China premier says to swiftly sign free trade deal with S. Korea

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday that Beijing will spare no effort to formally sign a bilateral free trade agreement with South Korea "as soon as possible." After effectively concluding free trade negotiations last November, South Korea and China completed the "initialing" of the deal last month, marking one step closer to the official signing.Both sides voice their hope to sign the deal within the first half of this year. Speaking at the opening of the annual session of the National Peo

March 5, 2015

U.S. 'strongly condemns' attack on Amb. Lippert

The United States said Wednesday it strongly condemns the attack on its ambassador to South Korea after Amb. Mark Lippert was taken to a hospital with wounds to his face and wrist.""We can confirm that U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Mark Lippert was assaulted Thursday morning in Seoul while giving a speech. We strongly condemn this act of violence," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement."The Ambassador is being treated at a local hospital. His injuries are

March 5, 2015

Obama calls injured ambassador after S.Korea attack

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called a former aide and now U.S. ambassador in South Korea to wish him well following a bloody attack that Washington strongly condemned.  The president called Mark Lippert "to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in his thoughts and prayers, and to wish him the very best for a speedy recovery," said Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council spokeswoman.  The State Department said Lippert was "assaulted Thursday morning in Seoul while giving a spee

March 5, 2015

U.S. forfeiting $1.2 million in assets of ex-President Chun

The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it is forfeiting about $1.1 million in U.S. assets traceable to proceeds from corruption accumulated by former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan and returning it to Seoul.The assets, seized on two occasions last year, consist of $726,000 in proceeds from the sale of a house that Chun's son purchased in California, and a $500,000 investment that a daughter-in-law of Chun made in a Pennsylvania limited partnership.The department said it has also helped

March 5, 2015

Signing of Korea-China trade deal possible within H1: minister

South Korea and China could formally sign a bilateral free trade agreement within the first half of this year, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng has said.Gao made the remarks on Tuesday, state-run China Securities Journal said. South Korea and China completed the "initialing" of the deal last month, marking a step closer to the official signing, after declaring "substantial conclusion" of their free trade talks last November. South Korea and China have been translating the English-language t

March 4, 2015

Park to meet with Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed

South Korean President Park Geun-hye was to meet with Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on Wednesday on the second and last day of her visit to the oil-rich kingdom, Park's office said.The meeting is set to take place at 3 p.m., Park's office said, without giving any further details.Alwaleed, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co. is known as the Saudi Warren Buffett and is No. 34 on Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest men for 2015 with net worth $23 billion.The meeting came a day a

March 4, 2015

S. Korea, Saudi Arabia sign agreement on maritime transport

South Korea and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement on maritime transport that will, in part, help ensure a safe and steady supply of oil to South Korea from the Middle East country, the Seoul government said Wednesday.The bilateral agreement was signed in Riyadh on Tuesday, the same day South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in the country for a two-day visit.Under the agreement, the countries' ships and their crew members will be given national treatment when making port calls in each

March 4, 2015

Park leaves for Saudi Arabia for talks with new king

South Korean President Park Geun-hye left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks with newly enthroned King Salman to discuss how to boost security and economic cooperation.The meeting is the first time since Salman inherited the throne to the oil-rich kingdom following the death of his brother and king, Abdullah, in January. Park met with then Saudi Crown Prince Salman on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Brisbane, Australia, in November.Park and Salm

March 3, 2015

S. Korea sends special troops to UAE

The South Korean Army held a send-off ceremony Tuesday for 128 elite troops set to leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to replace a military contingent tasked with training the Middle East country's special forces, officers said.The South Korean unit "Akh," meaning brother in Arabic, has been based in the eastern region of Al Ain in the UAE since 2011, after a South Korean consortium won a US$20 billion deal in late 2009 to build nuclear reactors in the oil-rich country. The unit, whose mem

March 3, 2015

S. Korea to pledge more than $5M in aid to Syrian refugees

South Korea will pledge more than $5 million to help millions of Syrians who were displaced by the four-year-long civil war, a senior official said Monday.South Korea will make an official announcement at a donors conference in Kuwait later this month, Ju Chul-ki, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs, said in a brief comment to Yonhap News Agency.He said South Korea's pledge will exceed $5 million -- an amount pledged by Seoul during the second donors conference in 2014, though he d

March 3, 2015

Hyundai Motor recalls 263,000 cars in U.S., Canada

South Korea's top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday it is recalling some 263,000 units of its Elantra compact in the United States and in Canada for a programming error in the model's electronic power steering function. "The current setting for the cars may have turned off the power steering in some of the vehicles, resulting in increased heaviness in the steering wheel," a Hyundai official said, adding that the flaw has not led to any accidents or injuries so far. "Although the problem see

March 2, 2015

Park leaves for Kuwait on first leg of four-nation Mideast tour

South Korean President Park Geun-hye left for Kuwait on Sunday on a nine-day, four-nation trip to the Middle East expected to focus on wide-ranging economic cooperation beyond energy and construction.The trip, which will also take Park to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, comes as Seoul is pushing to capitalize on the "second Middle East boom" as a new growth engine for South Korea's export-dependent economy.South Korea hopes that its companies can participate in big industrial a

March 1, 2015

S. Korea, China, Japan to hold high-level talks ahead of FM meeting: gov't sources

South Korea, China and Japan have agreed to hold a meeting of high-ranking diplomats in Seoul ahead of the three nations' foreign ministerial meeting, multiple government sources here said Sunday.The sources said Lee Kyung-soo, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, will meet with Liu Zhenmin, the Chinese vice foreign minister handling Asian affairs, and Shinsuke Sugiyama, Japan's deputy foreign minister. Their talks will be held around March 10 or 11, according to the sour

March 1, 2015

Ranking diplomats from Koreas to address U.N. rights council

South Korea's vice foreign minister plans to make a speech at a United Nations meeting on human rights in Geneva next week to raise awareness of North Korea's dismal human rights conditions and Japan's wartime sex slaves, officials said Thursday.  South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is expected on Tuesday to address Pyongyang's human rights issue and the promotion of women's rights at the high-level segment of the 28th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council that will run from March

Feb. 26, 2015

S. Korea, Czech Republic upgrade ties to strategic partnership

South Korea and the Czech Republic agreed Thursday to upgrade their relations to a strategic partnership to deepen cooperation in political, economic and other issues.  "I am confident that bilateral relations will be further expanded and deepened" on the occasion of (my) trip to South Korea, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said at a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye after their summit in Seoul.  The summit came as Seoul and Prague commemorate the 25th anniver

Feb. 26, 2015

China set to ease rules on kimchi inspection, open room for S. Korean exports

China is soon expected to ease its regulations on pickled foods that have long worked against imports of South Korea's traditional side dish kimchi, officials said Thursday.  China's national council on health and family planning has posted an administrative notice that will significantly ease inspection standards for pickled foods in terms of the allowed level of coliform bacteria.  While coliform bacteria count often serves as an indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water, fermented food

Feb. 26, 2015

Seoul eyes sending officials to Syria's neighbors for safety checks

South Korea is seeking to dispatch government officials to Syria's neighboring countries in the coming months to assess the situation in a bid to prevent its citizens from illegally entering the Middle Eastern country, government sources said Wednesday.  The government is considering sending officials to countries bordering Syria, such as Turkey, as early as March to seek cooperation on border control as extreme militant group the Islamic State has become violent, they added.  "The government is

Feb. 25, 2015

S. Korea seeks to boost rice exports amid possible oversupply

South Korea will work to increase its exports of rice, the government said Tuesday, as a way of developing the local industry while also protecting the sector that's now facing a possible oversupply.  To help assist local producers and exporters, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has published an exporters handbook that outlines the names and other information of major buyers in key importing countries, including Australia and Japan.  The handbook also contains customs and othe

Feb. 24, 2015

N. Korea's economy minister heads to Russia

North Korea's economy minister left Monday for Russia, according to Pyongyang's media, amid signs of improved ties between the neighboring countries.  Ri Yong-nam, minister of external economic relations, is leading a government delegation, the Korean Central News Agency said in a brief report. It did not provide details, including his itinerary and the purpose of the trip.  A source here said Ri is expected to arrive in Moscow on Wednesday after traveling to Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in Russia

Feb. 23, 2015