WASHINGTON -- The United States has a range of ways to hold North Korea accountable for its provocative actions, a state department spokesperson said Thursday, one day after China and Russia blocked a US-led move to put UN Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also said the US continues to closely monitor North Korea and will take additional action if necessary. "We continue to have a number of tools in our tool belt -

WASHINGTON -- Appointing a US special envoy for North Korean human rights will send a clear message to the reclusive regime that human rights matter while also helping to revitalize global discussions on the dire issue, South Korean envoy for North Korean human rights said Thursday. Amb. Lee Shin-hwa, special envoy for international cooperation on North Korean human rights, argued appointing a US envoy will also encourage the European Union to take the issue more seriously. "Number one, by

The United Nations Security Council failed to reach a consensus on how to handle the series of ballistic missile launches by North Korea, as China and Russia backed Pyongyang's actions as reasonable. The 15-member council held a public meeting on Wednesday to discuss North Korea's consecutive ballistic missile launches that include an intermediate-range missile that flew over Japan to land in the Pacific. The United States accused China and Russia, two permanent members of the council

NEW YORK -- South Korea, Japan and some Western member countries of the United Nations issued a joint statement Wednesday condemning North Korea for its ballistic missile provocation. The move came after the council failed to reach an agreement on additional sanctions or adopt an official statement against the North in a meeting over the North's intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launch earlier this week. The other signatories were two other permanent members of the council -- Brit

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged North Korea to engage in dialogue on Wednesday, saying its provocative actions will only lead to increased condemnation and isolation. The top US diplomat said the North will also face increased repercussions from the international community if they continue to take such actions. "We believe that North Korea would be much better served by not only refraining from these actions, but actually engaging in dialogue," Blinken said in

WASHINGTON -- US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim has called on the recalcitrant state to cease its provocative actions and return to dialogue, the state department said Wednesday. In a trilateral call with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts -- Kim Gunn and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively -- the US envoy also condemned North Korea's recent missile launch, according to department spokesperson Ned Price. "Special Representative Kim strongly condemned the DPRK'

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plan to hold phone talks this week, Yoon's office said Wednesday amid tensions caused by North Korea's recent intermediate-range ballistic missile launch. The phone conversation is set to take place Thursday, two days after the recalcitrant regime fired the missile over Japan to fall into the Pacific, marking its first launch of an IRBM in eight months. Yoon and Kishida are expected to discuss joint responses to evolving

Nigeria will seek stronger cooperation with Korea for sustainable development, Nigerian officials said at the Nigeria-Korea Business Forum at the Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. The forum aimed to strengthen Nigeria-Korea network capabilities, and share diverse ideas and business solutions for sectors such as oil and gas, agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing and ICT, tourism culture, and the creative industry to reach out to investors and key figures taking lead. The Forum is par

On Sept. 13, the Korean drama “Squid Game” won six awards at the 74th Emmy Awards, including those for outstanding lead actor and outstanding directing for a drama series -- the first non-English TV series to do so. “Squid Game” enjoyed explosive popularity internationally, made history, and received high praise at home and abroad. It seemed like an event that deserves to sweep the world at least once. In this sense, we cannot help but recall director Bong Joon-ho&rsq

South Korea’s first vice minister exchanged phone calls with his US and Japanese counterparts to strongly condemn the North’s recent launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile and agreed to meet for trilateral talks in Tokyo this month. According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, the First Vice Minister Cho Hyun-dong held a trilateral talk with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo over the phone after Pyongyang

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  (STOCKHOLM) -- Three scientists jointly won this year's Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for proving that tiny particles could retain a connection with each other even when separated, a phenomenon once doubted but now being explored for potential real-world applications such as encrypting information. Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger were cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for experiments proving the "totally crazy" field of

The US strongly condemned North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile Tuesday, calling it a reckless decision that poses an unacceptable threat to regional and international security. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also discussed appropriate responses the international community should take in phone talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. "The United States strongly condemns the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK)

Majority opposition party passes no-confidence motion calling for dismissal of foreign minister, holding him accountable for presidential overseas 'diplomatic disaster'

PyeongChang, the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangwon Province, will hold the 18th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates from Dec. 12-14, according to the local government on Tuesday. The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates is a forum initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, in which Nobel Peace Prize laureates, experts on peace and conflict resolution and representatives from peace organizations gather together for dialogue. Since its inaugural edition in Rome in 1999, the annual event