The South Korean government is considering whether to impose fines on its citizens if they fish in the waters off West Africa, in response to repeated maritime abductions in the region, local reports said Wednesday. 　 The ministries of Foreign Affairs and Fisheries have been discussing the matter with other concerned agencies, seeking a way to dissuade Korean sailors from fishing in the perilous waters, primarily in the Gulf of Guinea, the report said, citing unnamed sources. The fines could a

BEIJING -- South Korean Ambassador to China Jang Ha-sung said Wednesday that he has taken issue with a senior Beijing official over the reported suspension of the delivery of some merchandise featuring K-pop superband BTS. Jang made the remarks during a video-linked parliamentary audit session following reports that the Chinese logistics firm, Yunda Express, and other firms have boycotted the shipments of goods related to BTS. The boycott came after BTS faced online rebukes in China earlier th

The Korea-Iran Association, a private organization established to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation, will officially kick off this week. 　 The inaugural meeting will be held at the Iranian Embassy in Seoul at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Chun Jung-bae, a former justice minister and lawmaker, will serve as its inaugural chairman.  　 Joining the group are Song Woong-yeob, former South Korean ambassador to Iran, as well as officials from major companies and sports, culture and media figur

BEIJING -- South Korea's Ambassador to China Jang Ha-sung apologized Wednesday over allegations that he inappropriately used a university credit card while in academia. Jang made the apology during a video-linked parliamentary audit session, following revelations that 13 Korea University professors, including Jang, misused the credit card to pay a total of 66.93 million won ($59,031) at an entertainment establishment from 2016-2019. "That was what happened when I was a research center chi

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Wednesday met with the elder brother of a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea near the western sea border last month. Kang's meeting with Lee Rae-jin, the brother of the deceased official, came amid criticism that her ministry has been lukewarm about the family's calls for a UN probe into the incident and for the ministry to bring international attention to the case. The 47-year-old official was fatally shot by the North Korean military on S

WASHINGTON -- The United States sees a need to formalize a NATO-like joint structure for security in the Indo-Pacific region, US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said Tuesday. The No. 2 US diplomat dismissed views that the country may be seeking to expand the so-called Quad grouping, but said it would welcome any country committed to defending a free and open Indo-Pacific. "I will say that it is our view that in the passage of time, the Quad should become more regularized and at s

The South Korean government is making last-minute efforts to rally support for Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee’s run for director general of the World Trade Organization, with top officials asking for support from foreign governments. Yoo, a career bureaucrat who has spent most of her 29-year career on trade issues, is running against Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister. President Moon Jae-in, who began requesting support for Yoo’s bid from foreign leaders ear

Defense Minister Suh Wook and Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, discussed the security situation on the Korean Peninsula Tuesday and vowed a stronger combined readiness posture to support diplomacy to denuclearize North Korea, Seoul's defense ministry said. The US commander arrived here Monday for a two-day visit as part of his trip to Asia. During the meeting in Seoul, Suh and Davidson "shared the importance of the command's role for the complete denuclearizat

South Korea has pledged to continue its contributions over the next four years to a multilateral fund designed to help war-torn Afghanistan rebuild security forces, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.   Kim Young-chae, Seoul's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, made the pledge in the plenary board meeting of the Afghan National Army Trust Fund (ANATF) run by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and held in Brussels on Monday (local time), the ministry said in

South Korea plans to bring in the intelligence analysis system for the advanced unmanned aircraft Global Hawk from the United States next month in a move expected to enhance the country's capabilities to monitor threats from North Korea, the arms procurement agency said Tuesday. Under a 2011 deal worth 965.9 billion won ($847.2 million), South Korea bought four RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). The first unit arrived here in December last year, and the last unit in Sep

WASHINGTON -- Russia's military intelligence unit was found to have been behind cyber attacks against the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea's alpine town of PyeongChang, the US Department of Justice said Monday. The Justice Department, together with the FBI, charged six officers of the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate's (GRU) Military Unit for "disruptive, destructive and destabilizing activities in cyberspace. They included cyber attacks on the opening day of th

President Moon Jae-in had a phone call with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday and asked the Southeast Asian country to back South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee's bid to become the director general of the World Trade Organization, Cheong Wa Dae said. Moon pointed out that Yoo is a leading figure in the trade field with vision and capability to protect the free trade system and restore trust in it through the reform of the WTO, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min

South Korea voiced "deep regrets" on Saturday over Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's sending of a ritual offering to a war shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Earlier in the day, Suga sent a "masakaki" tree to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in line with an annual autumn festival. It marked the first time that Suga sent such an offering to the war shrine since he took office in September. He succeeded his predecessor Shinzo Abe, who resigne

Two South Korean fishermen kidnapped in waters off Ghana in August have been released, their company said Saturday. The two were abducted on Aug. 28 when their Ghanaian-flagged fishing vessel was attacked by a group of armed militants in waters 200 kilometers southeast of Ghana. The boat had a total of 50 crew members, but the militants had only taken the two South Koreans hostage, Seoul officials said earlier.  "The crew members were released just now," an official from their

The French Embassy asked for an exemption from property taxes from the South Korean government, but it was part of an "administrative inquiry," its top envoy said Friday. Ambassador Philippe Lefort to Seoul made the remark in response to a question about recent local media reports that the embassy had been refusing to pay the property taxes levied on about a dozen residences it owns for its staff in southern Seoul, saying there is no such tax system in its home country. "This i