International tribunal should be last resort, experts say

South Korea and Mexico shared concerns about Japan's planned release of contaminated water from its wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant during a vice ministerial meeting, the foreign ministry here said Saturday. South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, who is now on a nine-day trip to Latin America, met with Carmen Moreno Toscano, Mexico's undersecretary of Foreign Relations, in Mexico on Friday (local time) to discuss the Fukushima and other issues, the ministry said. At the talk

The foreign ministry on Friday denied media reports speculating that South Korea was not included on the US list of potential foreign vaccine support because it has taken a negative stance about joining the US-led Quad forum. Major local dailies carried such reports, quoting the remarks by US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Thursday (local time) that the US is willing to help other countries with vaccine supplies but it is more focused right now on first containing the disease dome

South Korea and eight Central American countries have adopted a joint statement expressing "deep concerns" over a massive discharge of contaminated materials into the ocean, calling for a collective response for marine safety, the foreign ministry said Friday. The statement was adopted at the vice-ministerial consultative dialogue between South Korea and the members of the Central American Integration System, or SICA in Spanish, that was held in Costa Rica on Thursday (local time).

WASHINGTON -- The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill aimed at curbing a recent increase in hate crimes targeting Asian-American communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate voted 94-1 to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which, if enacted, would allow expedited federal government investigation on COVID-19 related hate crimes that are increasingly targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Vice President Kamala Harris has partly attributed the recent increase in ant

WASHINGTON -- A US State Department spokesman on Thursday welcomed South Korea's new climate change commitment as one of important actions taken by countries at the ongoing climate summit that will help meet global goals. Ned Price made the remark after South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced in the virtual summit that his country will officially stop financing overseas coal power projects. "We saw a variety of other announcements today about the increasing scope and pace of actions

President Moon also mulling possibility of using Russia’s Sputnik V

The Belgian ambassador to South Korea apologized on Thursday for his wife’s assault of a clothing store staffer in Seoul, which was captured on security camera and spread on social media earlier this week. The footage shows Xiang Xueqiu, wife of Ambassador Peter Lescouhier, slapping a storekeeper who tried to stop her from approaching a colleague behind the store counter. The colleague suspected that Xiang, 63, was trying to leave the shop wearing a piece of clothing she didn’t pay

South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Noh Kyu-duk spoke by phone with acting US Assistant Secretary of State Sung Kim on Thursday and discussed Washington's policy review on North Korea. "The two sides noted that South Korea and the United States have closely been working together and coordinating on the course of the ongoing US policy review on North Korea, which is at its final stage," the ministry said in a release. Noh and Kim also agreed to continue consultations at every level

The United States is currently focused on vaccinating its own people for the COVID-19 pandemic but may be able to help other countries in the future, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday. Ned Price made the remark after South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said his country was in "earnest discussion" with the United States to borrow COVID-19 vaccines in what he called a "vaccine swap" arrangement. The department spokesman said he will not get into the details

South Korea voiced "deep disappointment and regrets" on Wednesday over Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's ritual offering to a war shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Suga sent a "masasaki" tree to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the occasion of an annual spring festival. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects in person. "The government expresses deep disappointment and regrets that the Japanese government and its parliam

South Korea has been reelected to the executive board of the World Food Programme (WFP) for the 2022-24 period, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. The decision was made at a UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting on Tuesday. South Korea has been on the 36-member governing body of the WEF since 2019. The executive board is in charge of instructing the UN food assistance body with policy directions and the supervision of its overall activities. "The government will actively t

A local court has determined that Japan cannot be forced to pay the legal fees of former South Korean sex slaves in a recent landmark case due to a potential conflict with international law, judicial sources said Wednesday. The Seoul Central District Court made the determination on March 29, almost three months after it ordered the Japanese government to pay reparations of 100 million won ($89,600) each to 12 South Korean "comfort women" who were forced to provide sex for Japanese tro

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed hopes Wednesday that the United States will help South Korea address coronavirus vaccine shortages, just as Seoul helped the US last year by providing test kits and face masks when it was struggling with the pandemic. Chung made the comment in a forum with local journalists, a day after he revealed in a parliamentary session that Seoul is seriously discussing a "vaccine swap" arrangement with Washington. He did not elaborate on what that swap

South Korean victims of wartime sexual slavery lost their second lawsuit against the Japanese government Wednesday, suffering a setback in their efforts to hold Tokyo accountable for war crimes. The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the case brought by 20 plaintiffs, including surviving victims forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II, citing sovereign immunity, a legal doctrine that allows a state to be immune from a civil suit in foreign courts. &q