Just as how Korea is referred to as the East’s Land of the Morning Calm, Canada is the West’s. Despite its vast territory, Canada has often flown under the radar on the global stage because of its small population and proximity to the world’s largest economy, the US. From Korea’s standpoint, news from the four major powers -- the US, China, Japan, and Russia -- have mostly dominated the headlines here. What we do hear occasionally about Canada, such as the young prime m

Marilyn Strickland, Lee Min-jin and other high-proflie Korean Americans will attend ceremony

WASHINGTON -- The United States condemns North Korea's latest missile launch, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday, urging Pyongyang to engage in dialogue to peacefully denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Ned Price made the remarks after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea on Wednesday (Seoul time). "This launch is a clear violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson said in a daily press briefing. "It demonstrat

WASHINGTON -- The United States may discuss deploying additional missile defense units to South Korea if requested by Seoul's incoming administration, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday. The remarks come after North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday (Seoul time), marking its 14th known show of force this year. "Every country has the inherent right to self-defense," Ned Price said when asked if the US might consider deploying additional THAAD units to South Kor

WASHINGTON -- The threat posed by North Korea continues to increase with each missile test North Korea stages, a Pentagon spokesperson said Wednesday, urging the recalcitrant country to halt its provocations and engage in dialogue. John Kirby reiterated it would be foolish not to think the North's missile capabilities are increasing. "We would agree that the threat from North Korea continues to increase because they continue to test, because they continue to learn, because they continue to

South Korea is considering boosting assistance to Ukraine, Seoul's top trade official said Wednesday, as Western countries provided weapons and other support to help Ukraine defend against the Russian invasion. South Korea has provided $40 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, 65 non-lethal military items and various support for Ukraine refugees. "We are considering continuing to expand assistance to Ukraine," Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said during a virtual meeting with tra

The United States plans to boost its deterrence against China and North Korea, partly by increasing its "prepositioned stocks" of military supplies in the Indo-Pacific, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Monday. The US defense chief also said the defense department plans to spend some $6 billion in fiscal year 2023 to boost its deterrence posture in the Indo-Pacific. "So this budget invests some six billion dollars in the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, and in keeping with o

S.Korea envoy calls for China to play a ‘constructive role’ in bringing N.Korea back to dialogue table

The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China met in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss security situations on the Korean Peninsula amid concerns about North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats. Liu Xiaoming, Beijing's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, was on his first visit to Seoul since assuming the post in April 2021 at a time of heightened tensions over Pyongyang's recent spate of missile launches and reported signs of preparations for another nuclear test. In his fir

WASHINGTON -- The US-South Korea alliance is an incredibly important relationship that is vital to many issues in the region and around the world, a White House spokesperson said Monday of reasons for President Joe Biden's planned trip to Seoul. Jen Psaki also noted North Korea will be a "prominent part" of the agenda for Biden's upcoming trip that will also take him to Japan. "I would note that we have an incredibly important, vital relationship with South Korea. We work on a ran

WASHINGTON -- The United States is continuing to closely monitor North Korea for signs of additional provocations while sharing such intelligence with South Korea, a US Department of Defense spokesperson said Monday. John Kirby said the US is also always looking for ways to get better information about the reclusive country. US Indo-Pacific Command was ordered to intensify its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection activities in waters near the Korean Peninsula in early M

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine -- A long-awaited evacuation of civilians from a besieged steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was under way Sunday, as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed that she visited Ukraine's president to show unflinching American support for the country's defense against Russia's invasion. Video posted online by Ukrainian forces showed elderly women and mothers with small children bundled in winter clothing being helped as they climbed a steep pile of debris from the sp

South Korea and Norway kicked off annual three-day talks on defense industry cooperation in Seoul on Monday, the state arms procurement agency here said, as Seoul seeks to support local companies' efforts to tap into the European country's market. The two sides began the ninth session of their joint committee on arms industry cooperation, with their agenda including South Korea's bid to export K-2 tanks to Norway, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Kim Saeng, chi

South Korea's top envoy to Ukraine and some other embassy staff have returned to Kyiv to restart operations there, according to Seoul's foreign ministry. South Korean embassy officials had evacuated from the capital and worked at a temporary office in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi since March following Russia's invasion of the country. Amb. Kim Hyung-tae and some embassy staff have returned to Kyiv in preparation for work there starting Monday (Ukraine time), the ministry said, adding it is c

China's top nuclear envoy on Sunday arrived in Seoul for talks with his South Korean counterpart, amid lingering tensions caused by North Korean missile launches and hardening rhetoric. Liu Xiaoming, special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, told reporters that he will meet officials of the incumbent and incoming Korean governments to discuss "political solutions" for Korean peninsula issues. Touching on pending issues related to North Korea, the envoy said that said tha