Over 1,500 people gathered in Seoul on Jan. 25 to celebrate Australia’s national day with an event hosted by the Australian Embassy in South Korea with a theme in recognition of the Australian Open.The annual tennis tournament inspired fans here and abroad alike last year with the memorable sporting achievement made by Korean semifinalist Cheong Hyun.  Australian Ambassador to South Korea James Choi plays an exhibition on a custom-built mini-tennis court during the 2019 Australian Day event, hel

Diplomatic Circuit Feb. 7, 2019

It is a great pleasure to usher in the Year of the Golden Pig, a joyous occasion that also marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Korea. And although the diplomatic ties were established in March 11, 1959, the friendly relations between our countries go even further back to 1902, when the Empire of Chosun and the Kingdom of Denmark concluded the “Friendship, Trade, and Sea-trade Treaty.” In more modern years, we can also look back to 1951 when Denmark sent the hos

Diplomatic Circuit Feb. 7, 2019

US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and confirmed the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington will take place in Vietnam on Feb. 27 and 28 during his State of the Union address Wednesday. “As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he said during the speech, which focused on the country’s foreign policy and economic status. US President Donald Trump makes a comment during hi

North Korea Feb. 6, 2019

South Korea’s foreign minister said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to take concrete steps toward denuclearization in order to keep his pledges concerning economic development, as the leaders of both the US and the North express optimism about their upcoming summit. Closing the Yongbyon nuclear complex and dismantling key missile facilities in the presence of foreign inspectors are measures that Pyongyang might suggest during a second summit between US President Donald

North Korea Jan. 25, 2019

North Korea may not be ready to bring its intercontinental ballistic missiles and the idea of transferring its nuclear arsenal to China to the negotiating table as bargaining chips in talks with the US, analysts here said Thursday. “Moving ICBMs out of North Korea is what the US has been demanding but there’s no evidence that the North has accepted the proposal,” Handong University professor Park Won-gon said. Washington’s simultaneous incentives and building of mutual trust must first take plac

North Korea Jan. 24, 2019

South Korea’s struggle to reach an agreement with the US for the cost of maintaining US troops here intensified when the gap between the total amount of Seoul’s contributions demanded by the US and that which Seoul was able to accept, as well as differences over the contract period, widened in December as a result of instructions from the very top in Washington, sources said Wednesday. Through a diplomatic channel, the US demanded in late December that South Korea pay $1.2 billion for costs rela

Foreign Affairs Jan. 23, 2019

The Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the US ambassador to South Korea visited Cheong Wa Dae last month, but declined to comment on a news report that the top envoy’s visit was designed to pressure Seoul to pay more for the US troops stationed here. “Our government is making efforts to reach a reasonable agreement, mutually acceptable, as early as possible on the basis of mutual respect and understanding (with the US ally),” ministry spokesperson Noh Kyu-duk said at a regular press briefin

Foreign Affairs Jan. 22, 2019

Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-Soon said Tuesday that North Korea will get sanctions relief for the resumption of two key inter-Korean economic projects -- the Kaesong industrial complex and Kumgangsan tours -- as its nuclear talks with the US are making progress. “After the Olympics, I visited North Korea three times, and I’m quite convinced now that North Korea will become a sole and successful case of denuclearization in the world,” he told reporters during a press conference in Seoul.  Choi

North Korea Jan. 22, 2019

US President Donald Trump identified his nuclear talks with North Korea as among his greatest achievements in the first half of his first term, amid hopes for substantial results from the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington next month. In the “historic results of President Donald Trump’s first two years in office,” issued by the White House on Sunday, the US administration said he brought the beginning of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula by holding a historic summit

North Korea Jan. 21, 2019

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US and North Korea have made progress in their denuclearization talks, while officials from the two countries have begun negotiations to craft details of agreement for a second summit next month.“We have made a lot of progress as far as denuclearization is concerned and we’re talking about a lot of different things,” Trump said after a 90 minute meeting with North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Yong-chol at the White House on Friday.  (Yonhap)Trump said

Foreign Affairs Jan. 20, 2019

Working-level officials from South Korea and the US agreed on Thursday that a sanctions exemption was needed to enable the two Koreas to carry out joint projects and said they would ask the United Nations Security Council to waive related restrictions. According to the Foreign Ministry, the two countries reached consensus during a videoconference that it was necessary to bring electronic devices into North Korea for two inter-Korean projects -- surveys to prepare for the reconnection of cross-bo

North Korea Jan. 17, 2019

North Korea’s chief negotiator in US-North Korea talks, Kim Yong-chol, is expected to deliver a letter to US President Donald Trump during his visit to Washington this weekend, according to media reports Thursday. Kim, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, is expected to arrive in the US capital on Thursday. He will meet Trump at the White House, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday. North Korean senior official Kim Yong-chol (Yonhap)The se

North Korea Jan. 17, 2019

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa reaffirmed Wednesday that the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a shared goal of South Korea and the US, stressing close cooperation between the two countries. “Denuclearization talks will begin in earnest based on strategies that have been mediated between South Korea and the US. … I expect there will be great progress in denuclearization, inter-Korean relations and lasting peace settlement if a second North Korea-US summit and North Korean lea

Foreign Affairs Jan. 16, 2019

North Korea cannot afford to be slapped with additional international sanctions over the development of nuclear weapons, experts here said Tuesday, following a media report that the country might have produced material for more atomic bombs in 2018. Citing satellite-imagery analysis and leaked US intelligence, Bloomberg on Monday reported that Pyongyang has been strengthening its nuclear arsenal by churning out rockets and warheads as well as adding several intercontinental ballistic missiles an

North Korea Jan. 15, 2019