N. Korea postponed high-level meeting with US: Foreign minister

North Korea asked the US to delay a planned high-level meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chol in New York, citing a hectic schedule, South Korea’s top diplomat confirmed Thursday. 　The State Department said Wednesday that the meeting between Pompeo and Kim, which had been due to take place in New York on Thursday, would now take place at an unspecified later date when their respective schedules permit. South Korea and the US tried to play

Nov. 8, 2018

Democrat-controlled House could slow Trump’s NK diplomacy: experts

The outcome of the US midterm elections is unlikely to change the course of Washington’s North Korea policy but could slow the pace of the Donald Trump administration’s diplomacy with North Korea, experts said Wednesday. The Democrats regained control of the US House of Representatives, where they will seek to keep Trump’s agenda in check, while the Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections. (Yonhap)The Democrats have traditionally advocated engagement wi

Nov. 7, 2018

Seoul criticizes Tokyo over response to forced labor ruling

A top Cheong Wa Dae official on Wednesday criticized the Japanese government’s response to a recent South Korean court ruling, saying that actions taken by Tokyo officials are aggravating the situation.Since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Korean plaintiffs seeking compensation from Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, which had forced them to work for the company during the Japanese occupation of Korea, Tokyo has vehemently criticized the ruling and is pressing Seoul to take action.  Japa

Nov. 7, 2018

Moon to meet Australian, Russian leaders next week

President Moon Jae-in will hold summit meetings with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to Singapore and Papua New Guinea, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.Seoul is also working on arranging meetings with US Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the trip. President Moon Jae-in. YonhapAccording to Cheong Wa Dae, a meeting with Pence is being arranged at the request of the US, while Seoul and Beijing are discussing

Nov. 7, 2018

Govt. touts diplomatic feat in new white paper

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday published the first diplomatic white paper since the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration.The seven-chapter book introduces the government’s diplomatic accomplishments in 2017, especially after Moon took office in May through a snap presidential election. South Korea tried actively to restore or improve relations with four regional powers -- the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- via close and constant strategic communications with them, it says. (Yon

Nov. 7, 2018

Japan ramps up pressure on S. Korea over ruling on forced labor

Japan has continued to ratchet up pressure on South Korea on Tuesday over a ruling that ordered a Japanese company to compensate South Korean victims forced to work during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea is trying to find a way to “respect” the judiciary’s decision while mitigating the diplomatic fallout with Japan, despite little room for diplomatic maneuver due to the legally binding nature of the top court’s ruling. The Supreme Court last week ruled that Nippon Stee

Nov. 6, 2018

Korea's exemption from Iran sanctions underlines firmness of Korea-US alliance: Cheong Wa Dae

The US decision to give South Korea a waiver from complying with reinstated sanctions on Iran demonstrates that the alliance between the two countries is firm, the office of President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday.The US has reimposed the oil sanctions against Tehran, but exempted South Korea and seven other nations from the sanctions obligations, allowing them to continue crude imports from the Middle Eastern nation."The US sanctions on Iran took effect last night and our country was included among

Nov. 6, 2018

Korea, India agree to enhance cooperation in tourism, sports

South Korea and India have agreed to increase their cooperation in tourism and sports.Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jong-whan signed memorandums of understanding in New Delhi with his counterparts from India's Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Monday (local time), the South Korean ministry said. (Yonhap)The MOU on tourism contain measures to promote cooperation among tourism officials and build exchange programs in the field of human resources devel

Nov. 6, 2018

Seoul granted waiver to buy Iranian oil

South Korea was granted a waiver that will temporarily allow it to continue importing Iranian oil after the US reinstated all sanctions on Iran on Monday, according to the US State Department. The US granted the waiver to eight countries, including China and India, the biggest buyers of Iranian oil, to keep crude oil prices stable. The countries will be able to buy Iranian oil for up to 180 days despite the reimposed sanctions. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks at a news conference on the s

Nov. 5, 2018

Moon says Korea-U.S. alliance should continue forever

President Moon Jae-in said Monday the alliance between South Korea and the United States should continue forever as he met with senior American military officials stationed here.The meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was organized in recognition of outgoing U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks, who is set to leave South Korea after two and a half years of service.“The Korea-U.S. alliance was forged in blood amid the artillery fire of the war, but it didn‘t stop th

Nov. 5, 2018

2015 deal on ‘comfort women’ a political statement without legal power: Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry said Monday that the controversial 2015 deal between South Korea and Japan does not directly violate the constitutional rights of victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery because the deal is only a political statement.  (Yonhap)The victims of Japan’s sexual enslavement during World War II filed a petition with the Constitutional Court in March 2016, saying the government violated their basic rights by signing a deal against them with Japan. The ministry, which was required to

Nov. 5, 2018

Korea granted waiver on Iran oil embargo: news reports

South Korea has received a waiver on the renewed US embargo on imports of Iranian oil following months of negotiations between the allies, foreign media reported Monday.The United States reimposed the oil sanctions against Tehran at the start of the day (Eastern Standard Time), a follow-up to President Donald Trump's decision in May to ditch a 2015 nuclear deal signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama.The Trump administration has threatened to take punitive measures against countries that purchas

Nov. 5, 2018

Moon to attend ASEAN, APEC meetings

President Moon Jae-in will set out on a six-day trip to Singapore and Papua New Guinea on Nov. 13, to pitch his New Southern Policy and economic policies and highlight the drive to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday .“President Moon Jae-in will visit Singapore and Papua New Guinea on a six-day schedule from Nov. 13 to Nov. 18 to attend ASEAN-related summit meetings and the APEC summit,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom said. (Yonhap)During the trip, M

Nov. 5, 2018

First lady departs for India

First lady Kim Jung-sook left for India on Sunday to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a park commemorating the legendary Indian-born wife of the king of an ancient Korean kingdom.President Moon Jae-in didn't accompany her as she embarked on the four-day trip. It is the first time in 16 years that a South Korean first lady has made a foreign visit without the president.The last first lady who did so was Lee Hee-ho, wife of late former President Kim Dae-jung.(Yonhap)On Sunday morning, South Ko

Nov. 4, 2018

Allies to decide on next year's combined exercises before Dec. 1: defense minister

 South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Wednesday that Seoul and Washington will make a decision on plans for next year's major exercises before Dec. 1 after a working-level review.Jeong made the remarks after the 50th annual Security Consultative Meeting with his US counterpart, James Mattis, where the two sides finalized their decision to suspend the annual Vigilant Ace air exercise originally slated for December. (Yonhap)The suspension is aimed at facilitating ongoing diplomacy t

Nov. 1, 2018

Why did it take five years for court to rule on forced labor?

Tuesday’s ruling that upheld a lower court’s ruling to compensate South Korean victims of forced labor by a Japanese firm during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula came 13 years after the victims filed for damages in February 2005.  Lee Choon-shik, 94, the only surviving plaintiff who filed the compensation suit agasint a Japanese company. (Yonhap)It took the Supreme Court five years and three months of deliberation to conclude that the Japanese firm must pay 100 million won ($88,000)

Oct. 31, 2018

Ruling on forced labor poses dilemma to S. Korea

Seoul is facing a tough task of respecting the country’s judiciary while mitigating diplomatic fallout with Tokyo in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that a Japanese firm should compensate four South Koreans forced into labor during Japan’s 1910-45 occupation.The Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday the lower court’s ruling that ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 100 million won ($88,000) each to the plaintiffs, who worked at its steel mills between 1941 and 1943, recognizing

Oct. 31, 2018

First lady to visit India next week

First lady Kim Jung-sook will visit India without President Moon Jae-in next week to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a park commemorating the Indian-born wife of the king of an ancient Korean kingdom, the presidential office said Wednesday.The four-day trip starting on Sunday will be the first time in 16 years that a South Korean first lady has made a foreign visit without the president. The last first lady who did so was Lee Hee-ho, wife of late former President Kim Dae-jung. (Yonhap)Kim p

Oct. 31, 2018

Top UAE official to visit South Korea this week

A top United Arab Emirates official will visit Seoul on Thursday to discuss setting up a trip to South Korea by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and other bilateral issues, the presidential spokesman said Wednesday.Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of Abu Dhabi, is scheduled to meet with presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok to discuss these issues, presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said. (Yonhap)The UAE official is expected to visit Cheong Wa Dae to

Oct. 31, 2018

PM says S. Korea hopes to move relations with Japan forward in future-oriented manner

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday that the government respects the Supreme Court’s ruling on wartime forced labor and hopes to move relations with Japan forward in a future-oriented manner.The Supreme Court ruled that a Japanese steel firm should compensate four Koreans mobilized into forced labor during the 1910-45 colonial rule, rejecting Japanese claims that all colonial-era compensation claims were settled under a 1965 treaty that the two countries signed when normalizing diplomatic re

Oct. 30, 2018