S. Korea, Japan, China to boost ties on Africa

Senior officials from South Korea, Japan and China will meet this week to discuss ways to promote trilateral cooperation in Africa affairs, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Monday.The Trilateral Policy Dialogue on African Affairs will be held in Beijing on Tuesday, nearly four years after the last session was held in December 2011, the ministry said in a press release.The three countries' foreign ministers agreed during a trilateral meeting in March to revive the forum that was launched under an ag

Sept. 14, 2015

S. Korea, France to open events to mark diplomatic anniv. this week

South Korea will showcase various aspects of traditional and contemporary Korean culture in France for a year starting this week, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports said that South Korea will begin events to mark the 130th anniversary of the country's diplomatic ties with France, which falls next year, in Paris on Friday.In 2010, the two countries agreed to designate the period from the latter part of 2015 to the end of 2016 as "Years 2015-2016 of Korea-France

Sept. 14, 2015

S. Korea to join major IAEA meeting next week

South Korea will send an interagency delegation to an annual meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency this week, the Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.The 59th General Conference of the 164-nation organization will be held in Vienna from Sept. 14-18.Led by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, the South Korean team will also include officials from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, and several other related agencies.On Tuesday, Cho

Sept. 13, 2015

S. Korea, New Zealand hold FM talks on N. Korea, economic ties

South Korea's top diplomat has requested that New Zealand assist in its efforts to prevent North Korea from taking additional provocative acts, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Sunday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, in talks with counterpart Murray McCully, emphasized the importance of the international community sending a unified message to the North.Yun was on a visit to Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand following a trip to Australia, where he had 2+2 high-level security talks."Minister

Sept. 13, 2015

S. Korea seeks UNESCO listing of archives on Japan's forced labor

South Korea is pushing for the UNESCO listing of documentary heritage related to Japan's wartime forced labor of Koreans, diplomatic sources said Sunday.The move is apparently intended to counter the July listing of 23 Japanese industrial facilities, where many Koreans were forced to work under harsh conditions during World War II, as world heritage sites.The collection of 336,797 documents, photos and other materials on Japan's forced labor is one of a dozen items being submitted to South Korea

Sept. 13, 2015

Yun: Seoul uses public diplomacy to counter Japan’s rightward shift

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Thursday that Seoul has capitalized on its public diplomacy to respond to the rightward political shift and revisionist views of history in Japan that have worsened anti-Japanese sentiment here.“Whenever we meet Japanese opposition politicians and opinion leaders who visited Korea, we have delivered our position. Diplomatic missions in Japan have also carried out a variety of public diplomacy efforts,” he said during a parliamentary audit.“Along w

Sept. 10, 2015

Yun to visit Australia, New Zealand

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will embark on a six-day trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji on Thursday, aiming to strengthen strategic diplomatic relations with the Pacific nations, the ministry said Wednesday.On Friday in Sydney, Yun and Seoul’s Defense Minister Han Min-koo will attend the “two-plus-two” meeting with their Australian counterparts -- Julie Bishop and Kevin Andrews, respectively -- to discuss a range of bilateral, regional and global issues, including North Kore

Sept. 9, 2015

S. Korea, China reaffirm close coordination on N. Korean nuke

South Korean and Chinese nuclear envoys held talks here Monday on ways to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table, capitalizing on the mood of closer security ties between the two nations following President Park Geun-hye's visit to Beijing last week.Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed in a summit to push for the resumption of "meaningful" six-party talks on denuclearizing the North. They also warned Pyongyang against further provocations to raise military tensions on the p

Sept. 7, 2015

S. Korea, Jordan to hold summit meeting to expand economic cooperation

The leaders of South Korea and Jordan will meet this week to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic ties and other issues facing the global community, the presidential office said Sunday.Cheong Wa Dae said President Park Geun-hye will meet King Abdullah II of Jordan on Friday in Seoul, with the two leaders to touch on trade, investment, and the construction and energy sectors as well as expanding economic cooperation.The Middle East monarch will be in the country on Thursday and Friday. Since

Sept. 6, 2015

Park: S. Korea to begin discussions with China on Koreas’ unification

President Park Geun-hye on Friday said South Korea and China could quickly begin various discussions on how to achieve a peaceful unification between South and North Korea.“Peaceful unification is the fundamental and the quickest way to resolve nuclear and other issues,” Park said in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way back to Seoul from a trip to China, referring to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Tensions persist on the divided peninsula over the North’s pursuit of its missile and

Sept. 4, 2015

Park says she took cue from Schroeder over labor reform

President Park Geun-hye said Thursday that she has taken a cue from former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over labor reform.   Park made the comment to Schroeder during their encounter at a military parade in Beijing, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters after arriving in Shanghai, the second and last stop on Park's three-day trip to China.   Germany's so-called Hartz reform is credited with transforming the labor market and welfare system in Germany.   Park has repeatedly c

Sept. 3, 2015

Warmer Seoul-Beijing ties send message to Pyongyang

When Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a massive military parade on a rostrum overlooking Beijing's iconic Tiananmen Square, South Korean President Park Geun-hye sat two seats to the right of Xi.    The presence of Park at the rostrum was notable, partly because of her yellow jacket, but also because Choe Ryong-hae, a key aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who also attended the military parade, was barely visible. Choe was seen at the end of a row of other foreign officials watchin

Sept. 3, 2015