South Korea will open 10 new embassies overseas next year to provide manpower and resources increasingly needed to support its rising global profile, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Tuesday. Countries that will see the new Korean diplomatic missions are: Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Jamaica, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Marshall Islands, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Zambia. Among the ten nations, Georgia and Jamaica will see their previous embassy-level offices promoted to official embassies. Seoul

Foreign Affairs Nov. 7, 2023

North Korea said Friday that it will carry out efforts to step up its military deterrence and take military action, following a US intercontinental missile test late last month, in a commentary released by the official Korean Central News Agency. An Air Force Minuteman III ICBM exploded over the Pacific Ocean following its launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. An anomaly was detected, the US Air Force said without elaborating further. South Korean defense officials attended the

North Korea Nov. 3, 2023

Japan has brought back 15 South Korean nationals and one foreign national family member from Israel to Tokyo on a Japanese military plane, reciprocating for the second time Korea’s rescue flight last month that included Japanese nationals. According to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, the plane landed at Haneda International Airport on Friday evening. Aboard the aircraft are 20 Japanese nationals, four Taiwanese citizens, one Vietnamese national and their five foreign national family members

Foreign Affairs Nov. 3, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol said the country’s most popular taxi-hailing service from Kakao Mobility demonstrates an “extremely unethical example” of a monopoly, at a regular meeting Wednesday on the economy. The comments at the gathering, attended by a group of 60 ordinary people in addition to policymakers, were in response to suggestions floated by an audience member who asked about lowering the fees taxis pay to the tech giant’s mobility unit, which controls about 90 perc

Politics Nov. 1, 2023

Foreign Minister Park Jin will discuss North Korea’s nuclear threats and other key issues with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the US diplomat’s two-day trip to South Korea from Nov. 8, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Wednesday. The visit, the first in two and a half years, comes as South Korea doubles down on the importance of the US nuclear umbrella to prevent a North Korean strike. The two allies agreed on giving Seoul a bigger say in how Washington deliv

Foreign Affairs Nov. 1, 2023

Victims of a local housing rental scam who claim the fraudster is living off their money have gotten increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of the police investigation, calling for immediate action, according to a report Tuesday. The suspect, who fled the country in May with rental deposits ahead of a police investigation the following month, is currently in the US, the victims said, adding that he, his wife and son recently moved away from Atlanta, Georgia, after learning that they had been

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2023

President Yook Suk Yeol on Monday instructed his ministers to do everything possible to hold responsible those who allegedly scammed young Koreans seeking home rentals, and pledged to have the government’s pension reform proposal reach a “social consensus,” without offering further details. “The majority of (those affected by) this ‘jeonse’ scam are young Koreans. This is an egregious crime that hurts our next generation,” Yoon said at the weekly Cabinet

Politics Oct. 30, 2023

The US House of Representatives will adopt a resolution in early December to recognize Kimchi Day, honoring the Korean dish of fermented vegetables. According to the Museum of Korean American Heritage in New York, the adoption will take place on Dec. 6 after the House Oversight and Accountability Committee puts the resolution on the floor, which Rep. Young Kim (R-California) proposed with bipartisan backing. The resolution did not pass last year. The adoption this time, an official at the museum

Foreign Affairs Oct. 26, 2023

The top diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan strongly condemned the supply of military equipment and munitions by North Korea to Russia, confirming some of the deliveries in a joint statement Thursday. Foreign Minister Park Jin and his US and Japanese counterparts -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, respectively -- said such supplies would raise the “human toll” in Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We remain resolved to support Ukraine&r

North Korea Oct. 26, 2023

The Korea Herald publishes a series of interviews with South Korea’s former and current top diplomats who have played a central role in shaping the country’s foreign policies to confront the complexities of an increasingly contested international order while managing its historical relationships with allies and neighbors, for lasting peace beyond the Korean Peninsula. This is the third installment. -- Ed Heightening threats from North Korea to use its nuclear weapons against South Ko

Foreign Affairs Oct. 25, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s six-day trip to the Middle East, largely meant to expand economic ties, offers fresh momentum for South Korean companies to ride out global headwinds in the long-run, experts said Monday. The state visit to Saudi Arabia has already led to a signing of deals including memorandums of understanding worth $15.6 billion in total, over areas ranging from food to oil to energy, according to Yoon’s office. He returns home Thursday after a one-day tour to Qatar the p

Foreign Affairs Oct. 23, 2023

Japan is evacuating 18 South Koreans from Israel using its military aircraft, a gesture of goodwill that appears to reciprocate Seoul’s rescue flight last week to bring back Japanese alongside its citizens. According to Kyodo News and the Japanese Defense Ministry, 18 Koreans and one family member of foreign nationality -- along with 60 Japanese and four family members of foreign nationality -- will land at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on early Saturday. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul said it ha

Foreign Affairs Oct. 20, 2023

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said North Korea and Russia should deliver on their summit agreement in September and usher in a new, future-looking era for the next 100 years, at a meeting with the Russian foreign minister in Pyongyang on Thursday. The two-day trip from Wednesday by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came as Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin seek to fight off what they see as a US-led isolation. The US warns of paying a price for arms deals it says are being reached between

North Korea Oct. 20, 2023

South Korean and US authorities warned businesses against inadvertently hiring information technology staff from North Korea who mask their true identities to skirt international sanctions and earn cash. The two allies say the IT staff are being employed to bankroll the isolated country’s nuclear and missile programs. The joint advisory on Thursday, which follows previous warnings in May and December last year, includes fresh instructions to prevent North Korean freelancers from obtaining

North Korea Oct. 19, 2023

A South Korean national kidnapped in the Philippines three weeks ago has been freed, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Tuesday. The ministry did not disclose the individual’s identity or why he had been abducted, only saying he is in good health. Local police said one of several suspects is in custody, without elaborating. “We had worked closely with authorities here and there for a safe return of our citizen,” the ministry added.

Foreign Affairs Oct. 17, 2023