South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday welcomed six new foreign ambassadors to his country, including Andrey Kulik of Russia.Moon received the credentials of the six new foreign ambassadors in six separate ceremonies held at his office Cheong Wa Dae. Sripriya Ranganathan, Indian ambassador to South Korea, shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)The new ambassadors included Bakyt Dyussenbayev of Kazakhstan, Sripriya Ranganathan of In

WASHINGTON -- A seasoned Japanese-American diplomat has taken the helm of the Korea desk at the US State Department amid efforts to boost cooperation on trade and the North Korean nuclear issue.Joy Yamamoto recently took office as director of the Korea desk after serving as minister-counselor for economic affairs at the US Embassy in Seoul.She succeeds Mark Lambert, who was moved to a new role handling North Korea issues at the deputy assistant secretary level. (Yonhap)A former newspaper journal

Six of 12 cases in which civil servants at the Foreign Ministry received disciplinary action last year involved sexual misconduct, according to a report revealed by a lawmaker on Thursday.  (Yonhap)Last year, the number of formal disciplinary actions taken against civil servants stood at 12, and half of them were due to sex-related misconduct such as sexual harassment and sexual violence, according to Foreign Ministry data disclosed at the request of Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the ruling Democratic P

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday called for “flexibility” and a “different approach” in efforts to draw up a road map for the denuclearization process as North Korea and the US continue negotiations to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Her call for flexibility in the negotiation process comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to visit Pyongyang on Sunday and meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to push forward the US-North Korea denuclearization talk

Pompeo-Kim meeting on Sunday pivotal to denuclearization process

South Korea will hold a government-civilian meeting on Tuesday to discuss details of how to help Indonesia, which was recently hit by an earthquake and tsunami, an official here said.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier announced plans to provide Indonesia with $1 million in emergency cash aid, as the local island of Sulawesi was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude quake and ensuing tsunami last week. A motorbike passes the wreckage of a car following earthquakes and a tsunami in Palu, Central Sula

BERLIN -- The United States needs to take measures to build political trust with North Korea in return for the North's actions related to its denuclearization bid, a former South Korean foreign minister has said.Yoon Young-kwan, who served as foreign minister from 2003-2004, proposed that the US government invite an economic mission from North Korea and that the two countries establish liaison offices in each other's capitals.Yoon floated the proposal in a keynote speech to a peace forum organiz

South Korea, US still remain apart over defense costs sharing

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called Monday for joint efforts with Japan to build a future-oriented relationship based on the "humble" recognition of the neighbors' shared history.Kang made the call during a seminar marking the 20th anniversary of the landmark declaration in 1998 by then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then-Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on building a new partnership beyond the countries' historical enmity."Facing history with a humble attitude and

South Korea will provide $1 million in humanitarian assistance to Indonesia where a massive earthquake and tsunami have killed hundreds of people, the foreign ministry said Sunday.The assistance may be used to help meet the immediate needs of people affected by the disasters and support recovery works, the ministry said.  (AFP-Yonhap)Seoul is also considering the dispatch of South Korean relief workers to Indonesia, it said. "In consideration of the possibility that the scale of the damage could

President Moon Jae-in on Sunday sent a letter of condolence to Indonesia where a massive earthquake and tsunami killed more than 800 people. "I cannot suppress my sadness upon the news that the strong quake and tsunami in the Sulawesi region caused massive damage of human life and property," Moon said in the letter sent to Indonesian President Joko Widodo."On behalf of the South Korean government and people, I hope those who passed away in the disasters rest in peace and express my sincere condo

North Korea wants sanctions relief as corresponding measure, experts say

WASHINGTON -- South Korea remains committed to enforcing sanctions on North Korea to pressure the regime to give up its nuclear weapons program, Seoul's top diplomat said Thursday.Speaking to the United Nations Security Council in New York, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Seoul will also continue to improve relations with Pyongyang to ease tensions on the peninsula."We are committed to continuing to work with the international community to ensure that the council's sanctions ar

Moon Jae-in directly addressed the issue of Japan’s wartime use of “comfort women” at the United Nations General Assembly, as he hinted at the possibility of disbanding a Japanese-funded foundation created to help South Korean victims of Japanese military sex slavery during World War II.　South Korea has a “direct experience of suffering from the Japanese military’s mobilization of comfort women,” Moon said during his speech at the UN General Assembly, using a euphemism for the victims forced to

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has held bilateral talks with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts over Seoul's drive for inter-Korean rapprochement and peace, her office said Thursday.Kang held the separate meetings with Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers, Wang Yi and Taro Kono, respectively, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (local time).The talks followed the inter-Korean summit earlier this month where Pyongyang agreed to take additional