Park to visit U.S. in October for talks with Obama

President Park Geun-hye plans to visit Washington in October for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, both sides announced, after rescheduling a trip postponed due to the MERS outbreak in South Korea.  The two leaders are set to meet on Oct. 16 to discuss a wide range of issues, including bilateral alliance and North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.  "The summit is expected to serve as an occasion to reaffirm the strong, dynamic and evolving allia

Aug. 13, 2015

Korea ‘will suffer’ if Park shuns military parade in Beijing: state media

South Korea "will suffer" from unspecified damage if President Park Geun-hye shuns a military parade in Beijing early next month commemorating the end of World War II, said a state-run newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party Wednesday.  China has invited world leaders to attend the Sept. 3 military parade that is expected to highlight Japan's surrender in the war, but many Western leaders are unlikely to attend because it could trumpet China's rivalry with Japan.   South Korean off

Aug. 12, 2015

FM Yun calls on Abe to uphold predecessors' apologies

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday to clearly uphold his predecessors' apologies for Japan's colonial rule of Korea, saying his war anniversary statement this week will be a "touchstone" of bilateral ties.  Abe is expected to issue a statement Friday marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, which coincides with Korea's liberation from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule.  Amid strained ties caused by various disputes over their

Aug. 12, 2015

Hatoyama urges Abe to offer 'heartfelt' apology for history

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should make a public apology "from the heart" for the nation's wartime atrocities, one of his predecessors said Wednesday.  Yukio Hatoyama, who served as Japan's leader from 2009-2010, was referring to Abe's upcoming speech that will be closely watched by South Korea and many other countries. Abe is to deliver a major speech in Tokyo on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.  Keen attention is being paid to Abe's wordings on Japan's war

Aug. 12, 2015

Relics of Korean independence movement in Beijing vanish in rapid development

The sign outside a rundown gate on an old-fashioned street in central Beijing gives few clues about its history and the surrounding buildings lie in rubble.  Long-time Chinese residents claim that the gate is a part of the Shideng small temple where Shin Chae-ho, a revered Korean independence activist, once lived in the 1920s during his exile in China.   As an independence activist, a historian and a journalist, Shin was credited with setting up a nationalist historiography of modern Korea. He w

Aug. 11, 2015

S. Korean scholars urge Japan to issue 'sincere' apology

Hundreds of South Korean scholars Monday called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to "sincerely" apologize for his country's militaristic past and brutal colonization of Korea, as both countries prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.  This Friday, Abe is set to issue a statement marking Japan's World War II defeat, which ushered in Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.  The Japanese leader has offered a glimpse into his hyper-conservative v

Aug. 10, 2015

U.S. denies asking President Park not to attend China ceremony

The United States Sunday denied a news report that it has asked South Korean President Park Geun-hye not to attend China's celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.  Citing U.S. government and diplomatic sources, Japan's Kyodo News earlier reported that the U.S. government conveyed to South Korea that if Park attends the Sept. 3 ceremony in Beijing, it would send a false message to the world that China has cracked the U.S.-South Korea alliance.  The U.S. expressed its conc

Aug. 10, 2015

Park mulls whether to attend China ceremony

President Park Geun-hye is considering whether to visit Beijing next month for a high-profile celebration of China's victory over Japan in World War II, a spokesman said Monday.   Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters that Park could make a decision as early as next week.   Park's possible visit to China has become a sensitive diplomatic issue as Japan's Kyodo News Service reported that the United States has asked Park to skip China's celebrations.   Kyodo reported that Park's vis

Aug. 10, 2015

U.S. declines comment on need for new apology from Abe

The United States declined comment Thursday on whether Japanese Prime Minister should include a new apology for the country's wartime past in an upcoming war anniversary statement, only saying the Japanese leader made "positive remarks" on history issues earlier this year.  Earlier in the day, an advisory panel on Abe's war-anniversary statement released a report that made no mention of a need for Abe to make a fresh apology for the country's imperialistic past, though it took note of the countr

Aug. 7, 2015

Russia bids for vast Arctic territories at UN

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometers (over 463,000 square miles) of Artic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles (about 650 kilometers) from the shore.Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway have all been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to hold up to a quar

Aug. 4, 2015

China envoy touts traditional ties with N. Korea

Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun has paid tribute to the Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, touting traditional ties with wayward ally North Korea, according to China's state-run media Saturday.    Li made the remarks as he visited a cemetery of the Chinese war dead in the border city of Kaesong on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported from Pyongyang.    North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un laid a wreath at a cemetery of Chinese war dead earlier this week in the wa

Aug. 1, 2015

U.S. soldiers making maps of underground military facilities in N. Korea

U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea have been making sophisticated maps of underground military facilities in North Korea to better deal with threats posed by the North, a military journal showed Saturday.   U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has been also running an education program for senior South Korean and American military officers to share information on North Korea's underground facilities and to jointly respond to the North's military threats, according to a contribution by Korean Army Maj. P

Aug. 1, 2015

China, Russia to conduct joint military drills in East Sea

China and Russia will launch joint military drills next month in the East Sea, the water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, China's defense ministry said Friday. The joint drills, set for Aug. 20-28, come as China and Russia have deepened their cooperation in the military and security fields. The planned military exercises are "to further enhance their capabilities of jointly coping with maritime security threats," Chinese defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said in a statement posted on

July 31, 2015

Regional powers to meet over N. Korea's nuclear program

Deputy nuclear envoys from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan were to meet in Tokyo Friday to coordinate their next steps in getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.The trilateral meeting comes after a series of bilateral meetings between the member nations of the six-party talks, which also involve China and Russia.Kim Gunn, director-general for North Korean nuclear affairs at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, will meet with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sydney Seiler and Sh

July 31, 2015

U.S. says sexual slavery victims were trafficked by Japan's military

The United States said Thursday victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery were trafficked by the country's military in a rebuttal of a Japanese ruling party committee's claim that they were never coerced.The State Department issued the comment, calling the atrocity "a terrible, egregious violation of human rights" and urging Japan to handle the issue and other historical matters in a way that strengthens relations with neighboring nations."As the United States has stated many times, the traffick

July 31, 2015

U.S. should persuade Abe to address tensions with S. Korea through war-anniversary statement: expert

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's upcoming war-anniversary statement is so important for the future of relations between Seoul and Tokyo that the U.S. should make greater efforts to get Abe to address historical tensions through the statement, a U.S. expert said.Abe plans to issue the statement next month to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II. The statement will be watched closely as it is considered a second chance for him to resolve historical tensions with South Ko

July 30, 2015