With US President Donald Trump in Japan and soon to arrive here with the North Korean nuclear and missile threat high on his agenda, it may be of US interest to keep the two -- arguably the US’ closest regional allies -- unified in resolving the standoff with North Korea. 　But for President Moon Jae-in, fresh off from a “let’s patch up” deal with China and now bent on performing a balancing act between two great powers, that is not a simple matter.　　Washington has long stressed the need for enh

   South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday there was no secret agreement with Beijing over a US missile shield deployment, denying claims Seoul made security concessions to restore economic ties with China. 　The ministry’s spokesperson Noh Kyu-duk said Seoul did not make any backroom deals with Beijing ahead of Tuesday’s South Korea-China joint statement. In the statement, the two sides vowed to repair their knotty relationship following Seoul’s decision to deploy the US’ Terminal High Alti

South Korea's foreign minister is pushing to visit Beijing this month to meet her Chinese counterpart and discuss cooperation on North Korea and other issues of mutual concern, a diplomatic source said Thursday.Kang Kyung-wha is seeking to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Her trip to China will likely come later this month after accompanying President Moon Jae-in to Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines from Nov. 8-15, according to the source. Kang is expected to discuss follow-up measure

A group of South Korean lawmakers will embark on a three-day visit to China this week for talks with Beijing officials over bilateral relations and North Korea's escalating nuclear threats, their aides said Wednesday.The bipartisan group will leave for the Chinese capital on Thursday, two days after Seoul and Beijing announced their agreement to normalize relations that were strained over the installation of a US missile defense system in Korea. The group consists of six lawmakers, including Chu

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Turkish-Korea relations, Turkey’s Anatolia Color military band visited Korea and performed in the Gwanghwamun area in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. The band held up signs in Korean, reading, “Brother land Turkey supports PyeongChang Winter Olympics (which is slated for February 2018).”The Mehters Military Band of Turkey is the world’s first military band established as a regular branch of the military service in the Turkish Ottoman Empire. (phko@heraldcorp.com)

WASHINGTON -- The United States said Tuesday it welcomes South Korea and China's decision to improve their ties despite a dispute over missile defense.Heather Nauert, spokeswoman for the State Department, said the move paves the way for greater stability in a region rattled by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."We certainly welcome that China and the Republic of Korea would have a closer relationship," she said during a regular press briefing. "We tend to think that that is a good thing

The South Korean and Chinese presidents will hold a bilateral summit on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Da Nang, Vietnam next week, Seoul announced Tuesday. Nam Gwan-pyo, a deputy chief of the National Security Council, said that the two sides agreed to the summit meeting, which could be the first step in normalizing the two countries’ fraught relations. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to attend the forum on Nov. 10 and 11. “This agreement is the first

UNESCO has delayed its review of multinational civic groups' request to register documents related to Japan's wartime sexual slavery of women on the list of "Memory of the World," the South Korean culture ministry said Tuesday.In May 2016, 15 civic groups from 8 countries, including South Korea and China, made an official request for the UNESCO listing of documents related to women, mostly Koreans, forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II. The victims are euphemisticall

Korea is not considering any additional deployments of the US’ Terminal High Attitude Area Defense anti-missile system, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told lawmakers Monday. She also reiterated that the country won’t participate in the US-led missile defense networks. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha answers lawmakers during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Monday. Yonhap“We are not considering any additional THAAD deployments,” Kang told a parliamentar

SHENYANG, China -- Three local governments in northeastern China have sent home hundreds of South Korean religious people operating there since late last year and taken measures to have their churches closed, as China is expected to implement ramped-up regulations to control religious activities early next year, sources close to the situation said Monday. From late last year to the first half of this year, the authorities in the three provinces -- Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang -- had hundreds

TOKYO -- Japan renewed its territorial claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo in teaching materials posted on a government website Sunday in a move that could draw a protest from Seoul.The materials made by Saitama Prefecture claimed that Dokdo is Japanese territory and South Korea's occupation of the islets is illegal. South Korea has kept a small police detachment on Dokdo since 1956.Other materials made by Shimane Prefecture -- which claims administrative sovereignty over the rock

With President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping slated for a summit next month, expectations are growing that the neighboring states, at odds for months over a US missile defense system called THAAD, may finally find a way to untangle the knotty conflict. Two governments are working to resolve their diplomatic dispute over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Defense Area anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula, before the leaders meet, Seoul officials said Sunday. “We ar

South Korea will closely cooperate with the United States to bring about a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue, South Korea’s new ambassador to the US said Thursday. He said it is crucial to find out North Korea’s true intention behind its moves and pointed to bilateral cooperation as key to the task. Ambassador to the US Cho Yoon-je (left) and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (right). (Yonhap)“Currently, we are in the process of seeking ways to solve the issue, as no one has a

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi on Friday expressed hopes for South Korean companies' investment in the country, especially in the construction, manufacturing and energy sectors.He was in Korea to attend the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth, an international mayors' forum jointly hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and OECD.(Yonhap)"I met with a dozen Korean industries to talk about business opportunities... We expect their participation in our city transportation projects, suc

South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo will visit the Philippines next week to attend an international security meeting led by Southeast Asian countries, his ministry said Friday.The defense chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and eight dialogue partners will huddle together in Clark, Pampanga, some 80 kilometers north of Manila, on Monday and Tuesday.The other member states are the US, China, Japan, Russia, Australia, India and New Zealand. South Korean Defense Minister S