S. Korea, 20 other countries joining US-led anti-WMD exercise in Hawaii

South Korea, the United States and 19 other countries are conducting a U.S.-hosted exercise in Hawaii with an aim to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the U.S. State Department has said. The five-day Fortune Guard 22 kicked off in Honolulu on Monday. It is part of the exercises for the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) launched in 2003 to stop or impede transfers of WMDs and related items flowing to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern

Aug. 9, 2022

Foreign Minister heads to China for talks with Wang Yi

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is taking off for his first official trip to China on Monday, where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to discuss a series of issues including regional security and economic cooperation. Park were to departed from Seoul Air Base to Qingdao, Shandong province, for the three-day trip from Monday to Wednesday. The bilateral talks between Park and Wang is slated for Tuesday. “(On the trip to China) I plan to look back on and assess th

Aug. 8, 2022

[Contribution] Envisioning sustainable and mutually beneficial future of ASEAN and Korea

Aug. 8th, 2022 is the 55th anniversary of the ASEAN’s foundation. Congratulations on ASEAN Day through this page. It is not an overstatement that ASEAN Member States have manifested their earnest efforts to seek peace and prosperity in the region since its establishment, overcoming unexpected obstacles over the past five and a half decades. Last May, I had the chance to meet the president and vice president of a university in Vietnam, a member of “Passage to ASEAN Association,&rdq

Aug. 8, 2022

S. Korea expresses intent to join preliminary 'Chip 4' meeting

South Korea has decided to join a preliminary meeting of a US-led semiconductor alliance known as the "Chip 4," a senior presidential official has said. The official told Yonhap News Agency on Sunday that the foreign ministry delivered the United States South Korea's intent to join the meeting expected to take place at the end of August or in early September. The Chip 4 is an envisioned alliance of semiconductor powerhouses involving the US, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, viewed b

Aug. 8, 2022

Foreign Minister relays concerns on NK’s possible nuclear test to Russian counterpart

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin relayed concerns on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to his Russian counterpart Surgey Lavrov at a multilateral summit on Friday. Attending the East Asian Summit held as part of the series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Park spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for some six minutes. At their greeting, Park expressed his concerns over escalating tension on the

Aug. 5, 2022

South Korea reelected to International Seabed Authority Council

South Korea has been reelected to Group B (major investors) of the Council of the International Seabed Authority for the fifth consecutive year, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday. In the election during the 27th session of the ISA Assembly held in Jamaica on Thursday, South Korea was chosen for Group B, in which countries lead the process of drawing up main policies for the agency, along with France, Germany and India. Elections are held once every three years, and S

Aug. 5, 2022

Foreign minister to make first official visit to China next week

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin will make his first official visit to China and meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, next week, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday. Park will be traveling to Qingdao, Shandong province, from Monday to Wednesday, according to the Foreign Ministry. The trip has been coordinated upon an invitation from the Chinese foreign minister. In their planned talks, Park and Wang are expected to discuss ways to develop bilateral ties, which the two co

Aug. 5, 2022

Assembly speaker heads for Poland, Romania with focus on arms sales, economic cooperation

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo departed for Poland and Romania with his agenda focusing on arms sales and economic cooperation, his office said Friday. Kim's seven-day trip, which runs through Thursday, will include meetings with his parliamentary counterparts and ministers to discuss economic agenda and expand strategic ties, according to Kim's office. It marked his first overseas trip as parliamentary leader. For the first leg of his trip, Kim will visit Poland to meet his cou

Aug. 5, 2022

Pelosi says her trip to S. Korea reaffirmed strong US-S. Korea relationship

WASHINGTON -- Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, highlighted the strength of the US-South Korea alliance on Thursday, wrapping her two-day visit to Seoul. She said the visit by her and other members of US Congress reaffirmed the "strong bond" between Seoul and Washington. "The United States and South Korea share a strong bond formed for security and forged by decades of warm friendship," said Pelosi in a released statement. "Our Congressional del

Aug. 5, 2022

‘ASEAN is new centerpiece of Korea’s Indo-Pacific initiative’

South Korea will strengthen its economic partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations while also expanding its strategic ties with the countries, Seoul’s foreign minister said in a foreign ministerial meeting on Thursday. Attending the South Korea-ASEAN foreign ministers’ session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Park said Seoul would pursue greater solidarity and mutual benefits with ASEAN, which will become the “centerpiece” of Korea’s envisioned Indo-Pac

Aug. 4, 2022

Pelosi to meet Nat'l Assembly speaker amid heightened regional tensions over Taiwan visit

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was set to hold talks with National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo in Seoul on Thursday amid heightened regional tensions in the wake of her high-profile visit to Taiwan. Pelosi arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night from Taiwan where she reaffirmed unwavering US commitment to the island amid angry protests from China. Beijing announced live-fire military drills around Taiwan in protest. On Thursday, she was to meet with Kim for talks about regional security, economic co

Aug. 4, 2022

[Hwang’s China and the World] Scoping out forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen from various angles

During a speech at Victory Day celebrations on July 27, the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol, mentioning his name for the first time since his inauguration. Amid the dark days of inter-Korean relations due to Kim Jong-un’s strong criticism toward the current South Korean government, domestic political debate is still heated over the forced repatriation of two North Koreans who claimed to have killed 16 fellow sailors in 2019. Regardless of the le

Aug. 4, 2022

Foreign Minister to promote Korea-ASEAN ties in Cambodia

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin were to take off for Cambodia on Wednesday to attend a series of annual meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, during which he will present South Korea’s diplomatic goals and reaffirm its commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. During the multilateral meetings, which are set to take place over two days starting Thursday, Park plans to take part in several meetings -- including the Korea-ASEAN foreign ministe

Aug. 3, 2022

Pelosi’s Korea visit comes amid soaring US-China tensions

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is to meet with ranking South Korean officials Thursday, amid US-China tensions heightened by her trip to Taiwan. Pelosi’s stop in Taiwan sparked backlash and military actions from China. North Korea and Russia also pitched in and launched a blistering criticism of the US, showing a glimpse of the regional security complex that will be compounded by the visit. South Korea is the fourth leg of the US congressional delegation’s trip to the Indo-Pacific r

Aug. 3, 2022

Pyongyang lashes out at Seoul’s appointment of NK human rights ambassador

North Korea lashed out at South Korea’s appointment of an ambassador-at-large on North Korean human rights issues on Wednesday, calling it “Seoul’s vicious political provocation to battle with Pyongyang until the end.” North Korea’s propaganda radio station Echo of Unification strongly criticized the South, as Seoul has recently appointed Lee Shin-wha, an international relations professor at Korea University, to the post that has been vacant for the past five year

Aug. 3, 2022

US welcomes Speaker Pelosi's trip to S. Korea, Japan: White House

US President Joe Biden welcomes the ongoing trip to Asia by the speaker of the House of Representatives that will soon take her to South Korea and Japan, a White House official said Tuesday. The remarks by John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, came as Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) arrived in Taiwan on a visit protested by Beijing. "The president has already seen that Speaker Pelosi has already accomplished some important conversations on this trip with respec

Aug. 3, 2022

South Korea keeps watchful eye on Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan

South Korea‘s Foreign Ministry is keeping a watchful eye on the escalating tensions between the United States and China as the US House speaker is reportedly expected to visit Taiwan, a ministry official said Tuesday. Nancy Pelosi, the US House speaker is reportedly planning to visit Taiwan as part of her Asian tour, despite warnings from China, which views the official American contact with Taiwan as a show of support for the island’s independence -- Beijing claims the self-ruled

Aug. 2, 2022

South Korea condemns North for ‘abusing’ NPT regime, urges to cease provocations

South Korea strongly condemned the North for “abusing” the Non-Proliferation Treaty to openly develop nuclear weapons and urged the regime to return to dialogue for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization during international nuclear arms talks. Addressing the 10th NPT Review Conference held at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, Korean Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs of Foreign Ministry Ham Sang-wook said the nonproliferation goal is bein

Aug. 2, 2022

S. Korean defense chief to visit Australia for talks on arms industry cooperation

South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup is set to depart for Australia on Tuesday for talks with his Australian counterpart on arms industry cooperation and regional security, his ministry said. Lee plans to meet Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles in Canberra on Thursday to discuss two-way defense cooperation as part of follow-up measures to the summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held on the margins of a NATO summit in Madrid in

Aug. 2, 2022

Blinken reaffirms US commitment to NPT, citing threats posed by N. Korea, Iran

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted the importance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on Monday, citing threats posed by North Korea and Iran. The top US diplomat reiterated the world faced a "critical moment" amid fears of a potential North Korean nuclear test. "And so we come together at a critical moment. The DPRK continues to expand its unlawful nuclear program and continues its ongoing provocations against the region," Blinken said,

Aug. 2, 2022