South Korea on Monday established formal diplomatic relations with the Pacific island nation of Niue on the sidelines of Seoul's inaugural summit with 18 countries in the region. A signing ceremony for the forging of diplomatic ties was held at Seoul's foreign ministry attended by Foreign Minister Park Jin and Dalton Tagelagi, the premiere of Niue who also doubles as the country's top diplomat. According to the ministry, the small island nation with a population of some 1,600 is n

NEW YORK -- South Korea is intensifying last-minute diplomatic efforts for Seoul's bid for a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), with just 10 days to go before the vote. South Korea, which last sat on the council in 2013-2014, aims to return to the council for 2024-2025, and the UN will vote on the bid on June 6. If elected, it will mark the third time for South Korea to serve as one of the 10 nonpermanent UNSC members. Previously, South Korea had served the

South Korea and Japan are discussing launching a college exchange program that leaders of the two countries agreed on at their March summit, reports said Friday. The program is intended to open a new era by educating the next generation, as the two Asian neighbors seek to move past major historical disputes involving Japan’s 1910-45 rule of the peninsula. The March meeting essentially brought closure to making amends to Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during the colonial period,

South Korean military authorities said Thursday that a report by the Wall Street Journal that the country is in the process of transferring hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery to Ukraine is "inaccurate," and that the Korean government's position "remains unchanged." Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu told reporters that there was some discussion about the export of ammunition between the US Department of Defense and Korean companies, but the government

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South Korea and Japan on Thursday held their first energy dialogue in six years to discuss ways to boost cooperation on nuclear power generation, renewable energy, hydrogen and other energy issues, the industry ministry said. The director-level dialogue in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan is the latest in a series of meetings between the two neighbors amid a thaw following three summits of their leaders in two months. The two sides shared the need to work together on strengthen

WASHINGTON -- The United States is working to secure support for the Ukrainian military from its allies and partners, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday. Department Press Secretary Matthew Miller made the remark when asked about any ongoing discussions between Seoul and Washington about possible provision of South Korean-made ammunition to Ukraine. "The United States has led a worldwide effort since before even the onset of this conflict to secure assistance from our partners an

TOKYO/SEOUL -- A South Korean team of experts visiting the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday completed their two-day on-site inspection of facilities for the dilution and discharge of radioactive water, amid concerns over Tokyo's plan to release tons of contaminated water into the sea this summer. The 21-member team, headed by Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, is currently on a six-day visit to Japan to assess whether the treated water is sa

TOKYO -- A South Korean team of experts visiting the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant will inspect facilities for dilution and discharge of radioactive water on Wednesday amid concerns over Tokyo's plan to release tons of contaminated water into the sea this summer. The 21-member team, headed by Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, is currently on a six-day visit to Japan to assess whether the treated water is safe enough to be discharged into the sea. On

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Tuesday efforts to establish norms in emerging trade sectors, such as digital trade, in a meeting with Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organization in Seoul. Okonjo-Iweala arrived in South Korea on Monday for a three-day stay for talks with senior government officials and business leaders on the roles of the WTO and South Korea in revitalizing the multilateral trading system and addressing other challenges to global trade. During the meetin

A former South Korean ambassador for representing the interests of 7.5 million overseas Koreans is the top candidate to lead a new agency to be set up early next month for exclusively overseeing such roles, according to reports quoting senior officials at the presidential office Tuesday. Lee Ki-cheol, the ambassador, served as Seoul’s chief envoy to the Netherlands and consul general in Los Angeles after leaving the post. He is currently secretary-general of UNICEF Korea. The move to estab

Saudi Arabia Ambassador to Korea Sami M. Alsadhan (right) and Korea-Arab Society Secretary General Ma Young-sam present a certificate and prize money to Kim Sang-yeop (second from right), a student at Dankook University, the winner of the "Quiz on Arab" event about Arabic culture co-hosted by the embassy of Saudi Arabia, the Korea-Arab Society and Korea University’s Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies of the Asiatic Research Institute on May 15 at Korea University in Seoul

TOKYO -- A team of South Korean experts is set to begin a two-day inspection of the planned release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant Tuesday, amid lingering concerns about the safety of the water. The 21-member team, headed by Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, will visit the plant from early Tuesday to examine the plant's custom purification system, known as ALPS, and assess whether the treated water is safe enough to be rele

South Korea and Chile have launched another round of talks on upgrading a bilateral free trade agreement in line with changing global trade circumstances, Seoul's industry ministry said Tuesday. The seventh round of negotiations to revise their FTA began Monday in Santiago and is set to run until Wednesday, during which they will deal with upgrading rules on a wide range of sectors, including goods trading, trade facilitation, intellectual property, labor and environment, according to the M

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo met with the visiting head of the World Trade Organization on Monday, highlighting the importance of recovering the multilateral trading system, according to Han's office. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala arrived in Seoul on Monday for a three-day stay, marking the first visit to South Korea by the WTO’s top official since 2014. During the dinner meeting, Han emphasized the crucial role of the WTO in restoring the multilateral trading system ami