WASHINGTON -- Expanding and maintaining channels of high-level dialogue between countries, especially in times of crises, is a key to ensuring security in the Northeast Asian region, including the Korean Peninsula, a transnational group of experts and leaders said Wednesday. They also stressed the importance of promoting cooperation between the countries in areas such as disaster relief to build mutual trust. "Numerous crisis mechanisms have been established in Northeast Asia over the past

WASHINGTON -- Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright died Wednesday at the age of 84, reports said. The former secretary of state died of cancer, according to reports. Albright was the first female secretary of state and the highest ranking US official to visit North Korea. She served as US ambassador to the United Nations under former President Bill Clinton before she was appointed the secretary of state in 1997. In October 2000, Albright traveled to Pyongyang, becoming the first US se

WASHINGTON -- The United States has no immediate plan to negotiate its import quota on South Korean steel products, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters. The remarks come after US Trade Representative Katherine Tai argued South Korea is already in a better position than many others in terms of steel and aluminium exports to the US "They kind of struck their own deal in the last administration, with a quota arrangement, so renegotiating that is

The election for the next director general of the International Labor Organization is scheduled for Friday, with all eyes on whether former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has a chance at becoming the first woman and first Asian leader in the organization’s 103-year history. 　 Kang, the country’s first female foreign minister, is competing for the ILO top job along with four other high-profile contenders. They include president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are set to speak on Friday as the White House warns Beijing that providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will trigger severe consequences from Washington and beyond. Planning for the call has been in the works since Biden and Xi held a virtual summit in November, but differences between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s prosecution of his three-week old

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russian forces pressed their assault on Ukrainian cities Friday, with new missile strikes and shelling on the edges of the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, as world leaders pushed for an investigation of the Kremlin's repeated attacks on civilian targets, including schools, hospitals and residential areas. Outside Lviv, black smoke billowed for hours after the early morning strike by several missiles, which the mayor said hit a facility for repairing military airc

South Korea said Friday it plans to open temporary settlement lines between local banks and their units in Russia in a bid to help local firms facing difficulties in trade financing due to global sanctions against Russia. The government plans to support swift trade financing-related payments for local companies as Woori Bank and Hana Bank are set to open ad hoc settlement accounts with their affiliates in Russia, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The move is aimed at minimizi

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve launched a high-risk effort Wednesday to tame the worst inflation since the early 1980s, raising its benchmark short-term interest rate and signaling up to six additional rate hikes this year. The Fed's quarter-point hike in its key rate, which it had pinned near zero since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, marks the start of its effort to curb the high inflation that followed the recovery from the recession. The rate hikes will eventually mean h

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine accused Russia Thursday of bombing a theatre that was sheltering more than 1,000 civilians in the city of Mariupol, after US President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a "war criminal." The latest assaults on civilians across Ukraine came as President Volodymyr Zelensky made a searing appeal for help to the US, which responded by pledging $1 billion in new weapons to fight Russia's invading army. Officials across Ukraine are struggling to count the civilian dea

BAY CITY, Michigan -- The South Korea-US free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) has greatly increased bilateral trade and investment but more can and should be done to further advance the countries' economic ties, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Wednesday. Her remarks come as the allies marked the 10th anniversary of the implementation of their bilateral trade pact this week. "In the 10 years since KORUS (FTA) was signed and took effect, the trade relationship between the United States

BAY CITY, Michigan -- The United States will continue to discuss with South Korea about concerns over the US import quota on South Korean steel products, but Seoul is already in a better position than many other countries, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Wednesday. The remarks come after repeated calls from South Korean officials, including Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, for the start of negotiations to remove or change the import quota placed by the former US administration. "I'll

AUBURN -- US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made a joint visit to the factory of a South Korean semiconductor material producer on Wednesday, highlighting their emphasis on cooperation for supply chain resiliency. The rare trip to the SK Siltron CSS factory in Auburn, Michigan, a city with a population of only about 2,100, came on the day after the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the South Korea-US free trade agreement (KORUS FTA).

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday spoke with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the phone, Yoon's spokesperson said. The talks last for about 25 minutes from 6 p.m., according to his spokesperson Kim Eun-hye. It was Yoon's fourth call with a foreign leader. He spoke with United States President Joe Biden on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday.During the campaign, Yoon expressed his support fo

US President Joe Biden will make his first visit to Europe since the invasion of Ukraine to discuss the crisis with NATO allies next week, the White House said on Tuesday as the refugee tally hit 3 million amid more Russian air strikes. Moscow has not captured any of the 10 biggest cities in the country following its incursion that began on Feb. 24, the largest assault on a European state since 1945. Local authorities said Tuesday's bombardments on Kyiv killed at least five people as buildings w

The US dollar has been at the center of the global monetary system for more than seven decades since the end of World War II. The dollar-dominated international monetary system has shaped the postwar world political economy by significantly contributing to US power, both economically and politically, as well as lubricating the wheels of the global economy. However, in recent years there have been some notable growing developments that might shake the dollar’s global supremacy. China has