South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a warm welcome on Tuesday in a traditional ceremony afforded to foreign leaders making a state visit to Paris.The ceremonial event was held at the Hotel de Ville, the building housing the local administration of Paris.“The welcome reception at Paris city hall is part of a program for Moon‘s state visit that the French side prepared, and was held in the Salle des Fetes (Room of Celebration) at the city hall and attended by some 300 officials and residen

South Korea’s National Election Commission is deeply involved with a Korean nongovernmental organization’s alleged criminal activities linked to its past foreign aid projects of installing election automation equipment in developing democracies overseas, including Fiji and Ecuador, a lawmaker revealed during the parliamentary inspection of the electoral branch on Tuesday. 　The revelation comes just about three weeks after the NEC’s former secretary-general Kim Dai-nyeon abruptly resigned as the

PARIS -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday stressed the need to ease international sanctions against North Korea when and if the communist state takes practical steps to denuclearize.The call came in a bilateral summit with French President Emmanuel Macron where the South Korean leader asked France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to spearhead the move when conditions are met.In a joint press conference following their summit, Macron emphasized the need to maintain inte

A US State Department official met with South Korean foreign ministry officials in Seoul on Monday, apparently for discussions on North Korea and pending alliance issues, a government source said.Marc Knapper, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan affairs, was returning to South Korea several months after finishing a stint here. Marc Knapper (Yonhap)He is in charge of coordinating a strategy on North Korea and dealing with a broad range of alliance issues, such as splitt

PARIS -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in was set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday for talks that will likely focus on North Korea amid his efforts to peacefully denuclearize the communist state.Moon arrived in Paris on Saturday on a four-day state visit.The Moon-Macron summit will mark the second of its kind following their first meeting held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Germany last year.The leaders were widely expected to discuss ways to improve their

PARIS -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in received possibly the most enthusiastic welcome he has ever enjoyed from a foreign population Sunday when he hosted a cultural event to mark his trip to France that offered a rare performance by famous South Korean boy group BTS.Some 400 French officials and fans hailed both Moon and BTS in the event held in the heart of Paris to celebrate Moon's four-day state visit that began Saturday. (Yonhap)The special appearance of BTS came about a week before th

PARIS -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron will hold talks this week that will likely focus on North Korea amid Seoul's efforts to peacefully denuclearize the communist state, officials from Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday.The two heads of state will hold a bilateral summit Monday, following a welcome ceremony for the South Korean chief executive who arrived in Paris on Saturday on a four-day state visit.The Moon-Macron summit will mark

PARIS -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday vowed increased cooperation with France to address major global issues, such as climate change, while also stressing the need for joint efforts to denuclearize North Korea and establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula."Day after tomorrow, I will hold a summit meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. (We) will hold in-depth discussions on key issues facing the international community, such as climate change, environment, terrorism and h

When thousands of children were orphaned by the Korean War in the early 1950s, Susan Soonkeum Cox was among the eight people who were placed for adoption outside South Korea, pioneering intercountry adoptions. Adopted in 1956 at the age of 4, by a couple from Oregon, Cox, the vice president of policy and external affairs at Holt International Children’s Services, said that her goal is not adoption in itself, but giving children a chance to have a family instead of ending up in orphanages. “I did

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Wednesday that South Korea will continue aggressive efforts to help facilitate denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States.Speaking to lawmakers, the top diplomat stressed Seoul's commitment to partner closely with Washington throughout the process."On the basis of close cooperation with the US, (we) will play a bridging role actively for the creation of common ground between North Korea and the US," she said during an annual parliamentar

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday welcomed six new foreign ambassadors to his country, including Andrey Kulik of Russia.Moon received the credentials of the six new foreign ambassadors in six separate ceremonies held at his office Cheong Wa Dae. Sripriya Ranganathan, Indian ambassador to South Korea, shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)The new ambassadors included Bakyt Dyussenbayev of Kazakhstan, Sripriya Ranganathan of In

WASHINGTON -- A seasoned Japanese-American diplomat has taken the helm of the Korea desk at the US State Department amid efforts to boost cooperation on trade and the North Korean nuclear issue.Joy Yamamoto recently took office as director of the Korea desk after serving as minister-counselor for economic affairs at the US Embassy in Seoul.She succeeds Mark Lambert, who was moved to a new role handling North Korea issues at the deputy assistant secretary level. (Yonhap)A former newspaper journal

Six of 12 cases in which civil servants at the Foreign Ministry received disciplinary action last year involved sexual misconduct, according to a report revealed by a lawmaker on Thursday.  (Yonhap)Last year, the number of formal disciplinary actions taken against civil servants stood at 12, and half of them were due to sex-related misconduct such as sexual harassment and sexual violence, according to Foreign Ministry data disclosed at the request of Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the ruling Democratic P

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday called for “flexibility” and a “different approach” in efforts to draw up a road map for the denuclearization process as North Korea and the US continue negotiations to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Her call for flexibility in the negotiation process comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to visit Pyongyang on Sunday and meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to push forward the US-North Korea denuclearization talk

Pompeo-Kim meeting on Sunday pivotal to denuclearization process