Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho on Tuesday visited a village on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone, part of Seoul’s efforts to have the heavily fortified region between the two Koreas recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. 　 Getting the DMZ inscribed on the UNESCO list is one of many projects Seoul is pursuing to engage Pyongyang, amid an impasse in US-led efforts to denuclearize the regime. Others involve the reconnection of cross-border railways and authorizing indiv

North Korea May 26, 2020

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, reappearing after three weeks out of the public eye, called for stronger “nuclear war deterrence” at a key military meeting, the country’s state media reported Sunday. 　 Kim presided over the meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party, which the Korea Central News Agency said was held to discuss “putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation” in line with the “building and dev

North Korea May 24, 2020

The Unification Ministry on Thursday reiterated that the set of sanctions slapped on North Korea in 2010 over its deadly sinking of a South Korean warship had lost their effect and are no longer a “barrier” for inter-Korean cooperation. 　 “Through past administrations, a large part of the May 24 Measures has virtually lost effect,” an official said, echoing the ministry’s stance previous day. “The important aspect is that the government does not see those sa

North Korea May 21, 2020

Amid deadlocked defense cost-sharing talks between Seoul and Washington, a senior US official on Wednesday said both the sides are “committed” to hammering out an agreement, while stressing the stance of “fair share of burden” among allies. 　 “For sure we are working very hard to bring a closure to this. We’d prefer that we wrapped this up several months ago, but both sides are committed to make this happen,” Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of

Foreign Affairs May 20, 2020

Seoul has long been in a tricky position as a result of the great-power contest between Washington and Beijing. 　 South Korea has preferred to maintain a balance between its longtime security ally the US and top trading partner China, through hedging -- or, arguably, by avoiding taking sides. That way, it was on relatively good terms with both superpowers. 　 But that could change. With the coronavirus pandemic fueling an already serious tug of war between the world’s two largest economi

Foreign Affairs May 19, 2020

South Korea on Tuesday urged Japan to retract its territorial claims to Dokdo islets in the East Sea, saying it will “sternly respond” to any provocation by Japan over the islets. 　 In the 2020 edition of its Diplomatic Bluebook, Japanese Foreign Ministry referred to Dokdo with its Japanese name Takeshima, describing it as Japan’s “inherent territory historically and by international law.” The book claimed that Korea is “illegally occupying” the islets

Foreign Affairs May 19, 2020

The Unification Ministry on Monday welcomed the United Nations Command’s plan to drastically reduce the screening period required for South Koreans to tour the demilitarized border village of Panmunjom. 　 “It’s a very positive move that can resolve inconvenience of the citizens,” said ministry spokesperson Yoh Sang-key in a regular briefing. “The Unification Ministry has been negotiating with the United Nations Command since the latter half of last year to cut the

North Korea May 18, 2020

A host of declassified US documents revealed former president Chun Doo-hwan reached out to the US in the aftermath of staging a military coup in 1979, that later put him into power.  In about 140 pages of State Department documents released by the Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Friday, the full text report of the meeting between then US Ambassador to Korea William Gleysteen and Chun on Dec. 15, 1979, three days after the coup, was revealed.  Chun told Gleysteen that he staged a c

Foreign Affairs May 15, 2020

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Seoul reiterated Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to visit Seoul by the end of the year. But the exact schedule of the visit has not yet been fixed, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “We will continue to negotiate while evaluating the coronavirus situation,” said spokesman Kim In-chul in a regular briefing. On Wednesday during their roughly 30-minute phone conference, Xi told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that there was no c

Foreign Affairs May 14, 2020

North Korea is believed to have replaced the head of the country’s main intelligence agency and the Supreme Guard commander, who is in charge of protecting its leader Kim Jong-un and his family. 　 Lt. General Rim Kwang-il was promoted as the director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, replacing Jang Kil-song last December, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry on Wednesday, in its annual publication of the country’s key figures. 　 North’s RGB is known to be behi

North Korea May 13, 2020

A host of US documents on the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, declassified and provided to South Korea, may offer fresh clues to understand what really happened nearly four decades after the bloodshed.  On Monday, US handed over to Korea the copies of about 140 pages of State Department documents, including those produced by the US Embassy in Seoul regarding the uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju in 1980.  “It seems like new documents are included,” Kim In-

Foreign Affairs May 12, 2020

Information on around $23 million worth of frozen North Korean funds deposited at three US banks will be disclosed to the parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died after being detained in North Korea, possibly enabling them to collect damages. 　 The US District Court for Washington D.C. on Monday granted a “protective order” requiring three American banks -- Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and The Bank of New York Mellon -- to disclose information on the accounts that

North Korea May 12, 2020

South Korea’s acclaimed response to the coronavirus outbreak stems from the legitimacy of its government and a “deep-rooted sense of solidarity” among its citizens, said Guy Sorman, a renowned French American economist and writer.  Sorman, in a YouTube interview series on the post-coronavirus era organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Korea, along with Taiwan and Germany, stands out for its quick, efficient response to COVID-19.  “I believe that t

Foreign Affairs May 11, 2020

South Korea on Monday sent 2 million face masks to the US, which is battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world. 　 The Foreign Ministry said a US cargo flight carrying the protective masks left Seoul and is expected to arrive in the US on Monday (local time). They will be distributed to medical facilities at the forefront of the COVID-19 response. 　 The assistance follows a phone conversation between Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump on March 24, wher

Foreign Affairs May 11, 2020

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for anti-virus cooperation with North Korea as a way to break the impasse in inter-Korean relations amid stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington. 　 “We should not only watch the US-North Korea dialogue, but search and do what can be done between the two Koreas,” Moon said during a Q&A session following a special address to the nation marking the third anniversary of his inauguration. 　 Among various inter-Korean

North Korea May 10, 2020