Kim Keon Hee (right), wife of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Yuko Kishida, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, view a white porcelain jar from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in the "Joseon White Porcelain, Paragon of Virtue" exhibition at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul on Monday, in this photo released by the presidential office. (Yonhap)

The latest remarks by the Japanese prime minister over Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 rule of the peninsula have raised more questions than answers as the two countries seek closer ties by ending the dispute, experts said Monday. “I personally feel my heart ache at the thought of countless people having gone through very challenging and sad times under extreme conditions,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a press conference Sunday, following talks wit

New agency to handle diaspora-related tasks, policies aimed at supporting overseas Koreans; spreading Korean language, history and culture

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed hope Monday that businesses will take the initiative in bolstering bilateral cooperation between South Korea and Japan during a meeting with Korean business leaders, according to industry sources. Kishida apparently made the remarks during a closed-door roundtable meeting with chiefs of six major South Korean business associations earlier in the day, a session that took place on the last day of his two-day working visit to Seoul. Kishida arrived in

South Korea will participate in the third round of official negotiations for the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to be held in Singapore this week, the industry ministry said Monday. During the upcoming session, set to take place from Monday through May 15, the member nations will work to make progress in setting details of its four key pillars -- trade, supply chain resilience, clean economy and fair economy, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was set to meet with chiefs of major South Korean business associations Monday and discuss ways to expand bilateral cooperation in economic fields, such as global supply chains, according to industry sources. The closed-door session comes on the second day of Kishida's two-day working visit to South Korea, a highly symbolic trip that marks a start for the restoration of bilateral relations long frayed over issues rooted in Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of th

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday he felt heartbroken at the thought of the Korean laborers at Japanese companies during Japan’s 1910-45 rule of the Korean Peninsula, but did not directly apologize for their treatment or for forcing them into work. He was speaking following a summit with President Yoon in Seoul on Sunday at which Seoul had hoped for a potential apology from Tokyo that would directly address the colonial rights abuses. Japan has shied away from that by stick

Yoon says Korea open to Japan's participation on Washington Declaration

  The leaders of South Korea and Japan on Sunday began their second summit this year in Seoul to fully restore the two countries' "shuttle diplomacy," aiming to improve strained ties in the areas of regional security, economic partnership and cultural exchanges. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Seoul for a two-day working visit, less than two months after the March summit in Tokyo. He was the first Japanese leader to make a bilateral visit to Korea in 12 years afte

Consensus on labor feud, Fukushima water needed for S. Korea-Japan thaw

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, marking the full-scale resumption of "shuttle diplomacy" between the two countries' leaders after 12 years. Kishida's visit comes as bilateral relations have warmed significantly following Seoul's decision in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms. Yoon traveled to Tokyo 10 days after the

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to arrive in South Korea on Sunday for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, marking the full-scale resumption of "shuttle diplomacy" between the two countries' leaders after 12 years. Kishida's visit comes as bilateral relations have warmed significantly following Seoul's decision in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms. Yoon traveled to Tokyo 10 days a

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has met with Britain's new Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden during his visit to the country to attend King Charles III's coronation. During the 40-minute meeting at the British government's central office building in London on Friday, the two leaders discussed strengthening cooperation in the fields of economic security, nuclear power and renewable energy, and raised the need to start negotiations on a free trade agreement between the

The recent agreement reached by South Korea and the United States on enhancing US extended deterrence is a historic step that goes beyond "nuclear-sharing," a US administration official told Yonhap News Agency on Friday. The remark follows some ambiguity over whether the agreement, dubbed the Washington Declaration, is a nuclear-sharing agreement. "The declaration moves beyond what could be characterized as nuclear sharing ... to address the more fundamental goal of developing a j

The South Korean Embassy in China said Friday it has lodged a complaint with Chinese state newspapers for their "unfounded" criticism of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, following his recent trip to the United States, taking particular umbrage at the use of inappropriate language in their op-ed pieces. The embassy said it sent letters to editors at Huanqiu Shibao, a newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship paper, the People's Daily, and at t