South Korea on Sunday officially requested North Korea join a joint investigation into the killing of a South Korean fisheries official by North troops last week and reopen a military communication line for the exchange of information. 　 Cheong Wa Dae made the announcement after President Moon Jae-in presided over an emergency security-related ministers’ meeting regarding the incident in the afternoon. The top office has also requested China’s support in the search of the dead man&

North Korea Sept. 27, 2020

South Korea demanded Thursday that North Korea explain the killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the North’s waters, strongly condemning the act as “inhumane.”  　 North Korean soldiers shot dead a 47-year-old official affiliated with Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, who appeared to have been trying to defect to the North via sea, the military confirmed in Seoul. North Korean soldiers then burned his dead body, it added. 　 Pyongyang had neither a

North Korea Sept. 24, 2020

US President Donald Trump made no mention of North Korea in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (US time), for the first time in any of his four UN speeches since taking office.  In a prerecorded address from the White House, Trump focused his seven-minute speech on attacking China for “unleashing” COVID-19 onto the world and touched on various foreign policy issues, but did not say a word about Pyongyang.  It was the first time Trump has not me

North Korea Sept. 23, 2020

A former Nouth Korean diplomat who was in charge of protocols during the inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 has died, the North’s official Korea Central News Agency said Tuesday.   　 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath to “express deep condolences” over the death of Jon Hui-jong, the KCNA said, without stating the exact date of his passing. Jon was born in 1930.   　 The honoree of the country’s highest decoration Order of Kim Il-sung and the Orde

North Korea Sept. 22, 2020

North Korea has used American banks to launder massive amounts of money for years to dodge international sanctions, leaked documents have revealed, according to NBC News on Sunday (US time). 　 The bank documents revealed Pyongyang has illegally transferred at least $174 million across the border using shell companies and help from Chinese companies, through major US banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon from 2008 to 2017, during which time the US tightened sanctions against

North Korea Sept. 21, 2020

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee has advanced to the second round in the race to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization.   The WTO announced the results of the first round of voting on Friday, selecting five of the eight candidates to proceed to the next round. They are Yoo, Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri from Saudi Arabia, Liam Fox from the UK, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria and Amina Mohamed from Kenya. Three other candidates -- from Egypt, Moldova and Mexico

Foreign Affairs Sept. 18, 2020

A South Korean expert on human rights has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors civil and political rights, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.  Soh Chang-rok, a professor based at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies, will serve a four-year term starting in 2021 as one of 18 individual experts on the committee, which oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its member stat

Foreign Affairs Sept. 18, 2020

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday left for Vietnam for talks with her counterpart there on introducing an expedited entry program for essential visitors from South Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We will have to consult intensively. There still remain a lot of parts that need to be coordinated,” Kang told reporters at the Incheon International Airport as she departs for Hanoi for a two-day trip, when asked about the prospect of a fast-track entry pro

Foreign Affairs Sept. 17, 2020

Unification Minister Lee In-young urged North Korea to fulfill inter-Korean agreements from 2018 during his visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Wednesday. 　 Lee’s visit -- his first since taking office in July -- occurred a few days ahead of the second anniversary of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration reached by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the North’s capital on Sept. 19, 2018, which aimed to reduce military tensions an

North Korea Sept. 16, 2020

Japan will see Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga sworn in as the country’s new leader Wednesday, but no major changes are expected in its soured relations with South Korea in the near future as Suga is expected to mostly carry forward the foreign policy of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, analysts said Tuesday. 　 Suga, Abe’s longtime right-hand man, was chosen as head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party Monday, making it all but certain that he will become Japa

Foreign Affairs Sept. 15, 2020

The US came close to nuclear war with North Korea in 2017, launching a precision missile to demonstrate to Pyongyang that it could strike any target, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to a new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward.   　 In response to Pyongyang test-firing its first intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US on July 4, 2017, retired Gen. Vincent Brooks, who headed US Forces Korea from 2016 to 2018, ordered troops to fire a ta

North Korea Sept. 14, 2020

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun on Saturday reaffirmed that Seoul and Washington are working to launch new working-level talks in October, ruling out speculation the two sides are in dissent over the matter.   　 Choi returned home Saturday from Washington, where he met US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and other US officials for talks on enhancing the alliance and other bilateral issues.   　 After the meeting, the Foreign Ministry here said the two sides agreed t

Foreign Affairs Sept. 13, 2020

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called for an early resumption of denuclearization talks between the two Koreas and the US, while asking for international support for the peace process to take root on the Korean Peninsula at a regional forum, her office said Thursday. 　 Kang made the call Wednesday during the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three meeting, which involves the 10-nation bloc along with South Korea, China and Japan, held virtually due to the COVID-1

Foreign Affairs Sept. 10, 2020

South Korea and the US will hold biannual defense talks this week, discussing regional security and bilateral issues, including the planned transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. 　 The 18th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue is set to take place Wednesday and Friday via videoconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy Defense Minister Chung Suk-hwan and David Helvey, US assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific affairs

Defense Sept. 9, 2020

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was set to attend a series of annual meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations beginning Wednesday to discuss responses to the novel coronavirus and other regional issues.  This year’s sessions, held virtually due to the pandemic, arrive at a time when Washington and Beijing are competing for influence in the region, intensifying their rivalry.  The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to top the agenda at this year’

Foreign Affairs Sept. 9, 2020