S. Korea, Ghana to hold policy talks next week

Senior government officials from South Korea and Ghana will meet in Accra next week for their first policy talks since their countries' establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.On Monday, Kwon Hee-seog, director-general of the ministry's Africa and Middle East affairs bureau, will meet with Muhammed Fuseini Inusah, director-general of the Ghanaian foreign ministry's Asia and Pacific affairs bureau, to discuss cooperation across a wide range of sectors, inclu

Aug. 20, 2015

S. Korea offers condolences over victims of Thai bomb blast

South Korea offered a message of condolence Thursday to the Thai people over the deadly bombing in downtown Bangkok.Twenty people were killed in the bomb blast earlier this week, with more than 120 others injured. The exact reason for the assault remains unclear as Thai authorities are tracking down a suspected bomber."It's a very unfortunate incident," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "(The government) expresses condolences to Thai people, government, and especially the bereaved famili

Aug. 20, 2015

S. Korea, Pakistan to hold policy talks next week

Vice foreign ministers of South Korea and Pakistan will hold policy talks next week to further bilateral ties across all sectors ranging from politics to development, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong will visit Pakistan next Tuesday to hold the ninth round of vice ministerial policy talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said in a press briefing.The two sides plan to discuss ways to strengthen practical tie

Aug. 20, 2015

China, Russia set to launch joint naval drills in East Sea

China and Russia launched joint naval drills on Thursday in the northern part of the East Sea, the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to China's state media.The nine-day drills, the second joint naval exercise between China and Russia this year, are a result of the nations deepening cooperation in the military and security fields.Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have held frequent summits. Xi attended a military parade in Moscow in Ma

Aug. 20, 2015

China facing 'more severe' trade situation: commerce ministry

China's commerce ministry said Wednesday that the country is facing a "more severe situation" in its foreign trade for the rest of this year, fanning concerns that Beijing could devalue its yuan currency further after a surprise cut last week. "For the second-half of this year, China's foreign trade situation will face more severity than we expected," China's commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters during a regular press briefing. Shen said the Chinese economy is also facing "a l

Aug. 19, 2015

U.S. senator says Park's trip to D.C. much awaited

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong and a visiting U.S. senator reaffirmed the strength of their countries' alliance Wednesday as President Park Geun-hye is preparing to visit Washington in October.Sen. Cory Gardner, chairman of the subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and international cyber-security policy, arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a three-day visit, during which he also plans to pay a courtesy call on Park later Wednesday."Korea, of course, is a staunch ally of the United

Aug. 19, 2015

Prospects for Korea-Japan relations brighter after Abe statement: U.S. experts

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's war anniversary statement and South Korean President Park Geun-hye's prudent reaction to it offer hopes that the long-frayed relations between the two neighbors could improve, U.S. experts said Tuesday."The good news here is that the Korean president seems to agree that Prime Minister Abe is in a much better place on matters of mutual concern than he has been. And she also seems to agree that the Abe statement contains enough to warrant further open doors, no

Aug. 19, 2015

S. Korea upbeat about three-way summit with China, Japan

South Korea expressed confidence Tuesday it will resume trilateral summit talks with China and Japan in the coming months."All three nations have a sufficient consensus on the need for normalizing three-way cooperation by holding the summit within this year," Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said at a press briefing.As the chair of this year's trilateral sessions, South Korea will continue "leading diplomatic efforts" toward a summit, he added.The Northeast Asian countries are in related

Aug. 18, 2015

N. Korea repeats call for ending Seoul-Washington military drills

North Korea repeated its demand Tuesday for South Korea and the United States to suspend their ongoing joint military drills, calling them a "blatant" provocation against the North.South Korea and the U.S. kicked off their annual joint military drills on Monday, which Pyongyang has denounced as a war rehearsal for an invasion of the North. The North called the military exercises a "declaration of war.""If the joint military drills are suspended, thereby setting the stage for reconciliation betwe

Aug. 18, 2015

Chinese expert hopes Park will attend WWII ceremony in Beijing

A Chinese expert voiced hope Tuesday that South Korean President Park Geun-hye will visit Beijing early next month to attend events marking the end of World War II, claiming that it could help ensure regional stability. Wang Junsheng, an associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also suggested that Park could skip a scheduled military parade, which could highlight a rivalry between China and Japan, during her possible visit to Beijing. Most Western leaders are unlikely to at

Aug. 18, 2015

Japanese documents show forced recruitment of Korean women as wartime sex slaves

China has been unveiling a series of Japanese documents since earlier this week, again showing that the Japanese Imperial Army forced Korean women to work in military-run brothels serving its soldiers during World War II.The Chinese State Archives Administration released the documents, written by the Japanese military in the 1940s, ahead of a Sept. 3 military parade marking the end of the war that is expected to highlight what Beijing calls the "War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression." It

Aug. 18, 2015

S. Korea, Cuba can normalize ties earlier than expected: Havana official

South Korea and Cuba could normalize their diplomatic relations earlier than expected as the two countries have already laid the groundwork through various exchanges, a senior Cuban official said.Erasmo Lazcano Lopez, vice president of the Jose Marti Cultural Society, made the remark in an interview with Yonhap News Agency last week on the eve of a landmark ceremony to raise the U.S. flag at the U.S. Embassy in Havana after the two countries re-established diplomatic relations.Lopez said the nor

Aug. 18, 2015

WSJ: Abe should face up to history

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should face up to history if he wants his country to be unshackled by its past, the Wall Street Journal said Monday."Japan has pursued a peaceful path since the war, but Mr. Abe raises new doubts about its intentions when he makes excuses for Japan's conduct. The country's prewar isolation was an effect, not a cause, of a conflict started by a fanatical regime devoted to racial purity and superiority," the U.S. paper said in an editorial.It was referring to Abe

Aug. 18, 2015

Korea-U.S. military exercises have 'null effect' on relations with N.K.: U.S. expert

Military exercises between South Korea and the United States have little effect on Pyongyang's relations with either Washington or Seoul despite bellicose war threats the communist nation makes against such exercises, a U.S. expert said Monday.North Korea harshly denounces annual military exercises South Korea holds with the U.S. as a preparation for war against it.Ahead of the latest round of drills, the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which kicked off Monday, Pyongyang also threatened to take its stro

Aug. 18, 2015

S. Korea's membership in TPP only matter of time: trade minister

South Korea has no other choice but to join the U.S.-led regional free trade agreement, known as the Trans Pacific Partnership, the country's trade minister said Monday, as the country's exports have been stuck in a slump. "A South Korea that has no membership in the TPP is unimaginable," Yoon Sang-jick said while meeting with reporters here.South Korea has not yet announced an official intention to join the multilateral FTA that currently involves 12 countries, including Australia, Canada and J

Aug. 17, 2015

Rep. Rangel due in S. Korea this week

A senior U.S. congressman will visit South Korea this week to share views on the alliance between the two countries and the North Korea issue, officials here said Monday.Rep. Charles Rangel, a Korean War veteran, is scheduled to arrive here on Wednesday for a five-day stay, they said.He plans to meet with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se next Monday."They will discuss ways to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance and bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula as well as the implementation of th

Aug. 17, 2015

FM Yun to visit Costa Rica for regional forum

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will visit Costa Rica this week for a forum between East Asian and Latin American states, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Yun will attend the 7th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation in San Jose on Friday, where he plans to lay out South Korea's vision for strengthening ties between the two regions, the ministry said in a press release.South Korea will serve two years as the next East Asia coordinator for FEALAC until 2017

Aug. 17, 2015

Senate introduces Korean War 'Wall of Remembrance' legislation

A U.S. senator has introduced a bill calling for erecting a "Wall of Remembrance" in Washington that lists the names of all 36,574 American soldiers killed during the Korean War.Sen. Benjamin Cardin brought in the legislation (S.1982) earlier this month that would authorize the wall's establishment at the Korean War Veterans Memorial and allow certain private contributions to fund the project, congressional records showed Sunday.The legislation, which was co-sponsored by Sen. John Boozman and re

Aug. 17, 2015

S. Koreans 'disappointed' with rhetoric, absence of new apology in Abe statement

South Korean political parties and civic groups expressed their dismay Friday over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's war anniversary statement, noting he failed to sincerely apologize for his country's wartime atrocities.The ruling Saenuri Party said Abe's statement, released on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, was "disappointing" in that it only made an indirect reference to Korean and other Asian women who were forced into sex slavery for Japanese troops, or "comf

Aug. 14, 2015

S. Korea urges Japan's 'sincere action' over history

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se called on Japan Friday to take "sincere action" over the history issue. Yun had phone talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida shortly after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a war anniversary statement, a government official said.The Japanese minister explained the background of Abe's wordings and stressed that the Abe administration will stick to the history perception held by its predecessors, the official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.In r

Aug. 14, 2015