WASHINGTON -- The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution calling for international efforts to improve human rights conditions in the reclusive state. It marks the 18th consecutive year the world body adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights. The resolution, sponsored by the European Union, expresses concerns over dire human rights conditions in the impoverished North, while also expressing concerns over what it calls illegal detention, torture and execution of f

WASHINGTON -- The US Inflation Reduction Act may lead to unintended but negative consequences for the United States in its increasingly intensifying competition with China unless modified, US experts argued Thursday. One expert here also insisted that the new US law may undermine rules-based global trade orders, which the US has worked so many years to build and defend. Citing her recent meeting with the head of a South Korean battery manufacturer, Tami Overby, former senior vice president of US

Foreign Minister Park Jin and UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi met in Seoul on late Thursday afternoon to discuss ways of putting checks on North Korea’s nuclear buildup and to work together on Japan’s decision to release contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant. The three-day trip by the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency that started Wednesday is the latest highlight of Seoul’s efforts to muster international support to deal with

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will discuss North Korea, among other issues, during his three-day trip to South Korea, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The trip, which started Wednesday after a five-year hiatus, comes as South Korea looks for a more coordinated international response to North Korea’s provocations. This year, Pyongyang has conducted a record number of missile launches, prompting not only Seoul, but the international community to step up efforts to rein in the i

WASHINGTON-- The United States remains fully committed to completely denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and that goal will not change, a state department spokesperson said Tuesday. The department spokesperson, Ned Price, also stressed the importance of holding North Korea accountable for its recent missile provocations. "We have conveyed our policy position by noting that we undertook a comprehensive review of our policy towards the DPRK in the early part of this administration," Pr

China urged South Korea to join its rally against the US -- Korea’s biggest ally -- calling it a “rule breaker” in what many see as the lingering discord that is likely to hamper Seoul’s efforts to use Beijing’s support to resume the US-led nuclear talks on North Korea. During a video conference held Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Korea counterpart that the US Inflation Reduction Act, which offers subsidies for electric vehicles made there, violat

WASHINGTON -- Senior South Korean and US government officials had discussions on Seoul's concerns about the impact of Washington's Inflation Reduction Act and agreed to continue "constructive" consultations to address the matter, according to a joint statement. South Korea's second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon met with Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez in Washington, DC, on Monday for the seventh Senior Econom

WASHINGTON -- The United States will find ways to meet its economic interests, as well as those of America's allies, in implementing the new Inflation Reduction Act that currently offers tax benefits only to electric vehicles assembled in North America, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday. Sullivan said such solutions will be presented in the "coming days and weeks." "We have had extensive consultations with Republic of Korea on the Inflation Reduc

WASHINGTON -- The United States will not hesitate to impose sanctions on any individuals who support North Korea's illegal weapons development programs, a state department spokesperson said Monday. Ned Price also said the US is always looking for individuals who may be held accountable for North Korea's illegal weapons of mass destruction programs. "We are always looking for individuals who would be appropriate to sanction under our various authorities, including those authorities

South Korea asked China to step up efforts to bring North Korea back to denuclearization talks at a videoconference Monday held between their respective foreign ministers, as the two countries seek to better ties that have been strained by their divergent views on Pyongyang and the escalating US-China rivalry. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin told his counterpart Wang Yi that North Korea’s return to dialogue is in their “shared interest,” urging Beijing to actively back S

Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon left for Washington on Sunday for talks on the Inflation Reduction Act and other economic issues. Lee plans to hold a session of the Senior Economic Dialogue with his US counterpart, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth Jose Fernandez, and meet with other US administration and congressional officials. "The IRA will be dealt with as the most important issue," Lee said before departure. The IRA, signed into law by US President Joe Biden in

WASHINGTON -- US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will visit South Korea next week for consultations on a range of regional and bilateral issues, the State Department said Saturday. Kritenbrink will travel together with National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Laura Rosenberger on the three-nation trip from Sunday to Wednesday that also includes stops in China and Japan, the department said in a press release. "In the

South Korea plans to offer some 100 tons of humanitarian aid items to Ukraine, which is suffering power shortages this month amid its war with Russia, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. The items, which include power generators, children's vaccines, medical devices and emergency medicines, are scheduled to be sent in two batches on Sunday and Dec. 25 via chartered flights. According to the ministry, the planned shipment of power generators is meant to help meet Ukraine's urgent

WASHINGTON -- US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim held talks this week with his Chinese counterpart to discuss North Korea's increasingly provocative behavior, the state department said Thursday. The rare meeting was held virtually on Wednesday, according to department spokesperson Ned Price. "Special Representative for the DPRK Sung Kim held a video conference on December 7 with PRC Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming to discuss the DPRK'

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's nuclear tests and its potential use of nuclear weapons against the US and its allies present a serious challenge that requires the US to further enhance its extended deterrence, a White House official said Thursday. Kurt Campbell, National Security Council coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, noted keeping US allies from developing their own nuclear capabilities may also be a "big challenge" for the US going forward. "I would suggest that one of t