S. Korea pushes to strike FTAs with China, Vietnam, New Zealand this year

South Korea said Thursday it will push to conclude free trade agreements (FTA) with China, Vietnam and New Zealand before the year's end.Negotiations for a free trade pact have been underway with each country as South Korea seeks to expand its presence overseas."In becoming one of the world's top 10 trading nations, the driving force behind our economy was exports," Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said as he presided over a government policy meeting."In order to maintain the solid stability of our

Oct. 16, 2014

Seoul flatly rejects Japan's claim to Dokdo islets

South Korea said Wednesday that it will not tolerate Japan's continued claim to Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo, vowing to take stern measures if Tokyo makes any attempt to undermine its territorial sovereignty.Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told lawmakers on Tuesday that Japan will stick to its claim to the islets that lie closer to South Korea than Japan in waters between the two countries.Seoul's foreign ministry said that it is "deplorable" that Japan has repeated an "absurd" cl

Oct. 15, 2014

Travel ban extended for Japanese reporter accused of

South Korean prosecutors said Tuesday they have extended a travel ban on a Japanese journalist accused of defaming President Park Geun-hye by reporting false rumors about her whereabouts on the day of April's deadly ferry sinking.Tatsuya Kato, former head of the Seoul bureau of Japan's conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper, was indicted Wednesday on defamation charges for reporting that Park and an unidentified man had an alleged secret meeting on April 16, citing rumors circulated in South Kore

Oct. 14, 2014

Seoul, Beijing share view on minimizing impact of fishing boat incident

South Korea and China have shared the view that they should make concerted efforts to minimize the impact of last week's fishing boat incident on bilateral relations, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.The skipper of an 80-ton Chinese fishing boat was shot dead Friday by a South Korean coast guard official in South Korean territorial waters in the Yellow Sea. The coast guard says that the captain violently resisted arrest over alleged illegal fishing.Three Chinese fishermen are in detention h

Oct. 14, 2014

Embassy invites local students to partake in video competition

The Irish embassy and the Irish Association of Korea launched the “Send me to Ireland” video competition for university students on Monday. This competition gives South Korean undergraduates the chance to compete for an opportunity to experience Ireland from an educational, cultural and academic perspective, according to a statement from the embassy.The competition seeks to raise awareness of the many Korean-Irish connections, and offers the winner an opportunity to study at one of Ireland’s lea

Oct. 12, 2014

SIWA Bazaar touted as multicultural, meaningful

This year’s diplomatic community bazaar will be held at 63 Convention Center on the second floor of the Samyuk Building in Yeouido in Seoul on Nov. 10, said the president of the Seoul International Women’s Association in a press statement.“This year the Bazaar will be held at a new venue: the second floor of the beautiful 63 Convention Center with everything on one floor. Conveniently located on Yeouido Island, with an ATM on-site, the Convention Center has ample parking facilities and easy publ

Oct. 12, 2014

S. Korea, Japan agree to resume finance ministers' talks

South Korea and Japan agreed Friday to hold a finance ministers' meeting in Tokyo at an early date, resuming a consultation mechanism that has been stalled for nearly two years amid badly frayed relations.South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso reached the agreement during a one-on-one meeting held on the sidelines of a series of international meetings that the top economic policymakers were attending."The finance ministers of the two countries exchang

Oct. 11, 2014

China protests after captain killed in scuffle off S. Korea

A senior Chinese diplomat has held an "emergency meeting" with South Korea's ambassador to China and lodged a protest after the captain of a Chinese fishing boat died during a violent clash with the South Korean Coast Guard during a crackdown on illegal fishing. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao met with the South Korean ambassador to China, Kwon Young-se, on Friday night and made "solemn representations" over the incident, which happened144 kilometers off South Korea's western coa

Oct. 11, 2014

Sankei case to be heard by 3-member court

The trial of a Japanese journalist accused of defaming President Park Geun-hye will be presided over by three justices at a criminal court in Seoul, officials said Friday. “A defamation case is usually assigned to a court presided by one judge but we have decided to assign the case to a three-judge court, considering the importance of the issue,” said an official at Seoul Central District Court. The court will assign the case Monday, he added.Tatsuta Kato, head of the Seoul bureau of Japan’s San

Oct. 10, 2014

Seoul to raise issue of Japan's wartime sex slaves at U.N. next week

South Korea plans to raise the issue of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement at the United Nations next week, government sources said Friday, a move aimed at putting pressure on Tokyo to resolve the issue with sincerity.South Korea is expected to take the issue of Japan's refusal to recognize its wartime army's coercion of Korean women into sex slaves to a U.N. meeting to be held under the theme of advancement of women from Monday through Wednesday, sources said. Since 2011, Seoul has brought up t

Oct. 10, 2014

N Korea shows dual behaviors of provocation, cordial gesture: Park

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that North Korea has shown provocative and conciliatory gestures as a North Korean vessel violated the western maritime border only days after ranking officials made a surprise visit to the South.Park made the remarks in a meeting with Le Luong Minh, secretary general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at her office, requesting that ASEAN play a role in prodding the North into giving up its nuclear weapons.As North

Oct. 8, 2014

U.S.-Japan’s new defense plans should promote peace in Northeast Asia: Seoul

South Korea said Wednesday that a proposed revision of the defense guidelines between the United States and Japan should be made in a way to promote peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.Seoul’s foreign ministry unveiled its stance as the U.S. and Japan earlier in the day unveiled an interim report that removes geographical limits on their security partnership, in line with Japan’s move to increase the role of its military such as the use of the right to collective sel

Oct. 8, 2014

Park calls for EU’s critical engagement with N. Korea

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called on Europe to engage with North Korea to prod Pyongyang to improve its human rights record, a news report said, as she prepares for a visit to Italy for a biennial summit of dozens of Asian and European leaders.“It is necessary to continue ‘critical engagement’ to urge the North to change its course and to make ceaseless efforts to improve human rights in the North,” Park said in an interview published by Europolitics, a European affairs daily.Park’

Oct. 8, 2014