The government is considering naming a non-diplomat official, such as a financial technocrat, to head negotiations with the US on sharing the cost for the upkeep of American troops, sources said Friday.That would mark a departure from the tradition that officials from either the foreign or defense ministries have led the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) aimed at determining how much South Korea should shoulder the cost of US troop presence in the country.The two sides expected to launch the nego

South Korea's vice defense minister held talks with his counterparts from the Visegrad Group, an alliance of four Central European countries, Friday and agreed to strengthen defense cooperation between the two sides, Seoul's defense ministry said.The meeting between Vice Minister Park Jae-min and his counterparts from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland took place on the sidelines of the eighth Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) in Seoul. During the talks, the two sides discussed ways to

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday unveiled his vision to promote South Korea‘s cooperation with Southeast Asian countries around the Mekong River.He announced a special statement on Seoul’s commitment to the development and peace of the region after his summit with Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith and a separate meeting with Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Vientiane.“The entire world is now paying attention to the development of the Mekong region,” Moon said in

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Thursday denied news reports that he had suggested an alternative solution to the forced labor issue.A local daily had earlier reported that Lee suggested resolving the issue with funds raised from Korean and Japanese companies, with input from the Korean government. Lee made the suggestion to Takeo Kawamura, a member of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party who serves as a senior official in the Japan–Korea Parliamentarians’ Union, the report said

South Korea on Thursday called for international cooperation to respond to a possible move by Japan to discharge contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean.In a press conference held in Seoul, Choi Won-ho, the head of the Ministry of Science and ICT's big science policy division, said releasing tainted water from the nuke plant poses a grave threat to the global environment and health of people everywhere."There is a pressing need to work together on t

US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said Wednesday that America's alliance with South Korea is the "cornerstone for security and stability" throughout the region.  Harris made the remarks amid tensions between South Korea and the United States over Seoul's recent decision to terminate a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo, which was seen as a symbolic platform to promote the US' trilateral security cooperation with its two Asian allies.  "The US

South Korean President Moon Jae-in landed in Vientiane, the capital of Laos and the last leg of his regional swing, Thursday for talks on promoting bilateral cooperation.Moon is South Korea's first president to make a state visit to Laos, which reflects his administration's efforts to expand Seoul's ties with Southeast Asian countries under the New Southern Policy.Moon is scheduled to have back-to-back meetings with President Bounnhang Vorachith and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith. High on th

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States spends "a lot of money" to help South Korea and other allies without getting much in return.The issue of getting allies to contribute more to shared defense has been a favorite theme of Trump's both before and after his election.But the latest remark comes as Seoul and Washington are due to launch negotiations soon on renewing a cost-sharing agreement for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed in the South, indicat

YANGON, Myanmar -- On a visit to Myanmar's largest city, South Korean President Moon Jae-in laid out his vision Wednesday for closer partnerships between the two nations, with a focus on revving up cooperation on infrastructure and culture as well as promoting people-to-people exchanges.He was addressing a business forum in Yangon, the economic hub of the Southeast Asian country, involving hundreds of South Korean and Myanmar business figures. Vice President Myint Swe was among the dignitaries.A

Japanese Foreign Minister Kono Taro has criticized the South Korean government for having “unilaterally abrogated” a treaty signed by the two countries, arguing that a lack of trust led to their bilateral relations plummeting. Japan claims that the 1965 treaty that normalized ties between the two countries settled the issue of Tokyo’s forced labor mobilization of Korean nationals during the colonial period.“The heart of the problem is whether the promises made between our

TOKYO (AFP) -- In the "little Seoul" area of Tokyo, Japanese shoppers flock to get their fix of K-pop and Korean face cream, seemingly shrugging off a deep freeze in Japan-South Korean ties.Visitors to Shin-Okubo could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled into a district in Seoul, with rows of restaurants serving kimchi and music shops selling the latest K-pop hits from BTS or Wanna One.And in contrast to South Korea where anger over a deterioration in bilateral ties has sparked

South Korea will hold a third round of free trade talks with Malaysia this week with the aim of striking a trade deal before November, Seoul's trade ministry said Tuesday.The two countries, which have held two rounds of talks since July, will discuss details of the bilateral free trade agreement from Wednesday to Friday in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. Seoul and Kuala Lumpur will focus on sharing ideas for expanding their bilateral economic ties, along with set

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will head to Myanmar on Tuesday in a bid to pave the way for closer economic cooperation between the two sides.Moon's state visit to the nation, the first by a South Korean president in seven years, is in line with his administration's campaign to reach out to Southeast Asian nations under the New Southern Policy. Moon is on a weeklong tour of the region, which already took him to Thailand, where he had talks with Prayut Chan-o-cha, mainly on strengthening

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its aid agency will co-host an annual conference to discuss effective ways of international development cooperation and measures to achieve sustainable development of the global community.The 13th Seoul ODA International Conference will take place at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul on Sept. 19 under the theme of “promoting co-prosperity to achieve the SDGs.” Participants will discuss the role of the private sector in achieving the sustainable develop

With its own painful history of wartime sexual assault during the Japanese colonial era, South Korea’s efforts to protect women in armed conflicts is more compelling in the eyes of the world, the chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee said. “When we look at many conflicts across the world, women are being weaponized and gender-based violence is not declining,” committee Chair Susanna Moorehead said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald at the Foreign M