Korea joins U.N. convention against transnational organized crime

South Korea has become the 186th party to a United Nations convention against transnational organized crime, the government said Friday.  South Korea recently ratified the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three optional protocols. Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong delivered the related documents to Miguel de Serpa Soares, under secretary general for legal affairs and U.N. legal counsel, at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday (local time), the ministry said in

Nov. 6, 2015

U.S.-Korea alliance firm regardless of politics in Washington: Pentagon official

The U.S. alliance with South Korea has stood firm for more than six decades regardless of politics in Washington, a U.S. Defense Department official said Wednesday.  Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman made the remark in response to a question about Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's accusations that South Korea is getting a defense free ride from the U.S.  "We have 65 years of alliance with the Republic of Korea, decades-old alliance with the Republic of Korea. I don't see t

Nov. 5, 2015

Abe's aggravation of historical tensions has 'jeopardized' U.S. interests in region: CRS report

The return of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to power provided a firmer foundation for cooperation with the United States, but at the same time "jeopardized" American interests in the region by inflaming historical tensions, a congressional report said.  The Congressional Research Service also said in a recent report on U.S.-Japan relations that the U.S. has tried to strike a balance between deepening the alliance as part of its Asia rebalance policy and "quietly pressuring Japan to avoid up

Nov. 5, 2015

EU urges VW to speed up emissions-cheating probe

The EU urged Volkswagen Wednesday to hurry up its investigation into the pollution-cheating scandal after revelations that the row may also involve petrol engines and not just diesel.The comments by the 28-nation bloc came as shares in embattled German auto giant took a renewed battering on the latest revelations."The commission invites VW to speed up its internal investigation," European Commission spokeswoman Lucia Caudet told a daily briefing."We need to clarify without delays what kind of CO

Nov. 4, 2015

Seoul, Tokyo confirm thousands of remains of Korean wartime forced laborers

More than 2,700 sets of remains in Japan were identified as Koreans who were forced into labor during the Japanese colonial rule, a South Korean commission said Wednesday.  It is the first time that the number of remains of Korean laborers confirmed by South Korea and Japan has been made public.   The sides found 2,745 remains from 340 sites since 2005 when they launched a joint investigation, according to the commission affiliated with the prime minister's office.  It said the number of remains

Nov. 4, 2015

U.S. expresses support for constructive relations between Korea, China, Japan

The United States welcomes a series of meeting that leaders of South Korea, China and Japan held this week and supports efforts to move relations between the three countries forward, a senior American administration official said Monday.  President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a trilateral summit in Seoul on Sunday, resuming three-way cooperation talks that have been suspended since 2012 due to history and territorial tensions.  The three

Nov. 3, 2015

U.S. welcomes Park-Abe agreement on sexual slavery issue

The United States on Monday welcomed an agreement between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to accelerate negotiations between the two countries to resolve the issue of Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery.  "We welcome reports that President Park and President Abe agreed to accelerate their efforts to resolve this sensitive issue," Elizabeth Trudeau, a State Department spokeswoman, said at a regular press briefing, declining to discuss details.  The Park-Abe

Nov. 3, 2015

Chinese premier hopes for substantial outcome from agreement with Seoul

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang expressed hope Monday that the latest agreement reached by China and South Korea will bring a substantial outcome.  On Saturday, President Park Geun-hye and Li Keqiang agreed to strengthen dialogue on North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the potential unification of the two Koreas.  Park and Li agreed to "further strengthen strategic communication" on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea's nuclear ambition and the unification of South and North Korea

Nov. 2, 2015

Park holds first bilateral talks with Abe

President Park Geun-hye on Monday pressed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to heal the pains of their shared history as they held crucial talks that could set the tone for bilateral relations in the coming years.  "I hope that today's summit could become sincere talks to heal painful history" and serve as "a precious chance to develop bilateral relations," Park said at the start of the talks at Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office.  She also said that "trust is the most important t

Nov. 2, 2015

Russian civilian plane crashes in Sinai: Egypt PM

A Russian airliner crashed on Saturday in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, the office of the prime minister said in a statement. A "Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai," the office of Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said in a statement. A senior aviation official said it was a charter flight operated by a Russian company and had on board 217 passengers and seven crew members. Communication with the aircraft was lost, he added. Sergei Lzvolsky, an official with the Russian aviatio

Oct. 31, 2015

China faces mounting pressure over maritime claims

Pressure on China over its claims to most of the strategic South China Sea went up a couple of notches this week. First the U.S. sent a warship, in its most direct challenge yet to Beijing's artificial island building. Then, over Chinese objections, an international tribunal ruled it had jurisdiction in a case brought by the Philippines on maritime claims.Neither action appeared likely to stop China in its tracks, as it seeks to assert its control over resource-rich waters that it considers vita

Oct. 31, 2015

New U.N. resolution on N.K. human rights urges N.K. to join ILO

A newly proposed U.N. resolution on North Korea's human rights situation recommends the communist nation accede to the International Labor Organization and comply with all labor related pacts, U.N. sources said Friday.The European Union-proposed resolution, which has been submitted to the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, calls for referring the North to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses, just as last year's resolution did.But this year's resolution moved a ste

Oct. 31, 2015

Ex-Canadian PM hopes S. Korea, Japan find satisfactory way to solve sex slavery issue

A former Canadian prime minister voiced hope Friday that South Korea and Japan can find a "satisfactory" way to resolve the issue of Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery, the main source of diplomatic tension between the countries.Kim Campbell made the remarks as President Park Geun-hye and her Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, will hold their first summit next Monday amid persistent historic rows over Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.Campbell said she believes that the i

Oct. 30, 2015

Beijing-Pyongyang ties improving: Chinese ambassador

Relations between North Korea and China are on the recovery track, helping dissuade Pyongyang from taking provocative acts, Beijing's top envoy in South Korea said Thursday."China and North Korea are engaging in more lively political exchanges, and their relations are improving to some extent," Ambassador Qiu Guohong said in a breakfast forum hosted by a group of Seoul National University graduates.North Korea has neither fired a long-range rocket nor conducted another nuclear test recently, he

Oct. 29, 2015

S. Korea re-elected to U.N. Human Rights Council

South Korea has been re-elected to serve a fourth term on the U.N. Human Rights Council in recognition of its contributions to the protection and promotion of human rights around the world, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.On Wednesday, the U.N. General Assembly in New York elected 18 countries, including South Korea, to serve on the 47-member panel from 2016-2018, the ministry said in a press release.It will be South Korea's fourth term overall and second consecutive term."Our re-election car

Oct. 29, 2015

Korean-Chinese-Japanese culture ministers' meeting postponed

A regular meeting among culture ministers of South Korea, China and Japan has been postponed to late December from this week upon requests from Beijing, a government official here said Friday.China made the request a week ago citing "internal affairs, including preparations for the fifth plenary session of the 18th-term Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party," the official at the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism told Yonhap News Agency by phone. The official request

Oct. 23, 2015

Korea to face tougher diplomacy between U.S., China: pundit

South Korea will be forced some day to choose between the United States and China despite its efforts to balance between the global giants, a renowned American pundit said Friday amid controversy over U.S. President Barack Obama's remarks on Seoul-Beijing ties.After summit talks with President Park Geun-hye in Washington last week, Obama stated the U.S. expects South Korea to speak out against China if it fails to abide by international norms and rules.Obama's message was viewed as thinly-veiled

Oct. 23, 2015

Park holds talks with Botswana's president on boosting ties

President Park Geun-hye met with Botswana's President Ian Khama to discuss ways to boost cooperation in a range of areas, including infrastructure, trade and energy, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.Khama arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, the first visit by a Botswana president in more than two decades.The two leaders observed the signing of a memorandum of understanding, which calls for cooperation, among other things, in building an electronic government in Botswana. The move could help South Korean com

Oct. 23, 2015