White House officials handling Korea affairs are to visit South Korea later Monday to make preparations for a summit between new President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Donald Trump, government sources said Monday.The delegation led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, will arrive in Seoul in the evening for a two-day stay. Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will accompany him, according to the sources. Matt Pottinger (Yonhap)This wi

A US senator plans to introduce a bill this week that calls for significantly beefing up ground-based missile interceptors in the United States to better defend against North Korea, according to a news report Sunday.Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) will bring in the legislation that asks for adding an additional 28 Ground-Based Interceptors in Alaska and California, the Hill reported, citing unidentified Senate staffers. The US currently has 30 interceptors, four in California and the rest in Alaska, an

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed North Korea's latest missile launch, saying Sunday that such a provocative act "is not a way to sit down" for negotiations that the communist nation wants.Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Haley also said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be in a "state of paranoia" and the latest missile launch is believed to be aimed at sending a message to South Korea after the election of new President Moon Jae-in.Haley also said the United S

South Korean presidential officials will meet a US delegation on Monday to discuss details for a summit between their leaders, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.The official told reporters Sunday that the US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, and Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will arrive in Seoul on Monday for a two-day visit. Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the White House's National Security C

South Korea's delegation to an international economic forum in Beijing said Sunday it held a brief meeting with its North Korean counterpart and expressed concern over Pyongyang's latest missile provocation.Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party, who leads the delegation, said he had a short conversation with Kim Yong-jae, Pyongyang's minister of external economic relations, at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that runs in Beijing through Monday. Rep. Park Byeo

White House officials handling Korea affairs plan to visit Seoul this week, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seeking an early summit with his American counterpart Donald Trump, diplomatic sources said Sunday.The US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, is scheduled to arrive here Monday for a two-day stay. Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, is also included in the group, according to sources. Matt Pottinger, senior

President Moon Jae-in on Friday tapped Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea as chief of his delegation to attend a forum in Beijing amid spats over a US missile shield, government and party officials said Friday. The five-term lawmaker will steer Seoul’s delegation for the Belt and Road Forum, slated to open in Beijing on May 14. The two-day event is designed to discuss Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative to build a new Silk Road, dubbed “One Belt, One Road,” which

US President Donald Trump has called the free trade agreement with South Korea a "horrible deal" in a recent interview, saying that Washington has already informed the Seoul government of its intention to renegotiate it.In the interview with the British weekly Economist published on Thursday (local time), he added that the FTA with South Korea is "up for renegotiation" and the United States wants a "fair" deal with its ally. (Yonhap)"Everything in NAFTA is bad. That's bad. Everything's bad. But

The United States is believed to have started putting together a delegation of officials to be dispatched to South Korea to lay the groundwork for the first summit between President Donald Trump and South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in, sources said Thursday.Trump said in his first phone call with Moon on Wednesday that he will send a high-level delegation to Seoul to discuss Moon's first visit to Washington as president. Moon also said he would send a special envoy to Washington to lay the g

　President Moon Jae-in and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday talked over the phone to discuss the future direction of the Korea-Japan bilateral ties, focusing on unsettled history disputes such as the wartime sex slavery issue.　“President Moon talked with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone for the first time since taking office,” Yoon Young-chan, the newly appointed senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a briefing. (Yonhap)　During the 25-minute conve

President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday agreed to take steps to restore the two countries’ relations strained by a dispute over Seoul’s decision to house a US missile shield.　In their first, 40-minute phone call, Moon raised the issue of China’s economic retaliation over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here, offering to dispatch a delegation to solely discuss the matter. Xi, who requested the call in celebration of Moon’s inaugura

A resumption of the now-shuttered South Korean industrial park in North Korea should be closely reviewed due to its possible conflict with UN sanctions resolutions, a government official said Thursday.As liberal President Moon Jae-in took office Wednesday, attention is being drawn to whether Seoul could resume the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was shut down last year following Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations. This photo taken on Feb. 6, 2017, shows the now-shutt

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart agreed Thursday to further improve their countries' bilateral relations, while jointly calling for efforts by all concerned parties to help denuclearize North Korea, Seoul's presidential office said.China's Xi Jinping called the new South Korean leader to congratulate him on his election this week, Moon's press secretary Yoon Young-chan said at a press briefing."The two heads of state discussed ways to improve South Korea-China relat

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's much-speculated engagement with North Korea will not go beyond the United States' comfort zone and consultation may precede key decisions toward Pyongyang under the new administration, a key policy adviser to Moon said Thursday."I will fly straight to Washington ... I will go to Beijing and Tokyo and under the right circumstances go to Pyongyang as well," Moon said in his inaugural address on Wednesday. During his campaign, the former leader of the liberal De