WASHINGTON -- US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) had to cancel his planned trip to South Korea due to "a last-minute scheduling change," and looks forward to meeting with President Moon Jae-in when he visits Washington next week, his office said Tuesday.McCain had planned to visit the South late last month but called off the plan at the last minute. Recent press reports said it was because Seoul's presidential office did not grant the senator a meeting with President Moon that he decided to canc

South Korea's top diplomat said Tuesday that the US is dealing with the case of an American who passed away after a 17-month-long detention in North Korea as a "humanitarian matter," explaining that Washington hasn't changed its policy towards Pyongyang over the incident."The US too is dealing with the incident as a humanitarian matter and its my understanding that it isn't a North Korea policy change (by Washington)," Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters at the National Assembly after

The Moon Jae-in government’s recent halt of the deployment of US anti-missile assets has created a “trust issue” between the allies, a prominent Washington academic said Tuesday, warning the decision may send a wrong signal to North Korea and China. Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, expressed discomfort over the stalled installment of four launchers of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery until a full environmental review is complete. While criticizing Beij

South Korea's new Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha plans to have a telephone conversation with US counterpart Rex Tillerson and express consolation over the death of an American student who was recently released from detention in North Korea, Seoul officials said Tuesday. "Currently, South Korea is adjusting with the US the schedule for a telephone conversation between Minister Kang and Secretary of State Tillerson," foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a press briefing.  South Korea

BEIJING -- Senior officials from Seoul and Beijing agreed on Tuesday to have frequent and close communications on the controversial deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The agreement was reached during a high-level strategic dialogue in Beijing between Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui, according to the ministry."The two sides exchanged their views on the THAAD deployment issue and shared the need to mai

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- As visitors walk through the glistening “Nur Alem” Kazakh pavilion in the center of the Astana International Exposition site, they are awestruck by the futuristic design of the spherical edifice, the largest of its kind in the world, built to showcase Kazakhstan’s vision and plans for sustainable energy. Standing 100 meters from the ground with an 80-meter diameter, the building illuminates the Central Asian country’s future energies -- water, kinetic, biomass, wind, solar

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- It was a snowy onset of winter in October 1937. The order came from Joseph Stalin to deport ethnic Koreans from Russia’s Far East to the barren steppes of Central Asia. Running out of time to gather their belongings, the Koreans picked up what little they could -- mostly vital rice seeds secured inside their pillows. The “Koryo-saram,” as they have been called, took with them the seeds of hope for their unknowable future. Many elderly and sick died on the trains used to car

A series of foreign policy and security fiascos are posing a threat to President Moon Jae-in’s diplomacy, with internal discords on North Korea, a US missile shield and guest receptions spilling over into Washington ties just 10 days ahead of his first summit. 　A sense of doubt has been seeping out of Washington since the liberal administration unveiled a surprise announcement on June 5 that it will cease the deployment of the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense launchers here. The decision

With silver hair and a cheery smile, she stood out amid a torrent of camera flashes. As she delivered her inauguration address, younger diplomats gazed in awe, letting out whoops when she touched on better work-family balance. The number of followers of the Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account surpassed 100,000 following her appointment, with photos of her making her maiden appearance at her office Sunday garnering more than 4,600 retweets.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha formally took office Monda

South Korea has been chosen to be a member of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the culture ministry said Monday.The election took place during the sixth ordinary session of the Conference of Parties to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris from Monday to Thursday last week.Since entering into force March 18, 2007, the UNESC

South Korea and Japan should seek to issue a joint declaration over Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II rather than renegotiating a 2015 bilateral deal struck over the comfort women issue, an influential ruling party lawmaker said Friday.Moon Hee-sang of the Democratic Party who visited Tokyo last month as President Moon Jae-in's special envoy made the remark in a radio interview. Moon Hee-sang, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, returns home through Seoul's Gi

South Korea condemned Thursday the Japanese government's recent order to its foreign missions to report maps with markings of Dokdo, the Korean name of the islets to which the country lays territorial claim. Japan's Kyodo News reported last week that the government posted messages on the websites of its 70-something overseas diplomatic missions, urging readers to report to the embassies if they see any maps or publications in which the islets are named Dokdo or its surrounding waters as the East

Thomas Shannon, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, paid his respects to a South Korean soldier killed in Afghanistan a decade ago during his trip here earlier this week, the US Embassy said Thursday.On its Facebook account, the embassy posted photos of Shannon paying tribute to Army Ssg. Yoon Jang-ho in front of a stone monument for him at the US military base in Yongsan, central Seoul. Thomas Shannon, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, pays his respects to Ssg. Yoo

South Korea's vice unification minister said Thursday that the government will seek to improve strained inter-Korean ties in close cooperation with the United States.Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung made the remark in his meeting with Thomas Shannon, undersecretary of state for political affairs, in Seoul to exchange views about North Korea, according to the Ministry of Unification. Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung (right) and Thomas Shannon, US undersecretary of state for politica

South Korea on Thursday urged North Korea to seek reconciliation and peace as the two rivals marked the 17th anniversary of their first summit.On June 15, 2000, leaders of South and North Korea held a historic summit in Pyongyang, which produced a landmark joint declaration on reconciliation. This file photo taken by the Joint Press Corp. on June 13, 2000, shows former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung (right) and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il shaking hands at an airport in Pyongyan