Korea pushes to resume stalled security consultations with Japan

South Korea is pushing to resume long-suspended security consultations with Japan later this year to discuss North Korea and regional security issues, a government source said Tuesday. The security consultations, involving senior foreign affairs and defense officials, were held regularly under an agreement signed between the two countries in 1997, but have been suspended since 2009 due to tensions over historical and territorial issues. The Asian neighbors had sought the security meeting last ye

Sept. 9, 2014

U.S. official in Beijing ahead of Obama's visit to China

BEIJING (Yonhap) – The top national security adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama held talks with her Chinese counterparts on Monday, during which they discussed a range of bilateral and international issues, including North Korea. The visit by U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice to Beijing comes about two months before Obama is to hold a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the sidelines of the APEC leaders' summit. At the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beij

Sept. 8, 2014

In paper to U.N., China renews call for restart of N. Korea nuclear talks

BEIJING (Yonhap) – China has renewed its commitment to an early resumption of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program ahead of the United Nations General Assembly later this month.North Korea withdrew from the six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia in 2009 and conducted its third nuclear test in 2013. Mindful of Pyongyang's track record of saber-rattling before returning to negotiations for economic concessions, Seoul and Washington insist

Sept. 8, 2014

U.S. rules out meeting with top N.K. diplomat

The U.S. has ruled out the possibility of a meeting with a top North Korean diplomat scheduled to make a rare visit to Europe later this week, downplaying the communist country’s intensifying peace offensive, a news report said. Kang Sok-ju, secretary of the Central Committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, is expected to embark on a 10-day trip on Saturday that includes stops in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. Given his high profile and history as a negotiator on top issues, his

Sept. 4, 2014

‘U.S. unlikely to engage with N.K.’

Despite Pyongyang’s hopes for dialogue with Washington, the U.S. is unlikely to change its policy course and engage with North Korea as it confronts a host of foreign policy challenges elsewhere, notably in the Middle East, experts said Wednesday.The U.S. might need to rein in North Korean provocations and bring three jailed Americans back home ahead of its crucial midterm elections in November. But Washington is unlikely to budge unless Pyongyang takes any meaningful denuclearization steps, the

Sept. 3, 2014

Seoul firm on North Korea sanctions

The Park Geun-hye administration is not yet considering lifting a set of tough sanctions on North Korea, an official said Monday, dismissing media reports of a possible shift in Seoul’s policy.“There is no change in the government’s basic position with regard to the May 24th Measures,” unification ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said at a press briefing.He was referring to economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang in 2010 by the then Lee Myung-bak government for the North’s deadly torpedo atta

Sept. 1, 2014

U.N. rights chief calls on Japan to come clean on sex slavery

GENEVA (Yonhap) ― Wrapping up her six years of work as U.N. human rights chief, Navi Pillay spared no words in demanding that Japan come clean on its wartime sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women.She urged Tokyo to take “immediate and effective legislative and administrative measures to ensure that every allegation of sexual slavery is investigated.”“As I near the end of my mandate, I am deeply saddened to see that little progress has been made and victims of this crime have been pa

Sept. 1, 2014

S. Korean ambassador visits landslides-hit Hiroshima

South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yoo Heung-soo on Sunday visited Hiroshima, a Japanese city devastated by rain-caused landslides earlier this month, to console local residents on behalf of South Korean people, according to his embassy.Yoo offered his condolences to victims and his sympathy to those who have suffered, as he visited a local elementary school where displaced residents are staying, it said."I sincerely hope that relations between South Korea and Japan will improve," he was quoted as

Aug. 31, 2014

Korea promotes investment in Myanmar

Officials from the public and private sector in South Korea and a delegation from Myanmar will discuss the investment potential of the Southeast Asian nation in Seoul on Tuesday.They are to meet organizers from the ASEAN-Korea Center and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the 2014 Investment and Business Environment Seminar on Myanmar.Myanmar began to open to international investment only after sanctions were lifted with the start of democratic reforms in 2010. U.S. Secretary of State

Aug. 31, 2014

S. Korea hails U.N. statement on Yemen

The South Korean government said Saturday it welcomes the U.N. Security Council’s adoption of a statement calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Yemen.As a member of the group Friends of Yemen, South Korea supports stability, peaceful political transition, and the smooth implementation of economic reform, Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement.The group was formed in 2010 to assist the efforts of Yemen authorities to ensure stability, prosperity and peace. Nineteen member state

Aug. 30, 2014