WASHINGTON -- US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday underlined the need for his country to push for a multilateral free trade agreement (FTA), partly to keep China and others from having their way when it comes to global trade. His remarks came as South Korea and 14 other countries in the Asia-Pacific signed a new FTA, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), that, if enacted, would become the world's single-largest free trade pact. The deal was signed by Australia, Ch

Kim Ki-jung, a former senior aide to President Moon Jae-in for national security affairs, has been tapped as the new head of a think tank operating under the state spy agency, officials said Monday. The Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), affiliated with the National Intelligence Service, held a board meeting on the day and picked Kim as its head, according to INSS officials. He plans to assume the post later this week, they added. In 2017, Kim was appointed as the deputy direct

Seoul and Tokyo have agreed in principle to compensate victims of forced labor, a local news network reported Monday. Citing an unnamed high-level official within the ruling bloc, Yonhap News Television reported that President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga agreed that the victims should be compensated. “The two leaders have agreed on compensating the forced labor victims. The plan is for Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with their Japan

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi may visit South Korea later this month for talks on bilateral cooperation and to discuss Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Seoul, according to media reports Monday. 　 Citing diplomatic sources, the report said Seoul and Beijing officials have been in talks to arrange Wang’s visit to happen within this month, around his reported trip to Japan. 　 South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, however, declined to confirm the report, adding the t

The foreign ministry dismissed as "groundless" a media report Monday that it has been "bypassed" in the country's recent diplomatic efforts to improve ties with Japan strained over wartime history and trade. The local newspaper report came after National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo last week, raising speculation that the spy chief had started to undertake a key role to restore relations between the

Mega FTA of 15 nations to open up massive market for Korean exporters

Three ruling party lawmakers, including the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, left for Washington on Sunday for meetings with US congressional leaders and experts in the wake of Joe Biden's election as US president. The three members of the Democratic Party's task force on Korean Peninsula issues -- Reps. Song Young-gil, Kim Han-jung and Yun Kun-young -- plan to meet with Brad Sherman (D-CA), a member of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia, and Rep. Thomas Suoz

NEW YORK -- The US House of Representatives plans to vote this week on a resolution calling for further strengthening the alliance with South Korea, congressional sources said Saturday, as the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take over. The resolution, which was first introduced by Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) in January and passed unanimously through the House Foreign Affairs Committee in March, has been introduced to a House session set for Wednesday morning, the

South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended a virtual summit with the leaders of Japan and China as well as 10 Southeast Asian countries Saturday and stressed the need for closer partnerships for health care and economic growth. "As the COVID-19 situation is being prolonged, there's an increasing number of problems that we have to resolve together," Moon said, delivering his opening remarks at the annual ASEAN Plus Three Summit. ASEAN stands of the Association of South East Asian Nati

A group of South Korean lawmakers met Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday amid growing expectations for improvement in ties between the two nations frayed over historical and trade issues. Seven members of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, who arrived in Tokyo for a three-day visit on Thursday, paid a courtesy call on the new Japanese leader. It marked the first time for Suga to meet South Korean lawmakers since he took office as prime minister in September. South Korea an

The vice defense ministers of South Korea and Greece held a meeting Friday and agreed to enhance bilateral defense cooperation, Seoul's defense ministry said. Greece's vice defense chief, Alkiviadis Stefanis, is in South Korea at the invitation of Seoul's Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War. During the talks held in Seoul, Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min and Stefanis "vowed to make efforts to beef up defense cooperatio

South Korea and countries along the Mekong River on Friday upgraded relations to that of strategic partners, and adopted a joint statement outlining ways to further increase cooperation at the second Korea-Mekong Summit held via video link. Friday’s summit among the leaders of Korea and Mekong River nations – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – was the second to be held since Moon proposed the summit in 2018. At Friday’s summit, Moon stressed the need for

The South Korean government is seeking to make a breakthrough in its strained relations with Tokyo over a wartime labor dispute, with Seoul officials racing to Japan for talks with political leaders.  A delegation of bipartisan lawmakers from the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians’ Union, led by Rep. Kim Jin-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party, is in Tokyo from Thursday to Saturday to meet with its counterparts and officials to discuss ways to improve bilateral relations deteriorated by a f

President Moon Jae-in on Friday held a summit with leaders of Southeast Asia's Mekong River nations via video links, in which he promised to contribute $10 million to help provide new coronavirus vaccines to developing nations. "We will contribute $10 million for coronavirus vaccine support to developing countries through the COVID-19 Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (COVAX)," Moon said during his second annual summit with leaders of the five Mekong River nations -- Vietnam, Cambodi

The foreign ministry said Friday that this week's cancellation of two Samsung-chartered flights to China does not mean a suspension of a bilateral "fast-track" program to ease COVID-19 entry restrictions for essential businesspeople. The ministry called the cancellation an "isolated" case, amid speculation that the cancellation of the flights, initially set to depart for the Chinese cities of Xian and Tianjin on Friday, amounted to a halt of the fast-track program. "I