South Korea said Wednesday it plans to provide Cuba with $3 million (3.3 billion won) in development funds to help boost food productivity and combat poverty in the Central American nation. The policy comes in apparent efforts to improve relations with Cuba following a recent breakthrough in the nation’s Cold War standoff with the U.S.Seoul’s Foreign Ministry clinched an agreement with the World Food Program for the three-year project on the sidelines of the agency’s executive board meeting in R

Foreign Affairs Feb. 11, 2015

President Park Geun-hye is expected to visit Washington this year for a summit with her counterpart Barack Obama as the allies ramp up diplomatic efforts to better counter North Korea’s threats and coordinate related policies. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks on the margins of a security conference in Munich on Saturday to discuss Park’s envisioned trip and review the situation around the peninsula, the region and the globe.Obama’s national security

Foreign Affairs Feb. 8, 2015

As sweeping reform continues to take hold in Myanmar, North Korea should take a page from its former ally’s transition book and brighten its own future without a regime change, a top U.S. official said Wednesday. Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, lauded the Southeast Asian nation’s decision that resulted in a “pouring-in” of development assistance from around the world and high-level exchanges officials including a summit with U.S. President Barack O

North Korea Feb. 5, 2015

The defense chiefs of South Korea and China are set to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program, peninsular and regional situations and ways to step up bilateral defense cooperation on Wednesday. Chang Wanquan arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a three-day stay and is scheduled for talks with his counterpart Han Min-koo. They last met in 2013 in Brunei. He is the first Chinese defense minister to visit in about nine years. Kim Kwan-jin, Cheong Wa Dae’s national security chief and Han’s predecessor, tr

North Korea Feb. 3, 2015

South Korea plans to dispatch a third batch of medical staff to Sierra Leone this month for a four-week mission to join the global fight against the Ebola outbreak, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. The team, comprised of two army doctors and three nurses, will leave for the U.K. on Saturday for a weeklong training course before heading to the West African country later this month. They are scheduled to receive three days of related education at home until Wednesday. “With Freetown seeking to st

Foreign Affairs Feb. 2, 2015

South Korea‘s top nuclear envoy will leave for China this week to discuss ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Seoul‘s foreign ministry said Monday.Hwang Joon-kook is scheduled to visit Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei, according to the foreign ministry.“The two sides plan to exchange views over the situation on the Korean Peninsula and have in-depth talks on ways to reopen the denuclear

Foreign Affairs Feb. 2, 2015

North Korea on Sunday lambasted the U.S. for shifting blame for the current lack of dialogue and frosty relations, saying that Washington’s top nuclear negotiator has turned down a recent invitation to Pyongyang. The offer came after Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, had displayed his willingness to meet with North Korean officials during his Asia tour last week. While in Beijing, the envoy said that while Washington was open to engagement and dialogue on the denuclea

North Korea Feb. 1, 2015

North Korea on Friday called on Seoul to lift its bilateral sanctions if it hopes to hold dialogue, arrange a reunion of separated families and restart other exchanges. The demand by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, which handles cross-border affairs, came after Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae proposed at the end of last year a fresh round of high-level talks to discuss the family reunion and other issues of mutual concern.Along with Seoul-Washington joint military drill

North Korea Jan. 23, 2015

With North Korean leader Kim Jong-un apparently mulling a visit to Russia, speculation is rising that President Park Geun-hye might accept an invitation from Moscow and possibly hold talks with the young ruler. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited dozens of world leaders ― including U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ― to a ceremony on May 9 marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Moscow has received a “positi

North Korea Jan. 22, 2015

A Korean teenager who went missing in Turkey earlier this month had deliberately planned his trip and disappearance near the Syrian border, the police said Wednesday, raising the possibility of his involvement with the Islamic State militant group. The 18-year-old tourist from Seoul, surnamed Kim, vanished on Jan. 10 after leaving a hotel in the border town of Kilis, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Foreign Ministry. He initially set foot in Istanbul on Jan. 8 and flew to th

Foreign Affairs Jan. 21, 2015

A Korean teenager who has gone missing in Turkey had moved to near the Syrian border with a local man by car, Seoul officials said Tuesday, sparking speculation that he might have entered the conflict-ridden country and joined the Islamic State militant group. The 18-year-old tourist, surnamed Kim from Seoul, vanished on Jan. 10 after leaving a hotel in the border town of Kilis, according to Korea’s Foreign Ministry and police. He touched down in Istanbul on Jan. 8 and flew to the southern city

Foreign Affairs Jan. 20, 2015