South Korea has dispatched a military transport aircraft to send additional military supplies to Ukraine, a defense official here said Monday. The defense ministry made the decision to provide the supplies at Kyiv's request, the official said, noting that Seoul has offered humanitarian and military logistics support to help "defend Ukraine's freedom." "We decided to send additional military supplies in consideration of Ukraine's request, and have sent a military t

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was reelected for a third term with 87.1 percent of the vote on Sunday, the Central Election Commission said Monday, citing preliminary results. Mirziyoyev, who took office in 2016 upon his predecessor’s death and was on a second term of five years, called for an early election following a constitutional change by referendum in April that resets his term count and extends presidential terms to seven years. The 65-year-old lead

The leader of the ruling People Power Party was set to leave for Washington on Monday for meetings with senior US government officials and congressional leaders to discuss ways to strengthen the alliance between the two countries, his party said. Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon will lead a delegation of party members on the seven-day trip that also includes stops in New York and Los Angeles. Other lawmakers travelling together with Kim include Reps. Lee Chul-gyu, Kim Seok-ki, Yoo Sang-bum, Kang Min-kuk and Ku

A new round of official negotiations for the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework has begun in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan, the industry ministry said Monday. The fourth round of talks kicked off in Busan on Sunday for a six-day run, where some 650 officials from 14 member nations are seeking to make progress in setting details on trade, a clean economy and a fair economy -- three of its four key pillars, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In May, t

Opposition lawmakers were set to travel to Japan on Monday to protest Japan's plan to release radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. A team of 11 lawmakers, nine from the main opposition Democratic Party and two independents, will fly to Japan for a three-day trip that includes a protest rally in front of the official residence of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. They also plan to make a protest visit to the Japan office of the International Atomic Energy A

President Yoon Suk Yeol was set to depart for Lithuania on Monday for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit on a six-day trip that will take him to Poland for an official visit. This will be Yoon's second time attending a NATO summit after the previous one held in Spain last year, demonstrating his commitment to building solidarity with like-minded nations to promote values, such as freedom, human rights and the rule of law. The NATO gathering will be held in Vilnius on Tuesday and Wednesd

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will embark on a six-day trip Monday to attend the NATO summit in Lithuania and visit Poland, but the focus will be on his meeting with the Japanese leader, where the two are expected to discuss Tokyo's plan to release treated wastewater into the sea. The South Korean presidential office confirmed Sunday that the summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will take place on the sidelines of the NATO Vilnius Summit on Tuesday and Wednes

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will raise issues with regard to nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea when he attends a regional forum next week but has no immediate plans to meet with North Korean officials there, a ranking state department official said Friday. Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, reiterated that the US remains open to dialogue with North Korea but that Pyongyang has ignored U.S. overtures. "I am confident t

The inaugural meeting of the new Nuclear Consultative Group between South Korea and the United States will be held later this month in Seoul, Seoul's presidential office said Saturday. The meeting will be held July 18, co-chaired by South Korea's Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo and US National Security Council Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell. The meeting will "discuss information sharing, consultation mechanism and joint planning and execu

Chang Won-sam, former veteran diplomat, has been appointed the new head of South Korea's overseas aid agency for a three-year term, the foreign ministry said Friday. Chang, a former secretary general of the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF), will take office Monday as the 14th president of the Korea International Cooperation Agency. He will succeed Sohn Hyuk-sang who quit last December. Having entered the foreign service in 1984, Chang served in various key diplomatic posts, inclu

A South Korean emergency firefighting team dispatched to Canada to help the North American nation deal with raging wildfires has started carrying out on-site activities, according to Seoul's foreign ministry Thursday. According to the ministry, the Korea Disaster Relief Team of 151 workers, including firefighters, emergency workers and medical personnel, started operations in Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec province, on Wednesday. The team underwent training and preparations after arriving in t

[COMMEMORATING SACRIFICE] A group of foreign defense attaches in South Korea pose for photo at an event held to honor the sacrifices made by South Korean troops in a fatal inter-Korean naval skirmish in 2002. Brig. Gen. Shamim Islam of the Bangladesh Air Force, head of an association of foreign attaches in Korea, donated 629,000 won ($480) to a scholarship foundation established in 2014, said the South Korean Navy in a press release Wednesday. The donation, made on behalf of the attaches, aims t

A third South Korean court on Wednesday refused to remit government money as compensation to the family members of Korean victims forced into labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, a process mandated by the March 6 settlement agreed by Korea and Japan. The March deal requires a state-run foundation to pay the 15 victims, not Japanese companies held liable by a 2018 Korean court ruling amid the firms’ opposition. Four victims -- two alive, two dead -- and their representatives ha

The deputy foreign ministers of South Korea and China met in Beijing on Tuesday amid mounting tensions between the two countries over the Chinese ambassador to Korea's open criticism of Seoul's foreign policy last month. South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Young-sam and his Chinese counterpart Sun Weidong held an in-person meeting and the two agreed that meticulous efforts are necessary to enhance bilateral relations based on "mutual respect and reciprocity," Sout

The South Korean Air Force on Wednesday shared photos of the Korean relief team heading for its overseas mission in the Canadian province of Quebec, which has been struck with massive wildfires since early June. The photos, all taken Sunday, show the Korea Disaster Relief Team members onboard a KC-330 aircraft headed to the country's capital city Ottawa. The photos also showed relief goods being unloaded at the Ottawa International Airport and members being welcomed by local figures. While