Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum will visit Turkey and Qatar later this week to discuss ways to strengthen diplomatic ties and expand economic cooperation, his office said Wednesday. Kim will be in Turkey from Thursday to Saturday during which he will attend the opening ceremony of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge following an invitation from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The 1915 Canakkale Bridge in northwestern Turkey is the world's longest suspension bridge with a 2,023-meter span between its towers

LVIV, Ukraine -- The United States warned China against providing military or financial help to Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, as sanctions on Russian political and business leaders mounted and civilians sought to flee intense fighting on the ground. Further talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators to ease the crisis were expected on Tuesday after discussions on Monday via video ended with no new progress announced. Two powerful explosions rocked the capital Kyiv before dawn, and a

South Korea said Tuesday it has eased a travel alert for its nationals on some regions of Ethiopia on Tuesday, as the civil war in the African nation has subsided in recent weeks. The Level 3 alert, which was placed on all parts of Ethiopia, was lowered to the special advisory against overseas travels on the capital city of Addis Ababa and other provinces in the southwestern region, with the rest of the African nation still under Level 3, the second highest under the four-tier system, in accorda

WASHINGTON -- US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Monday with China's Yang Jiechi to discuss various current issues, including North Korea, a senior US official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting was "intense" and seven-hours long. "Obviously, we have serious concerns about the recent escalatory actions that we have seen from the DPRK," the official said in a telephonic press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official

WASHINGTON -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States held trilateral talks Monday to discuss North Korea's recent missile launches that tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile system, the US Department of State said. US Special Representative for the DPRK Sung Kim talked on the phone with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, and Japan's Takehiro Funakoshi, according to department spokesperson Ned Price. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States will continue to develop and expand their economic cooperation rooted in their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) enacted 10 years ago and the new US strategy for economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Monday. He also insisted the Korea-US FTA (KORUS FTA) will help the countries "weather any storm." "It is a fact that KORUS FTA expanded the size of the trade pipe between our two count

US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will visit a factory run by a South Korean company in Michigan this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Korea-US free trade agreement, her office said Sunday. "On Wednesday March 16, 2022, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai will travel to the Detroit area, Auburn, and Bay City, Michigan," the office of the USTR said in a press release. "Ambassador Tai, Congr

MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) -- Russian forces pounded the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday, shelling its downtown as residents hid in an iconic mosque and elsewhere to avoid the explosions. Fighting also raged in the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russia kept up its bombardment of other cities throughout the country. Mariupol has endured some of Ukraine's worst punishment since Russia invaded. Unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring food, water and medicine into the

(Bloomberg) -- When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, companies rushed behind the Iron Curtain to plant their flag in Russian soil. Icons of capitalism, from Apple Inc. to McDonald’s Corp. to Adidas AG, went on to build profitable businesses in the ensuing years as consumers clamored for a slice of Western lifestyle. In just a few short days, those longstanding ties have unraveled. After Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, a mass corporate exodus set in, starting wi

South Korea's trade minister and some lawmakers will visit the United States this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the two nations' free trade agreement, the trade ministry said Sunday. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and a parliamentary delegation led by Rep. Lee Hack-young, chief of the parliamentary committee on trade and industry, will visit the US between Monday and Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. They plan to attend an event to celebrat

North Korean state media on Friday reported on conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s win as South Korea’s new president, marking the regime’s first coverage of the election result.  In a brief report, the North’s Korean Central News Agency said, “Yoon Suk-yeol, a candidate of the conservative opposition ‘People Power Party,’ won by a narrow margin in the 20th ‘presidential election’ held in South Korea on March 9.” The Rodong Sin

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday vowed to strengthen ties with the United States during his term, highlighting the need to expand cooperation between the two countries based on their alliance. In a meeting with Christopher Del Corso, charge d’affaires ad interim at the US Embassy in Seoul, Yoon said South Korea and the US will have to adjust its relationship to reflect that the countries are “sworn by blood” to help each other. He emphasized that the US is South Korea&

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has told leaders of neighboring Japan and China to develop relations further. The leaders agreed to strengthen ties with South Korea. On Friday morning, Yoon met with the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming in Seoul, saying he is confident that Korea-China relations will develop further. “China is Korea‘s largest trading partner, and we are China’s third-largest trading partner,” Yoon told Xing. “This year is the 30th ann

WASHINGTON -- The United States opposes reducing or lifting sanctions on North Korea while the reclusive state continues to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities, US deputy special envoy for North Korea Jung Pak said Thursday. Pak also said the US remains committed to dialogue with the North but that would not stop it from calling out Pyongyang's bad behavior. "I know that there's been some calls for reducing sanctions or lifting sanctions or putting a lot on the table to get the DPR

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's nuclear and missile programs pose a serious threat to the peace and security of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, US state department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday. The remarks came after a senior US administration official said the North's missile launches, staged Feb. 27 and March 5 (Seoul time), were aimed at testing a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. "These are ballistic missile launches," Price said when asked if the recent