President Moon Jae-in, who is on a state visit to Australia, met with Australian businesspeople on Tuesday to discuss expanding cooperation in key minerals between the two countries. The meeting came a day after the Korean and Australian industry ministries signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the core mineral supply chain. It was attended by Simon Crean, the chair of the Australia-Korea Business Council, Ian Gandel, non-executive chairman of Australian Strategic Materials

Foreign Affairs Dec. 14, 2021

In the wake of Monday’s summit between South Korea and Australia, President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Scott Morrison adopted a joint statement on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. “As major maritime trading nations, Australia and South Korea recognize that the stability of the Indo-Pacific depends on adherence to international law in the maritime domain, including in the South China Sea,” said the joint statement signed by the two leaders. The South China

Foreign Affairs Dec. 14, 2021

President Moon Jae-in said during a state visit to Australia Monday that the Korean government is not considering a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics in a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. When a reporter asked whether Moon’s visit to Australia could give China a bad signal while Australia is in conflict with China and has announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, Moon said, “We have not received any recommenda

Foreign Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

President Moon Jae-in left for Australia on Sunday for a four-day state visit at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The two nations are expected to discuss economic, technology and defense cooperation. It is the first time since 2009 that a South Korean leader has visited Australia as a state guest. Moon is the first foreign leader to visit the country since the pandemic started in March last year. On Monday, Moon and Morrison are expected to host a summit in Canbe

Foreign Affairs Dec. 12, 2021

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will make a state visit to South Korea on Dec. 16 for three days, at the invitation of President Moon Jae-in, officials said Thursday. The two leaders will hold a summit on Dec. 17. “President Mirziyoyev’s visit to Korea is a return to President Moon’s state visit to Uzbekistan in 2019,” said Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. “The two leaders will discuss ways to promote future-oriented and reciprocal cooperation

Foreign Affairs Dec. 9, 2021

President Moon Jae-in will share the nation’s democratic achievements at a summit hosted by US President Joe Biden on Tuesday night. During the two-day virtual “Summit for Democracy,” 110 countries will share opinions on how to guard against authoritarianism, eradicate corruption and promote respect for human rights. China and Russia were excluded. In the first part of the plenary session, Moon plans to share South Korea’s democratic achievements and outline the nati

Politics Dec. 9, 2021

With the clock ticking on his term in office, President Moon Jae-in is taking every opportunity to push his agenda to declare the end of the Korean War. But experts are raising questions about his motivations and about the validity of his goal. “The declaration of an end to the war is the first step toward peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said in a congratulatory video speech at the 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in Seoul on Tuesday night. He urge

North Korea Dec. 8, 2021

The US decision to have its diplomats boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics is posing a dilemma for South Korea, as Washington could prod allies to follow suit, while Seoul hopes to use the games as an opportunity to restart dialogue with Pyongyang. Amid the struggle between the two global superpowers, South Korea has taken an ambiguous diplomatic position, as it values both its security alliance with the US and its economic ties with China. But with Washington’s recent announcement, South

Foreign Affairs Dec. 7, 2021

South Korea’s Office of National Security will establish a new technology and cybersecurity role to take charge of strengthening innovative research capabilities and coordination among related ministries, officials said Tuesday. The launch of the new position, Secretary to the President for Emerging and Critical Technologies and Cybersecurity, comes amid an intensifying global technology competition and a growing need for protecting core technologies such as artificial intelligence and qu

Politics Dec. 7, 2021

The National Administrative Legislation Committee has been launched as an advisory body on the administrative legal system at the national level, officials said Friday. The joint public-private committee, which belongs to the Ministry of Government Legislation, will be jointly chaired by Minister Lee Kang-seop and private chairperson Hong Jung-sun, a former professor at Yonsei University. It has a total of 38 members. Members from the private sector include various administrative law expert

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2021

Top Chinese Communist Party diplomat Yang Jiechi said the nation supports President Moon Jae-in’s push for the declaration of the end of the Korean War during talks with Korea’s national security adviser Suh Hoon in Tianjin, China, officials said on Friday. Suh’s visit to China was made as a follow-up to Yang’s visit to Seoul in August 2020. They discussed bilateral relations, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and other regional issues. Cheong Wa Dae said Suh ex

Foreign Affairs Dec. 3, 2021

President Moon Jae-in hopes to declare the end of the Korean War during his term, but such a declaration without corresponding denuclearization does not guarantee peace on the Korean Peninsula and time is too short to untangle complicated interests of all involved parties, experts say. Moon revived the issue, which had remained dormant since the failed 2019 US-North Korea summit -- at the United Nations in September. Since then, Seoul and Washington have discussed the issue, and are reportedly

North Korea Dec. 2, 2021

President Moon Jae-in ordered the government to immediately implement stricter immigration quarantine measures to block the inflow of the omicron variant after receiving a report that a suspected case was found here, officials said Tuesday. Authorities said on the day that a Korean couple, who visited Nigeria, was suspected of having the omicron variant, and is currently conducting a genome test. The results will be confirmed later on Wednesday evening. “The analysis of the new variant

Social Affairs Nov. 30, 2021

As infections surge and the capacity for beds reaches its limit, the government decided that COVID-19 patients should be treated at home -- with hospital treatment the exception. “New confirmed patients, critically ill patients and deaths are all increasing, and the capacity for beds is getting tighter,” President Moon Jae-in said at the COVID-19 special quarantine inspection meeting Monday. It is the first such meeting in the Seoul metropolitan area since July 12. He said Korea c

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2021

The Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung appears to have ditched his dogmatic views and hard-line stance, instead opting to woo voters with apologies and tears. On Wednesday, he apologized on behalf of his party for failing to empathize with the “painful hearts of the people,” and got down on his knees, saying he will apologize at every opportunity and bring about changes in the party. A day earlier, Lee apologized for using abusive language against his s

Politics Nov. 25, 2021