POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The weapons systems developed by South Korea not only are efficient, but also offer opportunities to enhance defense ties, according to the top Chilean and Czech envoys in South Korea. The two ambassadors were speaking to reporters following live-fire drills conducted by the Korean Army during a May 2 demonstration. The event, held for the first time for foreign diplomats in Seoul, was the latest highlight of the push by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration to secure po

Foreign Affairs May 10, 2023

Improving ties between South Korea and Japan will open the door to a new future where the two countries, along with the US, can bolster the current coalition working on North Korea’s denuclearization, President Yoon said Tuesday, a day before his first anniversary of taking office. Speaking at a weekly Cabinet meeting, Yoon lauded closer Seoul-Tokyo relations prompted by his summits with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March and May -- a revival of regular visits to each other&rsq

Politics May 9, 2023

The latest remarks by the Japanese prime minister over Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 rule of the peninsula have raised more questions than answers as the two countries seek closer ties by ending the dispute, experts said Monday. “I personally feel my heart ache at the thought of countless people having gone through very challenging and sad times under extreme conditions,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a press conference Sunday, following talks wit

Foreign Affairs May 8, 2023

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday he felt heartbroken at the thought of the Korean laborers at Japanese companies during Japan’s 1910-45 rule of the Korean Peninsula, but did not directly apologize for their treatment or for forcing them into work. He was speaking following a summit with President Yoon in Seoul on Sunday at which Seoul had hoped for a potential apology from Tokyo that would directly address the colonial rights abuses. Japan has shied away from that by stick

Foreign Affairs May 7, 2023

South Korea, the US and Japan -- countries sharing the same values, such as freedom and democracy -- have to make current three-way ties stronger if they are to counter military threats from North Korea and China. For that to take place, tighter Seoul-Tokyo ties are a priority, according to a former Japanese lawmaker. Pushing for a closer-knit coalition, Washington, the biggest ally of both Seoul and Tokyo, had called on the two neighbors to settle their disputes involving Japan’s 1910-45

Foreign Affairs May 7, 2023

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration is working to restart regular three-way talks involving Japan and China, preferably before the end of the year, according to a senior Foreign Ministry official in Seoul with direct knowledge of the matter on Wednesday. South Korea, this year’s host, is making preparations, the official said, adding however it is still too early to narrow down potential dates for the summit, which will bring together President Yoon and his Japanese and Chinese counterparts f

Foreign Affairs May 3, 2023

Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon will be the next South Korean ambassador to Russia, a report said Tuesday, in the latest push by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration to quickly put an end to the vacancy of a top Seoul envoy in Moscow. Lee will succeed Chang Ho-jin, who is currently serving as the first vice foreign minister, according to the local daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Chang, the former Korean ambassador to Russia, was moved to his current post late last month amid an abrupt reshuf

Foreign Affairs May 2, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida again during Kishida’s two-day trip to Seoul starting Sunday, diplomatic sources familiar with the matter said Monday. Japanese media outlets last week reported on a potential visit. What the two leaders will discuss at the summit, following their meeting in Tokyo in March, and whether they will add anything to a new nuclear accord reached between South Korea and the US last week remain uncertain, according to tho

Foreign Affairs May 1, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned to his office Sunday after a six-day trip to the US, touting an accord to give South Korea a bigger say in a potential US nuclear response to North Korea as an upgrade to the existing Seoul-Washington mutual defense treaty. The Washington Declaration, which gives Seoul a seat at the table on using Washington’s nuclear force in exchange for swearing off an independent nuclear buildup, is a major shift from the previous administration’s approach to Pyon

Politics April 30, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk to expand investment in South Korea, “an ideal place” for such high-tech investments, at a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a summit with his US counterpart in Washington this week. “Korea has the world’s best robots and an unmatched talent pool,” Yoon said in a statement Wednesday released by his office. “Korea is the country where Tesla will see the highest level of efficiency needed to run gigafactorie

Politics April 27, 2023

The US Chips Act, signed into law in August to reduce America’s reliance on foreign-made semiconductors by increasing domestic production, is a win-win to both the US and South Korea, US President Joe Biden said Wednesday. “It’s creating jobs in South Korea, not just SK but with Samsung and in other industries,” Biden said during a press conference following a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, referring to the world’s largest and second-largest memory chipmakers,

Politics April 27, 2023

The US should remind South Korea and its people of unwavering bipartisan support for using nuclear weapons to defend the Asian ally from North Korea’s nuclear threats, a job Washington could do better from now on to reassure Seoul while warning Pyongyang, according to Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. The remarks by the former president of the conservative think tank came as President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US counterpart are expected to roll out a joint de

Foreign Affairs April 26, 2023

Closer ties between South Korea and Japan prompted by the recent deal to end a historical feud over Tokyo’s colonial rights abuses will change the way China deals with Seoul-Tokyo efforts to curb North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions, a former Japanese ambassador to the US said Tuesday. Referring to the Seoul-Tokyo summit in mid-March, where the two leaders vowed to move past the dispute to fight off North Korea, Ichiro Fujisaki, the Japanese envoy who served as ambassador between

Foreign Affairs April 25, 2023

South Korea and the US sanctioned a North Korean believed to be linked to cybercrimes meant to bankroll North Korea’s nuclear and weapons programs -- the first ban the two allies have jointly rolled out on a single individual. Sim Hyon-sop, the North Korean in question, worked for a North Korean bank already sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council resolutions, and was responsible for “creating fake accounts, money laundering and other illegal financial activities,” th

North Korea April 24, 2023

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung suggested on Monday that President Yoon Suk Yeol should balance ties with the US and China, saying diplomacy is not always black-and-white, amid his party’s criticism of Yoon’s remarks as overly leaning on Washington and being “self-destructive.” In a Reuters interview last week, Yoon for the first time indicated support for arms aid to Ukraine if a human rights crisis prompts it. He also described China’s claims to Taiwan as a global

Politics April 24, 2023