to terminate the intelligence-sharing pact with Japan when he spoke by phone with Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, a ministry official said."Our minister explained to Esper detailed backgrounds that caused South Korea to make such a decision, including Japan's insincere responses to South Korea's diverse efforts (to resolve pending issues)," the official told reporters."While expressing concern

Aug. 23, 2019

Biegun departs for US amid tensions over Seoul's termination of military pact with Tokyo

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun headed home from South Korea on Friday, a day after South Korea decided to end a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo seen as a symbolic element of trilateral security cooperation.Biegun came to Seoul on Tuesday for talks with senior Seoul officials over joint efforts to resume working-level nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. He apparently extended his stay here by one day for an unspecified reason. Biegun refu

Aug. 23, 2019

Govt. to strengthen radiation checks on Japanese food products

The South Korean government said Friday that it will strengthen safety checks on imported food from Japan for possible radiation.The scale of radiation contamination checks on foods will be doubled starting later in the day, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The products that will be subject to closer scrutiny by inspectors are those that have a record of being returned to sellers in the past five years after minute amounts of radiation were detected, the ministry said.Products

Aug. 23, 2019

US expresses 'strong concern,' 'disappointment' at termination of Seoul-Tokyo intel pact

The United States expressed "strong concern" and "disappointment" Thursday after South Korea withdrew from a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.Earlier, Seoul announced its decision to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement amid a bilateral dispute over trade and history.In a rare public rebuke of its South Korean ally, the US State Department and the Pentagon expressed their displeasure with the move."We're disappointed to see the decision

Aug. 23, 2019

S. Korea vows staunch combined posture with US regardless of intel-sharing pact decision

South Korea will maintain a watertight combined readiness posture with the United States based on their strong alliance regardless of its decision to end the military information-sharing pact with Japan, the defense ministry said Thursday.Earlier in the day, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae announced its decision not to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) amid deteriorating bilateral ties following Japan's export restrictions on South Korea."The defens

Aug. 22, 2019