WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Saturday he recently received a "nice note" from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and insisted their relationship remains good. The two countries have failed to make progress in denuclearization negotiations since a February 2019 summit between Trump and Kim ended without a deal. But the leaders have maintained their personal correspondence, with Trump sending a letter to Kim last month to offer US assistance with the coronavirus pandemic.

The top diplomats of 12 countries, including South Korea, France, Italy and Brazil, have held a video conference and called for a coordinated anti-virus response to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy and multilateral systems, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha joined her counterparts from 11 countries, which also included Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, Singapore, Turkey and Britain, on Friday as "the Ministe

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with her Ecuadorian counterpart Friday to discuss ways to cooperate to overcome the coronavirus pandemic, her office said. During the talks with Ecuador's Foreign Minister Jose Valencia, Kang explained that South Korea's virus situation has improved, with fewer daily confirmed infection cases, thanks to the aggressive social distancing practices under way, but also stressed that it is too early to relax any measures. In response, Valencia said

South Korea was set to hold a briefing session Friday for local firms about resuming exports to Iran, a foreign ministry official said, after receiving US approval for humanitarian trade with the Middle East country. The briefing, to be co-hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), comes after Seoul obtained a US special license designed to authorize aid-related transactions with Tehran through Iran's central bank. Sales of

The female foreign ministers of nine countries, including South Korea, Spain and Australia, have held a videoconference to discuss gender equality and women's roles in fighting the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said Friday. Thursday's conversation came amid concerns that women could face tougher economic and social challenges from various repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic due to their family responsibilities and other issues. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her counterparts f

The top diplomats of South Korea and New Zealand held phone talks Thursday about cooperation in flattening the curve of new coronavirus infections, the foreign ministry said. The conversation between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, came as the COVID-19 pandemic has led many countries to step up diplomacy to stem its spread and evacuate their citizens abroad amid lockdowns and border closures. During the talks arranged at the request of New Zeal

US Ambassador Harry Harris said Thursday that South Korea's record-high voter turnout in this week's parliamentary elections demonstrates its "dedication to democratic ideals" despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. "Record high voter turnout yesterday is a testament to South Korea's dedication to democratic ideals even in the face of the #COVID19 crisis. Congratulations on the general elections #ROK!," he tweeted. In Wednesday's quadrennial elections, the ruling Democra

The leaders of South Korea, China, Japan and ASEAN member states have agreed to push for a joint fund for medical supplies against pandemics like COVID-19, according to their joint statement released Wednesday. The statement was adopted to summarize the results of a Special ASEAN Plus Three summit that the 13 countries held via videoconferencing the previous day to discuss joint efforts to tackle the novel coronavirus. The participating leaders were South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanes

The leaders of the Associatation of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three on Tuesday held a teleconference Tuesday to seek ways to cooperate against the COVID-19 pandemic, and adopted a joint declaration. 　 In the ASEAN Plus Three summit, President Moon Jae-in called for strengthened cooperation, saying the current situation requires “extraordinary cooperation.” “This is a crisis that cannot be overcome by the efforts of individual countries,” Moon said, going on to cite

A total of eight South Korean nationals will head home this week from coronavirus-hit India and Sudan aboard flights that Japan arranged to evacuate its own citizens, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday. The evacuation underscored continued cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo in protecting their overseas citizens and tackling the COVID-19 pandemic despite their prolonged row over trade and wartime history. On Tuesday, two Koreans will take a flight that the Japanese government arranged t

South Korea’s quick and preemptive response to the coronavirus outbreak stems from the painful experience of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, said Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in an interview with foreign media.   “We acted quickly and preemptively and that is not just our philosophy but is a reflection of our recent experience,” Kang said during an interview with French news channel France 24 on Monday. “You may know that in 2014, we had a terrible ferry boat a

The United States is grateful to South Korea for supplying COVID-19 testing kits, a senior US government official said Monday ahead of the planned arrival of a shipment of Korean-made kits. Two South Korean companies were set to load their test kits on a US cargo flight Tuesday (Seoul time) after getting interim approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. "We are grateful to our Republic of Korea partners for assisting the United States in procuring COVID-19 tests, and for its sup

US Health Secretary Alex M. Azar reached out to his South Korean counterpart, Park Neung-hoo, on Monday to learn from Seoul's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the health ministry here said. It said Park and Azar discussed testing procedures and managing of people who have come in contact with patients, as well as recent cases in South Korea where people have retested positive for COVID-19. The number of new cases has stayed below 50 for the past five days in South Korea, while the virus

An elderly South Korean citizen in Spain died of the new coronavirus last week in the first known fatality involving an overseas national, the foreign ministry said Monday. The man in his late 80s died at a hospital on Friday (Spain time) after having tested positive on April 3. Other details about his death were unknown. As of Monday, the foreign ministry has learned of 59 coronavirus cases involving South Koreans overases. Of them, 18 have fully recovered, while the rest are receiving treat

All arrivals from the United States are to be tested for the new coronavirus within three days of self-isolation, starting Monday, health authorities said. The strengthened measure against COVID-19 began midnight, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). It comes as confirmed cases from the US have been increasing steadily despite a gradual decline in domestic cases. KCDC data showed that 228, or 49.7 percent, out of a total of 459 imported cases came from th