U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday urged South Korea and Japan to work to overcome historical animosities and improve their relations to better counter North Korean threats and other challenges together. After their talks in Seoul, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Kerry also renewed calls for Pyongyang to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization through actions. Though Kerry displayed respect for “deeply felt historical differences,” he said that positive relations between Seo

North Korea Feb. 13, 2014

The two Koreas will reopen talks on Friday on the planned reunions of separated families after their first high-level dialogue in seven years ended with no agreement due to differences over upcoming Seoul-Washington military drills, the Unification Ministry said Thursday. The meeting will start at the border village of Panmunjeom at 10:00 a.m., led by Kim Kyou-hyun, vice chief of the South’s presidential National Security Office, and Won Dong-yon, deputy head of the United Front Department of th

North Korea Feb. 13, 2014

The two Koreas will hold their first high-level talks in seven years on Wednesday, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday, as the North ramps up efforts to put their strained relations back on track. The meeting will open at the truce village of Panmunjeom at 10:00 a.m. led by Kim Kyou-hyun, vice chief of the presidential National Security Office, and Won Dong-yon, deputy head of the United Front Department in the North’s ruling Workers’ Party. The vice ministerial contact will mark the first hig

North Korea Feb. 11, 2014

A former U.S. ambassador to South Korea on Monday visited Pyongyang, apparently to try to secure the release of an American detained there, AP Television reported. Donald Gregg, a former Central Intelligence Agency official who served as Washington’s ambassador to Seoul from 1989-93, was leading a four-member delegation of the Pacific Century Institute, a non-governmental organization based in the Los Angeles area. The goal of his mission remains unclear, as it coincides with Pyongyang’s cancell

North Korea Feb. 10, 2014

This is the first installment in a new series featuring the growing number of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific seeks to broaden cooperation with Korea’s government, private sector and civil society to help the country play a bigger role in promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth in the region. In an interview with The Korea Herald, Kilaparti Ramakrishna, director of its East and Northeast Asia office located in

Foreign Affairs Feb. 9, 2014

The two Koreas on Wednesday agreed to hold reunions of families displaced by the 1950-53 Korean War from Feb. 20-25 at Mount Geumgangsan, the Unification Ministry said. The decision was made at working-level talks at the North’s side of the border village of Panmunjeom. Three officials from each side took part in the meeting, which followed the North’s offer two days ago. The reunion would be the first such event in more than three years. About 100 families from each side would reunite with thei

North Korea Feb. 5, 2014

GAESEONG ― The two Koreas introduced an electronic identification system to their joint factory park in Gaeseong on Tuesday, marking a major operational step forward which will facilitate travel for South Korean businesspeople.More than 20 people crossed the border early in the morning through the radio frequency identification system in a test-run, where they scanned their ID cards embedded with an electronic chip for a faster and easier immigration procedure. In the past, South Koreans were re

North Korea Jan. 28, 2014

A Korean trade official abducted in Tripoli was released after Libyan authorities arrested the gunmen Thursday, capping a three-day kidnapping that prompted Seoul to issue a travel alert and highlighted the instability of the North African country. Han Seok-woo, head of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s Libya unit, was handed over uninjured to the Korean Embassy in the capital at about 4:15 a.m., Seoul time, the Foreign Ministry here said. He was kidnapped by four men while heading h

Foreign Affairs Jan. 23, 2014

Tension is intensifying further in Northeast Asia after Japan protested the launch of new facilities devoted to a Korean independence fighter in China, triggering strong condemnation from Seoul. Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Monday slammed the memorial hall that opened a day before to honor Ahn Jung-geun, who fatally shot Japan’s first Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito in Harbin in 1909 in protest against its colonial rule. Suga said Ahn was a “terrorist sentenced to death” for the

Foreign Affairs Jan. 21, 2014