South Korea will lift a travel advisory for Japan, except for the Fukushima regions, and lowered the travel warning level placed on Iran, the foreign ministry said Friday. The Level 1 travel alert out of its four-scale system has been applied to Japan, which calls for exercising normal precautions, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent decline in the number of travelers there. Beginning Monday, the Seoul government will lift the advisory given a growing number of travelers

South Korean and Japanese vice foreign ministers on Friday pledged close cooperation to address the Russia-North Korea treaty aimed at enhancing military cooperation, while also agreeing to strengthen coordination on Indo-Pacific regional and global issues, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun met with his Japanese counterpart Masataka Okano in Tokyo for the 14th Korea-Japan Vice-Ministerial Strategic Dialogue, the first such meeting

Here's what they said during their first televised presidential debate

The US ambassador to South Korea stressed Thursday the importance of international cooperation in building resilience against cybersecurity threats, including those posed by North Korea. Amb. Philip Goldberg made the remarks during a forum hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank based in Seoul. "The ever growing scope of cybersecurity means that no country can get far on its own. This is why the United States has bilateral and multilateral engagements with key allies

South Korean Ambassador to Russia Lee Do-hoon voiced alarm over increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia during his meeting with Andrey Rudenko, the Russian deputy foreign minister in charge of the Asia-Pacific region, on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Thursday. The meeting, which Seoul described as an opportunity to hear Russia's stance on the "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty" signed by President Vladimir Putin and North Korean lead

The United States will oppose any cooperation between Russia and North Korea on Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine's territory, a State Department official said Wednesday, amid speculation that North Korean workers could potentially be sent there for reconstruction work. Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, made the remarks as concerns have arisen that a recent security treaty between Russia and the North would likely bolster their military cooperation to the extent that Pyongyang could even com

Top industry officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan expressed concerns Wednesday over the "weaponization" of economic dependencies on certain supply sources for strategic goods as they held their first trilateral meeting on economic security in Washington. South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Japanese Industry Minister Ken Saito issued a joint statement following the Commerce and Industry Ministerial Meeting, which undersco

The "entire" Korean Peninsula could go nuclear if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House, strikes an inadequate nuclear deal with North Korea and pulls out American troops from South Korea, a prominent US expert said Wednesday. Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the prediction in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine, noting the hope that "reasonable" lawmakers at the Capito

The United States on Tuesday condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launch this week as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and renewed calls for the recalcitrant regime to return to dialogue. The South Korean military said that the North fired an unspecified ballistic missile from a site in or around Pyongyang on Wednesday morning, but its launch is presumed to have failed. The launch appears to have involved a hypersonic missile, according to a source. "The United State

Seven former US representatives visited the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone bisecting the two Koreas on Tuesday to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War. The delegation, part of the United States Association of Former Members of Congress, included Dennis A. Ross, Betsy Markey and Greg Walden, who were accompanied by their spouses. Walden, whose father-in-law served as a UN soldier in the Korean War, noted that the visit held special significance for him. The

South Korea and the United States held a new round of negotiations Tuesday on sharing the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry officials said. The three-day talks in Seoul came about two weeks after South Korea's chief negotiator Lee Tae-woo and his U.S. counterpart, Linda Specht, held the third round of negotiations on the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) in Washington. Tuesday's talks lasted for about seven hours until 5 p.m. "

ASEAN seeks South Korea's flexibility in FTA upgrade negotiations, says Secretary-General Kao

Experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and South Korea discussed the region's mineral resources at the 2024 Korea-Central Asia Next-Generation Dialogue on Monday. The "Korea-Central Asia Next-Generation Dialogue" is part of an annual initiative under the Korea Foundation launched in 2017 to enhance cooperation by inviting emerging leaders from Central Asia to Korea. This year, the dialogue focused on global supply chain cooperation, with "co

The Indian Embassy in Seoul celebrated the 10th International Day of Yoga on Saturday. The United Nations General Assembly designated June 21 as the International Day of Yoga through resolution 69/131, with the support of 175 member states in 2014. This year’s theme, "Yoga for Self and Society," underscored the dual benefits of yoga for individual well-being and community harmony. "Yoga, ancient Indian heritage, has transcended geographical, cultural and temporal boundaries,

South Korea and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperating in the exchange of diplomatic intelligence analyses, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Park Jang-ho, director general for diplomatic intelligence at South Korea's foreign ministry, signed the MOU with Brett Holmgren, US assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, in Washington on Monday. The signing came as the allies have been working to establish a framework for collaborat