South Korea agreed to continue consultations with the US over cooperative measures for Washington’s effort to safeguard freedom of navigation in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz off Iran, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who met with US national security adviser John Bolton in Seoul, agreed on “the need for international efforts for the safe voyage of private merchant ships,” according to Ko Min-jung, presidenti

South Korea on Wednesday repeated its call on Japan to scrap its planned measure to take Seoul off its list of trusted trading partners granted with preferential procedures for exports, warning it could undermine bilateral economic ties.Early this month, Japan implemented strict regulations for exports of three key materials to South Korea that are crucial for the production of chips and displays on the grounds that Seoul runs a lax system for the control of goods that can be diverted for milita

The Pentagon on Tuesday expressed the United States' strong support for South Korea and Japan in their response to "airspace incursions" by Russian and Chinese warplanes.Its mention of Japan in response to a question about Tuesday's incident over South Korea's East Sea, however, could raise questions about its position on the longrunning territorial dispute between its two Asian allies.Earlier Tuesday, a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft trespassed twice into Korea's terr

US National Security Adviser John Bolton began his two-day trip to South Korea on Tuesday, during which he will focus on consultations on a range of issues from North Korea to the Strait of Hormuz.It especially comes as two major allies of Washington -- Seoul and Tokyo -- are locked in a confrontation over shared history and the Shinzo Abe administration's use of trade as political retaliation.South Korea wants the US to help resolve the trade friction in a diplomatic way. Bolton landed at the U

Korean ruling party chief says Tokyo undermining Moon administration

South Korea is closely monitoring the situation in waters off Iran, including the US' possible request for its troops dispatch to the region, the defense ministry said Monday. The United States has been asking its allies to join a military coalition to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran."So far, we have not received any official requests from the US side over the possible dispatch of our troops," Col. Roh Jae-cheo

A group of international soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War under the UN flag will visit South Korea this week as part of a program to express appreciation for their service, Seoul's veterans ministry said Monday.A total of 107 war veterans and their family members from 16 countries, including the United States and Australia, are scheduled to make a six-day trip starting Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.During the visit, they plan to tour major secur

People in Korea have shown mixed reactions to deepening boycotts of Japanese products prompted by Tokyo’s sudden export controls of high-tech materials to South Korea. In a Realmeter survey of 506 respondents, 54.6 percent were in support of the boycott campaign. On Thursday, “NoNo Japan,” an online community displaying consumer brands and products originating from Japan, was temporarily inaccessible due to heavy traffic.“I’m aware that many are boycotting Japanese

South Korea's trade ministry said Monday it will send a deputy minister to a meeting of the World Trade Organization General Council this week to tell the international community that Tokyo's export curbs against Seoul run counter to international rules and that it should retract the measures immediately.Kim Seung-ho, deputy minister for multilateral and legal affairs at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, will attend the WTO meeting on Tuesday (local time) in Geneva, Switzerland, where

UN national security adviser expected to ask Korea to contribute to protecting Strait of Hormuz

US National Security Adviser John Bolton left for South Korea and Japan on Saturday, a US official said, amid a growing trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo over wartime forced labor. White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said on Twitter that Bolton "departed today for Japan and South Korea to continue conversations with critical allies and friends." The visit by Bolton to South Korea and Japan came a day after US President Donald Trump said he is willing, if

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump on Friday offered to help ease tensions in the political and economic dispute between Japan and South Korea, which threatens global supplies of memory chips and smartphones.Lingering tension, particularly over the issue of compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese occupiers during World War Two, took a turn for the worse this month when Japan restricted exports of high-tech materials to South Korea.The United States has bee

A top South Koreanofficial on Saturday said a US-South Korean military exercisewould go ahead as planned next month, denying Pyongyang'scharges that holding it would breach an agreement made between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."The nature of the exercise is not offensive ... and is forstrengthening the alliance," Choi Jong-kun, the secretary forpeace planning to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told the Aspen Institute's annual strategic forum.Later

South Korea and the United States have been considering staging a joint military exercise next month as scheduled but under a different name, sources said Sunday, amid warnings from North Korea that the drill could affect its nuclear talks with Washington.The allies were known to have planned to conduct the summertime exercise, named 19-2 Dong Maeng, to verify Seoul's capabilities for its envisioned retaking of wartime operational control of its troops from Washington. But they are reviewin

Japan's foreign minister said Tokyo will take "necessary measures" against South Korea if interests of Japanese companies are harmed in an escalating dispute over World War II forced labor.  The neighboring countries and US allies are quarreling over South Korean court decisions ordering Japanese companies to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Friday after summoning South Korean Ambassa