North Korea has not yet responded to South Korea’s request for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of an annual regional security forum, as the North’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho arrived in Singapore earlier in the day. Ri Yong-ho (Yonhap)South Korea has sought to hold a foreign ministerial meeting with North Korea on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, which kicked off Thursday and brougt together key stakeholders in the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearizat

Foreign Affairs Aug. 3, 2018

An annual regional security forum kicked off in Singapore on Thursday, bringing together top diplomats from 26 countries and the European Union for talks on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the meeting gathers foreign ministers from the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia -- key players in the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization efforts -- amid growing concerns over little progress toward denuclearization.  (Y

Foreign Affairs Aug. 2, 2018

Declaring a formal end to the Korean War now is the best option for the US to accelerate North Korea’s denuclearization process and avoid repeating the mistakes of its past administrations, according to a prominent North Korea expert. The US would benefit from declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War -- a political statement that is not legally binding -- as the declaration could prompt bolder action by the North to denuclearize, said Kim Yeon-chul, head of the state-run Korea Institute for Na

Foreign Affairs Aug. 2, 2018

A South Korean man and three Filipinos have been held captive in Libya for 27 days by an unidentified armed group, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. The four were abducted at a water plant in Jabal Hasouna in western Libya on July 6, according to the official. The Foreign Ministry said it had been making all-out efforts to secure the release of the Korean man. But it has asked the Korean press to refrain from reporting the case out of fear that the publicity could adversely affect the

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2018

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from six Southeast Asian countries in Singapore on Tuesday to secure support for the government’s efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and to foster ties with the ASEAN bloc. Kang, who arrived in Singapore on Monday to attend a series of meetings on security in Asia, held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos, promoted the government’s New Southern Po

Foreign Affairs Aug. 1, 2018

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is set to fly to Singapore on Tuesday to attend a series of major forums on regional security in Singapore, amid a flurry of diplomacy to denuclearize North Korea.Kang will attend the ASEAN Regional Forum, which kicked off Monday and brings together key stakeholders involved in negotiations over the North’s dismantling of nuclear arsenal, sparking speculations of a possible three-way meeting among Kang, her North Korean and US counterparts.  (Yonhap)

Foreign Affairs July 30, 2018

The South Korean government is considering offering more support to Laos in the aftermath of a dam collapse that has left at least 27 killed and 131 missing, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.  (Yonhap)The project was being conducted by a consortium involving Korean firms. “We are reviewing whether to send extra emergency relief and emergency personnel,” a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. “We will additionally review whether humanitarian aid will be extended to the next s

Foreign Affairs July 30, 2018

A US official on Thursday requested cooperation from South Korean businesspeople seeking to resume inter-Korean projects amid a lack of progress on the North’s denuclearization, at a meeting with those involved in cross-border economic projects, according to a participant of the meeting. 　Mark Lambert, the US State Department’s Korea desk director and acting deputy assistant secretary, had a one-hour roundtable meeting with about a dozen South Koreans who had done business with North Korea at th

North Korea July 27, 2018

North Korea returned remains believed to be those of 55 American soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War on Friday, the 65th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, in a move that is the first tangible result from the Singapore summit in June. 　The US Air Force C-17 aircraft departed for North Korea’s port city of Wonsan at 5:55 a.m. and landed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, around 11 a.m. carrying the remains, according to the United Nations Command. 　Hundreds of US

North Korea July 27, 2018

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday hailed North Korea’s dismantling of a missile engine testing site as a meaningful step toward denuclearization, but stressed the need to verify it. Speaking at a joint press conference with her Germen counterpart Heiko Maas in Seoul, Kang said that each step taken by North Korea toward denuclearization should be verified.  (Yonhap)“The North has shut down its nuclear test site without verification by the international community, we hope that there will

Foreign Affairs July 26, 2018

North Korea continued to call on South Korea and the US to declare an end to the Korean War through its state-run media on Tuesday as it started to dismantle a key missile-engine test site.The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in an article Wednesday that it is a historical task to terminate the abnormal cease-fire and build a durable peacekeeping mechanism on the peninsula. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the

North Korea July 25, 2018

The US issued an advisory on Monday warning businesses about North Korea’s sanctions evasion tactics, ramping up pressure on the reclusive country amid a lack of progress on denuclearization talks. 　The Departments of State, the Treasury and Homeland Security put out the advisory aimed at protecting manufacturers, buyers and service providers from the risk of violating US and UN sanctions on North Korea. 　The advisory does not add any new sanctions against Pyongyang, but appears to reflect the T

Foreign Affairs July 24, 2018

With the US and North Korea’s follow-up talks on denuclearization showing little progress, South Korea is left with the tough task of keeping up the momentum of dialogue and persuading both sides to meet each other halfway.  　Less than six weeks after the summit between the US and North Korea in Singapore, Washington is reportedly growing impatient with the pace of talks on denuclearization, while Pyongyang has accused Washington of making “gangster-like, unilateral demands.” 　North Korea has st

Foreign Affairs July 23, 2018

South Korea’s presidential security adviser Chung Eui-yong returned to Seoul on Sunday after a two-day visit to the US, as South Korea seeks to propel denuclearization talks between the US and North Korea.  Chung Eui-yong (Yonhap)Chung said he had “very helpful” consultations with his American counterpart John Bolton to successfully and rapidly push ahead with denuclearization negotiations between North Korea and the US. “We reaffirmed that settling peace on the Korean Peninsula through complete

Foreign Affairs July 22, 2018

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha did not rule out the possibility of a trilateral summit among leaders of the two Koreas and the US at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “It is hard to predict and we are not yet specifically consulting on it, but we cannot rule out the possibility,” Kang told reporters during her first visit to London since she took office in June last year. The top diplomat was in London from Tuesday to Thursday to meet her British counterpart before flying to New

Foreign Affairs July 19, 2018