WASHINGTON -- Former US President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump Tuesday for coddling dictators, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and giving them everything they want. "You think he is going to stand up to dictators?" the former president asked while speaking in support of his former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden. Obama's remarks came one day after Trump said Kim, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President

With the EU and Japan reportedly backing Nigeria’s World Trade Organization candidate, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee faces an uphill battle in the race to claim the top job of the international trade body. 　 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, formerly Nigeria’s finance minister and foreign minister, and Yoo are facing off to become the first female chief in the WTO’s 25-year history, replacing Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down a year early in August after seven years

President Moon Jae-in initiated the New Southern Policy (NSP) in order to upgrade relations between the Republic of Korea (Korea) and ASEAN. Since the NSP has come about primarily due to President Moon’s personal interest in and commitment to engaging ASEAN, it is therefore unclear if the NSP will continue beyond his single term in office which will end in May 2022. The plans to accelerate ASEAN-Korea cooperation this year have been largely put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- A US trade panel on Monday postponed its final decision on a high-stakes trade secret case involving two South Korean electric vehicle battery markers -- LG Chem Ltd. and SK Innovation Co. -- to early December. The delay marks the second of its kind after the US International Trade Commission (ICT) pushed back its final ruling from Oct. 5. The decision has now been set for Dec. 10, the US panel said, without providing specific reasons for the further delay. "The Commi

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Monday she sees a "problem" with recent remarks by the country's ambassador to the United States that sparked criticism for belittling South Korea's alliance with Washington. Kang also told a parliamentary audit session that she is considering taking unspecified "necessary action" over Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuck's remarks that just because South Korea chose the US as its ally 70 years ago does not mean that it has to choose the US for the n

South Korea appears to be the only country openly opposing Japan’s plan to discharge radioactive water from the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, a lawmaker said Monday. 　 According to information obtained by Rep. Lee Tae-kyu from the Foreign Ministry, no other country in the world has publicly protested Tokyo’s impending decision to dispose of contaminated water. 　 Countries in the EU and Pacific island nations, as well as the US, have responded to the issue as a m

South Korea, the United States and Japan held their second trilateral conference on women's empowerment via video links last week, the foreign ministry said Monday, as they seek to deepen their cooperation on regional and global issues. The Women's Empowerment Trilateral Conference, the second of its kind following the first one in 2016, took place from Tuesday through Friday, with a focus on collaboration in removing barriers to women's participation in science, technology, engineering and mat

South Korea welcomes an agreement between Sudan and Israel to normalize their diplomatic relations and a subsequent US decision to remove the African country from its list of terrorism-sponsoring countries, the foreign ministry said Monday. "Our government welcomes the agreement to normalize relations between Sudan and Israel and end hostilities, and expects the agreement to contribute to regional stability and a peace settlement," ministry spokesperson Kim In-chul said in a commenta

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday refuted Japan's renewed claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo and warned of stern a response to the unsubstantiated claims. "Dokdo is our inherent territory, historically, geographically and by international law," the ministry said in a statement. "We want to make it clear that whatever attempt Japan makes cannot have an influence over our firm territorial sovereignty." Earlier in the day, the Japan Institute of Inter

South Korea plans to provide $10 million in humanitarian assistance to support Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar and hosting countries in the region, the foreign ministry said Friday. Seoul made the pledge on Thursday during the virtual session of the Conference on Sustaining Support for the Rohingya Refugee Response, a multilateral channel set up to discuss humanitarian aid and other support measures for the ethnic minority. In the session, Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho calle

Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun called Friday for joint efforts with Canada to firm up bilateral cooperation in strengthening multilateralism, developing new technologies and promoting lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Choi laid out a vision to expand cooperation with Canada in the post-COVID 19 era, during his congratulatory speech at the 17th Korea-Canada Forum, an annual forum aimed at advancing policy dialogue for closer engagement between the two countries. "Vice Foreign Mi

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has exchanged congratulatory letters with his Laotian counterpart on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of reestablishing bilateral diplomatic ties, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. In his letter to Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith, Moon noted that the two sides have developed friendly cooperation in various fields since 1995. They forged formal diplomatic relations in 1974. South Korea severed diplomatic ties with Laos, which adopted communism, the followin

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked the Maldives on Thursday to support a South Korean minister's bid for the top post at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Kang's office said. She made the appeal during phone talks with her Maldivian counterpart, Abdulla Shahid, as Seoul's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is running for the WTO director generalship in the final round of the selection process, with the result expected to be announced early next month. In Thursday's talks, they also discussed co

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo twice this week for talks that included discussions on bilateral issues and Seoul's bid for the top post at the World Trade Organization (WTO), her office said Thursday. The phone talks, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, came after Pompeo called off his visit to Seoul and cut short his East Asia trip earlier this month following US President Donald Trump's COVID-19 contraction. In this week's talks, t

President Moon Jae-in continued his phone diplomacy Wednesday to help South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee win the ongoing competition to become the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Moon had back-to-back phone talks with the prime ministers of Denmark and India -- Mette Frederiksen and Narendra Modi -- and requested support for Yoo's bid, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Moon said that Yoo is a candidate with expertise on trade affairs and political leadershi