South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys to North Korea have no plans to discuss the release of South Koreans and Americans detained in the communist state just yet, the presidential office said Monday.“I cannot be 100 percent certain that the matter will not be discussed, but it is not an agenda item (for the special envoys to North Korea,)” an official from the presidential office told reporters on condition of anonymity. “The core of preliminary talks between North Korea and the US

Foreign Affairs March 5, 2018

With South Korean President Moon Jae-in planning to send a special envoy to North Korea on Monday, the delegation’s pressing task will be convincing Pyongyang to put its nuclear weapons programs on the negotiating table to open talks with the US, experts say.　The presidential office said Sunday that Moon would send a five-member delegation led by Chung Eui-yong, head of the National Security Office, to North Korea. The delegation includes the National Intelligence Service’s chief Suh Hoon and Vi

Foreign Affairs March 4, 2018

The right condition for the US to engage in dialogue with North Korea is Pyongyang showing willingness to give up its nuclear weapons programs, the acting US ambassador in South Korea said Wednesday. Despite the retirement of Joseph Yun, US special representative for North Korea policy, there is no shift in the US’ North Korea policy that talks with Pyongyang are possible on the condition of denuclearization, Marc Knapper, charge d‘affaires at the US Embassy in Seoul, told reporters. Marc Knappe

North Korea Feb. 28, 2018

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Monday called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and improve human rights of its people in her keynote speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Kang also raised the issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, saying a controversial 2015 deal between Korea and Japan on “comfort women” lacked a “victim-oriented approach.”“North Korea must heed the call of the international commu

Foreign Affairs Feb. 27, 2018

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the US should lower the bar for talks with North Korea and dialogue between the two countries should begin soon, a day after a top North Korean official said that Pyongyang is willing to hold talks with WashingtonIvanka Trump, US President Donald Trump’s daughter and senior White House adviser, and Kim Yong-chol of the North Korean delegation attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics on Sunday. (Reuters-Yonhap)“The US should lower its ba

Foreign Affairs Feb. 26, 2018

North Korea has “ample intentions” to hold talks with the US, a senior North Korean official leading the North Korean delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics told President Moon Jae-in, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. Moon had held an hourlong meeting with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, in PyeongChang ahead of the closing ceremony of the Olympics, according to the presidential office. “President Moon poin

North Korea Feb. 25, 2018

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics were marked by not only hard-fought competition for medals, but also fierce diplomatic efforts on the sidelines of the sporting event, intent to pave the way for peace on the Korean Peninsula. 　With nuclear-armed North Korea’s participation, the Olympics left behind a legacy of peace and reconciliation for the world after a year of tensions heightened by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests. 　The momentum for peace began building after North Korean leader

Foreign Affairs Feb. 25, 2018

Speculations mounted Sunday over possible interaction between officials from the US and North Korea on the sidelines of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, as North Korea’s delegation includes a specialist on US-North Korea relations. Led by Kim Yong-chul, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, the eight-member delegation crossed the inter-Korean border on Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The North’s delegation includes Choe Kang-il, deputy dir

Foreign Affairs Feb. 25, 2018

The Trump administration is hitting more than 50 vessels, shipping companies and trade businesses with sanctions in the latest bid to turn up the pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program, according to a senior administration official. US President Donald Trump (Yonhap)President Donald Trump is set to announce the action Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, followed by a public announcement from the Treasury Department. The official says Trump will call it "the largest-

National Feb. 23, 2018

Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump’s daughter and a senior adviser to the White House, began her four-day visit to South Korea on Friday as the head of the US delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics, at which North Korean officials will also be present.  　Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump's daughter and senior adviser to the White House, shakes hands with President Moon Jae-in at the presidential office, Friday. (Yonhap)Trump said that her trip was aimed at reaf

Foreign Affairs Feb. 23, 2018

Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump’s daughter and senior adviser to the White House, will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday as part of her four-day visit here to attend the finale of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. 　Trump is set to arrive Friday on a commercial flight and dine with Moon and the first lady at Cheong Wa Dae in the evening, according to US officials. She is scheduled to cheer on Team USA at the Olympics and watch some of the events on Saturday and Sunday,

Social Affairs Feb. 22, 2018

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday admitted that a controversial part of the 2014 agreement to share costs for US troops stationed in South Korea was omitted from its report to the National Assembly.The ministry’s task force conducted an internal review of the agreement, looking into allegations that the Park Geun-hye administration made a secret agreement with the US to contribute cash to building facilities for US troops stationed here.  Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha answers lawmak

Foreign Affairs Feb. 21, 2018

The US mulling imposing heavy tariffs on South Korean steel imports, ostensibly to reduce its own trade deficit with China, shows that the Trump administration has little consideration for its seven-decade alliance with South Korea when it comes to trade, experts say.The US Commerce Department on Friday laid out a range of options for President Donald Trump to consider, including a tariff of 53 percent on steel imports from 12 countries including South Korea and China, as part of its “America Fi

Foreign Affairs Feb. 20, 2018

Another whirlwind round of diplomacy is expected on the sidelines of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics this week, with US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump set to join the closing ceremony. Ivanka Trump (AP)Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to her father in the White House, will lead the US delegation to the closing ceremony to be held in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Sunday, with her travel itinerary and who she will meet yet to be announced.　First lady Kim Jung-sook is like

Foreign Affairs Feb. 19, 2018

Few in South Korea would imagine that the fish they bought today at a cheap price might have been illegally taken or stolen from poor communities in Africa where fish is the only source of food and income. However, there is always someone paying the real price which often involves forced labor, poverty and malnutrition, says Steve Trent, executive director and co-founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation. “Very often, such things are not really cheap. Those abused were paying the real pric

Social Affairs Feb. 18, 2018