WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump threatened to pull American troops from South Korea if Seoul did not pay $5 billion under a defense cost-sharing deal, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton said in his memoir. In "The Room Where It Happened," set to be published Tuesday, Bolton recalled an Afghanistan-related meeting that took place last August ahead of the start of Special Measures Agreement negotiations between South Korea and the United States. "Get out of

The office of President Moon Jae-in on Monday strongly criticized former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton for his "distorted" account of what happened in brisk summit diplomacy last year involving the leaders of the United States and the two Koreas. Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, said in a statement that "A considerable portion of it is distorted." He played it down as based on what Bolton had seen from his "own viewpo

The South Korean government said Sunday that it will strengthen visa and entry restrictions for those from Pakistan and Bangladesh from this week, as the country has recently reported a surge in novel coronavirus cases imported from the two nations. Under the precautionary measures, set to take effect from Tuesday, the authorities will restrict issuing visas to people from Pakistan and Bangladesh, except for diplomatic and urgent business purposes. At the same time, they will temporarily not p

Yuji Hosaka says there is enough evidence that Korean workers were brought against their will to Battleship Island and forced to work under harsh conditions

     WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid tribute to Otto Warmbier on Friday, marking the third anniversary of the death of the American college student who was detained in North Korea. "Today marks 3 years since Otto Warmbier passed away," Pompeo wrote on his personal Twitter account. "Susan, Nick and I have gotten to know the Warmbiers these past few years -- we are continually amazed by their resolve, patriotism and dedication to justice in

The foreign ministry said Friday it has extended for another month the special travel warning advising citizens against overseas trips amid continuing coronavirus fears. The re-issuance of the special travel watch will be valid until July 19, unless a further extension is made, the ministry said in a release. The government has extended the travel watch twice since it was first announced in March. The special travel warning applies to all countries except those that are already under higher

A North Korean defector group said Friday that it has temporarily suspended a plan to float plastic bottles containing rice into North Korea amid heightened cross-border tensions. Keunsaem had pushed to send plastic bottles containing rice from the western border island of Gangwha on Sunday, but the plan was put on hold temporarily in the face of the North's repeated retaliatory threats over such activity, according to a notice posted on its website. North Korea has ratcheted up tensions over

WASHINGTON -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States met in Washington on Thursday, a diplomatic source said, after North Korea threatened to take military action against the South. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his US counterpart, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, held talks at an undisclosed location earlier in the day, the source said on condition of anonymity. Their meeting came as tensions are running

For Japanese, Hashima Island may be a site that evokes pride that propelled the country to the global stage as an economic powerhouse. However, Koreans consider the islet off the coast of Nagasaki, also called Battleship Island, as a tragic place where hundreds of victims of forced labor suffered wrenching hardships in the undersea coal mines. It was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2015 along with other 22 sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution. The problem for Korea

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Washington on Wednesday for talks with US officials as North Korea has been ratcheting up tensions with a series of angry actions against Seoul, including the blowing up of an inter-Korean liaison office. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, was seen arriving at Dulles International Airport in footage aired by Korean broadcaster KBS. His visit was unannounced, leading to speculation that h

Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho held a videoconference with South Korean diplomatic mission chiefs in Latin America to discuss ways to ensure the health and safety of the country's citizens in the region facing a worsening of the coronavirus outbreak, the ministry said Wednesday. The videoconference, attended by ambassadors to Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile and Peru, came as the COVID-19 outbreaks in those countries are getting more serious. The World Health Orga

South Korea is in close communication with the United States, China and other major countries over rising tensions caused by North Korea's demolition of a liaison office and tough rhetoric, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the North blew up the inter-Korean liaison office, a symbol of cross-border reconciliation, in its border city of Kaesong. It further raised tensions with a plan to redeploy troops to the now-suspended joint industrial complex in Kaesong and Mount Kumgang. &

South Korea plans to call on the United Nations cultural agency to make "multilateral efforts" to ensure Japan keeps its promise to honor victims of wartime forced labor in a new information center on its industrial revolution sites, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday. The ministry will send a letter to the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to make the request, after Tokyo didn't keep its promise to ensure that a newly opened information center on Mei

The US Embassy in Seoul said Tuesday that the Black Lives Matter banner draped on the facade of its building in Seoul had been removed to “avoid misperception” amid reports about President Donald Trump’s displeasure over the display. The embassy hung the banner on the front of its building Saturday in what was seen as a rare show of open support for the Black Lives Matter movement, with the US Embassy earlier tweeting a message in support of the anti-racism campaign across th

The US Embassy in Seoul said Tuesday that the Black Lives Matter banner hung on the facade of its building earlier this week was removed to "avoid misperception," amid reports the removal came after President Donald Trump voiced displeasure. On Saturday, the embassy put up the banner, a symbol of an anti-racism movement in the United States and beyond sparked by the police killing last month of an unarmed African-American, George Floyd, but it disappeared Monday. "The ambassad