More than 8,300 places on the Korean Peninsula have been identified as wartime forced labor sites during Japanese colonial rule, a South Korean commission said Monday.It is the first time that the number of labor sites on the peninsula has been confirmed by the South Korean government. A total of 8,329 sites have been found since 2005, compared with 4,119 sites in Japan, the commission affiliated with the prime minister's office said. The sites can be proof to show Japan's use of the peninsula a

Dec. 28, 2015

South Korea and Japan reached a landmark deal on Monday to resolve the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, announced the agreement after talks at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, which centered on Japan's admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims."The comfort women issue is an issue whereby many women under the then mi

Dec. 28, 2015

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan are to meet Monday for talks on the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II, a meeting that could set the tone for the future of bilateral ties.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, are scheduled to meet at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul later Monday, a day after the two sides concluded their 12th round of working-level talks on the issue.The meeting will be watch

Dec. 28, 2015

The United States will host a meeting next month of countries committed to working together to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction from states like North Korea, the State Department said.The Mid-level Political Meeting of the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative will be held in Washington on Jan. 27, with Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman hosting the conference, the department said in a release."The Proliferation Se

Dec. 28, 2015

The adoption of the historic agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on Dec. 12 was an “unprecedented political victory” and “turning point” toward sustainable international development, the French Embassy announced last week. Publicizing a statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, the diplomatic mission stressed that the legally binding accord among 195 participating nations ― to cap global warming at 2 degrees Celsius above

Dec. 28, 2015

South Korea and Japan are set to hold a working-level meeting Sunday on the issue of former Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, officials said.  Lee Sang-deok, director-general handling Northeast Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry, is scheduled to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Kimihiro Ishikane, around 3 p.m. in Seoul, officials said.  The two sides are expected to try to work out differences to ensure their top diplomats can produce a deal on wartime sexual slavery, th

Dec. 27, 2015

China on Wednesday denied a Japanese media report that Beijing had proposed renting a port facility on a South Korean island in 2013. Japans Asahi newspaper reported earlier this week that China had asked South Korea to let a Chinese company rent a port facility on Koje Island off the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula.But, the proposal was rejected by South Koreas defense ministry, according to the report. "I have never heard of such a plan and the relevant report is not worth commenting

Dec. 23, 2015

South Korea has decided to provide three African countries with $1.5 million in humanitarian assistance, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, as Seoul is aggressively pushing for "humanitarian diplomacy."South Korea plans to offer $500,000 each to the Central African Republic, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The three have long suffered severe humanitarian crises due to civil war, poor security and governance and climate change, said the ministry.There are more than 6 million r

Dec. 23, 2015

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se expressed hope Wednesday for a "wise" verdict by the Constitutional Court, just hours before its ruling on a 1965 deal between South Korea and Japan.The court is scheduled to deliver a verdict later in the day on whether or not the bilateral Claims Settlement Agreement is constitutional.Japan claims that the deal, signed to normalize their diplomatic relations, settled all issues of compensation to victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1

Dec. 23, 2015

South Korea and China opened the first talks Tuesday on their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in seven years but skepticism is rampant over an early deal.Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin began the negotiations here in an amicable mood as they cited good relations between Seoul and Beijing these days.Cho said the two sides are bracing for "difficult and lengthy" talks due to legal and technical issues."The negotiations are very difficult and im

Dec. 22, 2015

The vice foreign ministers of South Korea and China will hold maritime demarcation talks in Seoul on Tuesday for the first time since 2008, as the two neighbors remain poles apart over how to address their overlapping exclusive economic zones.The talks were arranged after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed the early resumption of the official talks during his summit with President Park Geun-hye in Seoul on Oct. 31. The talks, which used to be director-general-level, have been elevated to the vi

Dec. 21, 2015

South Korea and Israel will provide $4 million in research funds to small and medium enterprises in 2016 to promote close economic cooperation, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Seoul and Tel Aviv will each foot $2 million to support joint projects by SMEs from the two countries.The money will be used in areas like electronics, machinery, biotech and renewable energy. Companies picked can expect upwards to three years of support with maximum funding set a

Dec. 21, 2015

The United States should intervene more forcefully in improving relations between South Korea and Japan, an American expert said, stressing that tensions between the two key allies are hindering the U.S.'s ability to deal with North Korea, China and other challenges.Mark Manyin, an Asian affairs specialist at the U.S. Congressional Research Service, made the point in a paper to the Council on Foreign Relations, arguing that forceful intervention carries risks, but the "costs of nonintervention a

Dec. 21, 2015