Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked her Peruvian counterpart to support South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee's bid for the top post of the World Trade Organization (WTO) during phone talks Tuesday, the foreign ministry said. Peruvian Foreign Minister Mario Lopez Chavarri took note of Yoo's professionalism and leadership as Seoul's sitting trade minister, pledging to closely cooperate with South Korea on the issue, the ministry said in a press release. During the talks, Kang and Lopez al

WASHINGTON -- US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said Monday he discussed "creative ideas" on how to move the stalled negotiations with North Korea forward during talks with South Korea's chief nuclear envoy. "The United States and the Republic of Korea remain fully committed to diplomacy as a way to reach an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula, to achieve denuclearization, to bring about a brighter future for all of the Korean People and to bring about normalcy in t

The top diplomats of South Korea and the five Mekong River nations on Monday vowed to forge deeper economic ties while rolling out joint efforts to fight the new coronavirus pandemic, the foreign ministry said.    Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha participated in the 10th South Korea-Mekong foreign ministers' meeting, held virtually with countries located around the Mekong River: Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand.    "Today, we are faced with an unprecedente

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun held talks with Australian Ambassador to Seoul James Choi on Monday and discussed bilateral cooperation related to the economy and vaccine development, the foreign ministry said.    In the meeting, they expressed hope that the two countries will continue to enhance cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era, especially in such fields as a hydrogen-based economy, the ministry said in a release.    They also held out expectations that coo

In 2003, I was appointed by the Swedish government as Swedish member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, NNSC, in Panmunjom, South Korea. I served in that position for almost three years during 2004-2006. The NNSC is a body agreed upon in the armistice agreement of July 27, 1953, and my predecessors had their first meeting in Panmunjom on Aug.1, 1953. Arriving in Korea, I learned that we, the Swedes in NNSC, were not the first Swedish unit operating in Korea in connection to the Kore

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, left for Washington on Sunday for talks with his counterpart expected to include North Korea's recent killing of a South Korean citizen drifting in its waters. During his four-day visit to Washington, Lee will hold talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who doubles as the point man for North Korea. "We are currently at a critical point in advancing the peace process on the Korean Peninsula," he told reporters before dep

Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming has called for South Korea to join Beijing's global data security initiative seen as a move to counter a US drive to discourage the use of Chinese technology on security grounds. During a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, Xing delineated the initiative that Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi unveiled earlier this month after Washington rolled out the Clean Network program to rid America's online networks of Chinese tech firms. The two competing schemes c

South Korea and China held a ceremony Sunday to repatriate 117 sets of the remains of Chinese troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, the foreign ministry said. The seventh such repatriation ceremony took place at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, a day after the two countries casketed the remains at a temporary storage facility in Incheon. Of the remains repatriated Sunday, 103 sets were excavated last year from Arrowhead Ridge, a battle site inside the Demilitarized Zone se

The remains of 117 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War were casketed Saturday to be sent back to their homeland the following day, the defense ministry said. In 2014, Seoul pledged to repatriate the remains of fallen Chinese soldiers in a symbolic gesture of friendship, and 599 sets have since been returned, including 10 last year. This year's repatriation ceremony will take place at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Sunday, according to the ministry. Of the total

North Korea's apology over its recent fatal shooting of a South Korean government official is a "helpful step," the US State Department said Friday, while reaffirming its support for South Korea's condemnation and demand for a full explanation. The reaction came shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he felt "very sorry" in a message sent to South Korea. "We understand that the DPRK has conveyed an explanation and apology to the ROK. This is a helpful step,

Marshall Billingslea, special US presidential envoy for arms control, will visit Seoul next week for talks with his South Korean counterpart on international arms control and nonproliferation issues, the foreign ministry said Friday. Billingslea of the US State Department will arrive here Sunday for a two-day visit. He plans to hold talks with Seoul's Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Ham Sang-wook on Monday. "South Korea and the United States have been closely

President Moon Jae-in and Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed their desire Friday to further develop bilateral relations, Cheong Wa Dae said, as the two countries mark the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties. The two men exchanged messages for the Sept. 30 anniversary, noting progress in various areas of cooperation, including politics, business and culture. "President Moon, in particular, hoped that the 9-Bridge cooperation projects for Eurasia's co-prosperity will bu

The top diplomats of South Korea and Ecuador held telephone talks Thursday to discuss joint responses to the new coronavirus and the ongoing campaign of Seoul's trade minister for the director-generalship of the World Trade Organization. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Ecuadorian counterpart, Luis Gallegos Chiriboga, exchanged views on how to step up cooperation in overcoming the pandemic and enhancing economic and other exchanges, the foreign ministry said. Kang said that South Korea

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday called on the Japanese government to work together with South Korea to seek a solution to the issue of wartime forced labor. In his first telephone conversation with the new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Moon said that the two countries are each other‘s closest neighbors and that the issue should be resolved, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kang Min-seok. “It is true that the two countries have differences on the forced labor i

K-pop super group BTS on Wednesday presented a special message at the 75th United Nations General Assembly, urging the world's youth to remember and seek out their dreams despite the challenges that they may face from the COVID-19 pandemic. "Now more than ever, we must remember who we are and face who we are. We must try to love ourselves and imagine the future," group leader RM said in a pre-recorded speech presented during the high-level meeting of the UN Group of Friends of Solida