Yoon, Kishida will not have a bilateral meeting on sidelines of the NATO summit

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden on Saturday signed the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades, a bipartisan compromise that seemed unimaginable until a recent series of mass shootings, including the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school. "Time is of the essence. Lives will be saved," he said in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Citing the families of shooting victims he has met, the president said, "Their message to us was, `Do somet

The US House Armed Services Committee has endorsed an annual defense policy bill for the fiscal year 2023 maintaining the current level of around 28,500 American troops in South Korea, according to media reports Friday. The proposed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 also directs the defense secretary to brief the committee no later than March 1 next year on how the Pentagon will continue to strengthen its long-term security commitment to South Korea. T

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol set to attend the NATO summit for first time next week

A group of South Korean businessmen have discussed bilateral economic cooperation with US lawmakers and White House officials in Washington, with a focus on global supply chains, Seoul's trade association said Thursday. The delegation, led by Koo Ja-yeol, chief of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), made the two-day visit to the United States from Wednesday (US time) in a bid to bolster economic exchanges involving the private sector, KITA said in a release. Officials from 13

Leaders of Seoul, Tokyo would have chance to talk at NATO summit, National Security Adviser says

Seoul's sanctions would be largely symbolic, experts say

China slammed the US as the “largest source of disruption” to world order, making explicit its discontent over Washington’s China policy. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a fact sheet late on Sunday dubbed “Falsehoods in US Perceptions of China,” in response to a recent speech made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where he raised concerns about Beijing posing “the most serious, long-term threat.” The speech was delivered to the Asia Society

South Korea and the United States have tentatively agreed to hold their regular defense talks in Washington D.C. next month, informed sources said Monday, with joint deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats likely to top the agenda. The biannual Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) will be held as the allies are striving to reinforce security coordination following a series of North Korean ballistic missile launches and speculation that Pyongyang has completed pre

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it was trying to verify a statement from Russian authorities claiming that four Koreans who joined as volunteer fighters in Ukraine have died. The Moscow Times, an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper, released a report quoting a statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday that claimed 1,956 “mercenaries and weapons specialists” had been killed among the 6,956 from 64 countries who had arriv

The remains of a Canadian veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War will be laid to rest in the UN cemetery in South Korea's southeastern city of Busan later this week in line with his dying wish, the veterans affairs ministry said Sunday. The ministry plans to hold a ceremony marking the return of the remains of John Robert Cormier at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 6 p.m. on Monday, officials said. The following day, his remains will be placed at the UN Memorial Cemetery. Cormier

South Korea's top nuclear envoy has met senior US State Department officials in Washington, D.C. to discuss North Korea policies amid concerns of it carrying out a nuclear test, according to officials Friday. Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, had a series of meetings with the Joe Biden administration officials during his trip there accompanying Foreign Minister Park Jin earlier this week. In a Twitter message, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy S

North Korea continues to remain unresponsive to US overtures for dialogue, a state department spokesperson said Thursday. Ned Price also reaffirmed US commitment to diplomatically engage with North Korea without any preconditions. "You heard from Secretary (Antony) Blinken when he was standing next to his South Korean counterpart earlier this week that our approach is to make clear to the DPRK that we harbor no hostile intent. We seek diplomacy and dialogue in order to advance the prospects

WASHINGTON -- The United States has discussed with China the growing concerns over a possible North Korean nuclear test, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday. He also reiterated US concerns over what will be North Korea's seventh nuclear test. "On North Korea, we have expressed our concern that North Korea is preparing to conduct another nuclear test. We have said that publicly. We have communicated that to China," Sullivan said in an online discussion session

South Korea and the US have agreed on strong industrial cooperation and on enhancing supply resilience, Seoul’s Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Wednesday (US time). In his meeting with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington, Park also suggested holding “2+2” ministerial summit involving the top commerce chiefs and foreign affairs chiefs of the respective countries. “South Korea and the US have a comprehensive strategic alliance, so we have agreed to cont