Japan doesn't seem to take issue with South Korea's acting president possibly joining a summit of three Asian neighbors that could happen early this year, a senior foreign ministry official said Wednesday.Japan is seeking to hold the trilateral summit involving leaders from China and South Korea with some local media reporting that it has proposed the meeting to be held around Feb. 10.As the timetable seems to be shaping up, critics here are worrying that it might not be appropriate for South Ko

Jan. 4, 2017

South Korea's foreign ministry referred a diplomat to the prosecution on Wednesday over sexually abusing a teenage girl in Chile, officials said. The councilor, previously posted at the South Korean Embassy in Chile, is accused of committing a sexual offense against a 14-year-old girl in September while teaching her Korean. Tipped off by the girl, a Chilean television channel filmed and broadcast the diplomat sexually harassing another woman earlier in the month who was acting as a teenage girl

Dec. 28, 2016

US President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday the country should "greatly strengthen and expand" its nuclear arsenal, a stark contrast to outgoing President Barack Obama's championing of a world without nuclear weapons."The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump said in a Twitter posting. It's unclear what made him take on the issue, but he met with a group of Pentagon officials a day earlie

Dec. 23, 2016

South Korea, China and Japan have decided to postpone their trilateral summit until next year, which had been slated for this month in Tokyo, a Japanese media organization reported Tuesday amid political turmoil in Korea.Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the three countries had planned to hold it by the end of this month, but due to "various circumstances," the summit will be arranged to be held in Japan at a suitable time next year, according to Japan's Kyodo News.The

Dec. 13, 2016

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ The Islamic State group is likely to carry out new attacks in the European Union in the near future, probably targeting countries that are members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the extremist organization in Syria and Iraq, EU police agency Europol said in a report published Friday.``Estimates from some intelligence services indicate several dozen people directed by IS may be currently present in Europe with a capability to commit terrorist attacks,'' according

Dec. 2, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) _ At least 200,000 conservative Muslims rallied peacefully in the Indonesian capital on Friday in the second major protest against its minority Christian governor, who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy.President Joko ``Jokowi'' Widodo, a political ally of the governor who angered hard-liners by being out of the city during their first protest, unexpectedly went to the national monument to join Friday prayers with the sprawling crowd. He called for protesters to le

Dec. 2, 2016

China is apparently dragging its feet in punishing those involved in the sinking of a South Korean Coast Guard vessel which took place during a crackdown on illegal fishing, Seoul officials and observers said Tuesday.In early October, the 4.5-ton speed boat that was engaged in an operation to capture fishing boats operating illegally in waters off the country's west coast sank when a larger Chinese vessel rear-ended it. There were no casualties in the incident that the Coast Guard views as an "i

Nov. 22, 2016

US President-elect Donald Trump will hold a "private meeting" with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday evening, the transition team said."This evening, the president-elect will be meeting, it will be a private meeting, with Japanese Prime Minister Abe," said Jason Miller, communications director of the transition team, during a daily conference call briefing. "To be clear, we recognize there is only one president of the US at any time and so this is a private meeting." The meeting in

Nov. 18, 2016

Some Korean-Americans supported Donald Trump's surprise election as US president and are expected to be given roles in the incoming government.Most representative of them are Lisa Shin, an eye doctor living in New Mexico; Michelle Park Steel, vice chair of California's Orange County Board of Supervisors; RNC Asian and Pacific Islander Communications Director Jason Chung; and Marcia Lee Kelly, director of operations for the Republican National Convention.Shin was the only Korean-American to deliv

Nov. 11, 2016

Donald Trump is heading toward a surprise victory in Tuesday's US presidential election, winning one battleground state after another in what would be one of the biggest upsets in American election history.Trump has so far picked up 232 electoral votes against Hillary Clinton's 209.The billionaire real-estate tycoon won such key states as Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, and was leading in Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Iowa, Utah and Arizona, whose combined electoral votes total 53. That

Nov. 9, 2016

The US Embassy in South Korea said Thursday that it will hold an event next week where its officials and experts along with local college students can enjoy a live broadcast of the presidential election and the ensuing vote count together. In time for the US presidential election slated for Tuesday (local time), the 2016 US Election Watch event will be held in a hotel in central Seoul on Wednesday, according to the embassy.The event will be attended by US Amb. Mark Lippert and political experts

Nov. 3, 2016

A South Korean official has been elected as a member of the executive board at the International Monetary Fund, the finance ministry here said Wednesday.The IMF appointed 24 directors who are elected by 189 member countries, including Choi Hee-nam, former deputy finance minister of South Korea, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.The executive board, in which the 24 directors represent their own groups in accordance with their voting powers, is responsible for conducting the day-to

Oct. 26, 2016

The Philippines is seeking to set up a new contact point linking the country's police with foreign embassies inside the country in a bid to better protect foreign tourists and expatriates, a senior official at the Phillippine foreign affairs department said."Right now, we have a plan to set up a contact point which would be the main contact point whenever there are any incidents involving foreign nations so that there would be better coordination between my ministry, foreign embassies and police

Oct. 26, 2016

A South Korean married couple living in the Philippines have been missing for months, the foreign ministry here said Monday, adding that it is working in cooperation with local authorities to discover their whereabouts. The couple was last seen in April when they took a ship leaving from Samar Island located near the Philippines' southern island of Mindanao, according to the ministry. They are said to have lived in Mindanao for about one year. The Seoul government currently has a travel ban for

Oct. 24, 2016