South Korea and China on Wednesday held a ceremony to casket the remains of 109 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War for their return to the homeland this week, the defense ministry said. The ceremony took place at an Army base in the western city of Incheon ahead of the repatriation of the remains -- discovered from former battle sites last year -- to China on Thursday, according to the ministry. The repatriation will be the eighth of its kind since Seoul pledged in 2014 to rep

South Korea has called for member countries of a regional health security forum to work together to encourage North Korea to take part in the forum on pandemics and other challenges, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon made the appeal in a speech during a virtual working-level session of the Northeast Asia Conference on Health Security -- a forum launched late last year at President Moon Jae-in's suggestion to foster joint efforts to handle pandemics

The United States remains strongly committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy and dialogue, and is working closely with South Korea to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table, Seoul's top nuclear envoy said Tuesday. Noh Kyu-duk made the remark after holding a series of meetings with his US counterpart, Sung Kim, and other administration officials, including the White House policy coordinator for Asia, Kurt Campbell, during a visit to Washington this week.

WASHINGTON -- The US remains willing to meet with North Korea anywhere and anytime, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday. The spokeswoman noted the North, however, remains unresponsive to US overtures. "Well, we have left the door open and obviously reached out through our channels. I don't have an update for you in terms of any response to our offer," Psaki said in a daily press briefing, adding "(The) offer remains to meet anywhere, anytime without preconditions.&quo

UN human rights experts have sent a letter requesting the South Korean government explain its position on a controversial media bill that calls for heavier punishments for fake news reports, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The experts' move came after local human rights advocate groups, including the Transitional Justice Working Group, lodged an appeal with UN special rapporteurs to voice concerns that the legislation, being pushed for by the ruling Democratic Party, could undermine freedo

The first step towards a new system Public services are becoming an integral part of every person's life. For example, every day citizens are faced with the need to obtain a child's birth certificate, place him in a kindergarten and then in school, receive different information, different licenses for starting a business and developing it. In Uzbekistan today, all these processes can be carried out in one place – at the Public Services Center. It all started on December 12, 2017 at the i

Upon Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s election as president of Uzbekistan in 2016, the role of a robust civil society became the cornerstone of development for a new period in the country’s history. Radical reforms have embraced all aspects of our society‘s political and social life -- with nongovernmental organizations and civil society institutions the locus for reimagining the state’s role in our lives. With this purpose in mind, President Mirziyoyev presented a flagship program

The following article was contributed by the Embassy of Uzbekistan. - Ed. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the economy of Uzbekistan has reached record growth rates. According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the gross domestic product for the first six months of this year increased by 6.2 percent. For comparison: Over the same period last year, due to the pandemic and lockdowns, the economy grew by only 1.1 percent, and in the first three months of 2021 -- 3 perc

  It is a high privilege for me to address today the esteemed readers of The Korea Herald on the occasions of the 30th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence and 29th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea. After gaining independence, Uzbekistan took a worthy place in the world community. Over the years, a great creative work has been carried out. Human honor and dignity are exalted, the well-being of people is ensured, appearance of our ci

The United States continues to seek negotiations with North Korea to discuss a range of issues related to denuclearization, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki affirmed Monday. Her remark comes after the UN nuclear watchdog said the North appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. "We continue to seek dialogue with the DPRK so we can address this reported activity and the full range of issues related to denuclearization," Psaki said at a daily pr

The United States on Sunday stressed the "urgent need for dialogue and diplomacy" with North Korea after the UN nuclear watchdog reported that Pyongyang appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report to its board of governors that the five megawatt reactor at the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex has shown indications it has been in operation since July. "We are aware of this report. We are closely

The United States will not take part in the upcoming combined naval exercise between the South Korean Navy and a British aircraft carrier strike group, the defense ministry in Seoul said Monday. The joint training for humanitarian and disaster relief missions is scheduled to be held in waters off the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, with the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is visiting South Korea as part of its seven-month world tour, taking part. Some local media reported that the US

Almost 70 percent of South Koreans support the government's plan to grant long-term stay visas to hundreds of Afghan civilians who fled their homeland to be sheltered here from the Taliban, a poll showed Monday. According to the poll of 500 people aged 18 and above conducted by Realmeter on Friday, a combined 68.7 percent of the respondents said they approve of the plan to issue long-term visas to Afghan evacuees who arrived here last week, allowing them to get jobs here. Among those who sup

The UN nuclear watchdog has detected "deeply troubling" indications that a key nuclear reactor at North Korea's main Yongbyon complex has been in operation since July, including the release of cooling water, an annual report showed Monday. Submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors on Friday, the report covered new developments of the five megawatt reactor, from which the North obtained spent fuel rods to extract plutonium -- a fissile material used for a

South Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived here Sunday for talks with his US counterparts on ways to resume dialogue with North Korea. Noh Kyu-duk's trip to Washington follows his US counterpart Sung Kim's visit to Seoul last week. "I believe we are now at a critical point to restart the Korean Peninsula peace process," Noh said of the reason for his US visit. "I came to Washington in order to continue the discussions I had with Special Representative Sung Kim in Seoul last week.&q