Senior White House officials were set to hold talks with their South Korean counterparts in Seoul on Tuesday on a possible summit between their leaders and ways to deal with communist North Korea.The US delegation, led by National Security Council director for East Asia Matt Pottinger, was scheduled to meet with Chung Eui-yong, a former ambassador to Geneva who leads a foreign affairs and security advisory group for South Korean President Moon Jae-in.National Security Council director for East A

A White House official handling Korea affairs arrived in Seoul Monday for a two-day visit to prepare for a summit between the leaders of South Korea and the United States.  Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, said he will covey President Donald Trump's congratulations to new President Moon Jae-in and his administration. Matt Pottinger, Special Assistant to US President Donald Trump and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for East Asia (R) a

The 2017 Global Ombudsman Conference will be held at the main convention center in Alpensia Resort in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, from Tuesday to Friday to map out development and the future of the ombudsmen alliance in Asia. This year’s four-day biannual event, co-hosted by South Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and the Gangwon Province Ombudsman, will be attended by 400 local and international guests, including leaders of the Asian Ombudsman Association and International

A pro-North Korean newspaper in Tokyo said Monday the Trump administration should create a "proper situation" for dialogue first if it wants to avoid collision with the North and end the current deadlock. "The decades-long confrontation between the North and the United States would never be addressed for itself with just a recent remark by Trump that has hinted at the possibility of summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un," The Chosun Sinbo of the association of pro-Pyongyang residents

White House officials handling Korea affairs are to visit South Korea later Monday to make preparations for a summit between new President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Donald Trump, government sources said Monday.The delegation led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, will arrive in Seoul in the evening for a two-day stay. Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will accompany him, according to the sources. Matt Pottinger (Yonhap)This wi

A US senator plans to introduce a bill this week that calls for significantly beefing up ground-based missile interceptors in the United States to better defend against North Korea, according to a news report Sunday.Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) will bring in the legislation that asks for adding an additional 28 Ground-Based Interceptors in Alaska and California, the Hill reported, citing unidentified Senate staffers. The US currently has 30 interceptors, four in California and the rest in Alaska, an

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed North Korea's latest missile launch, saying Sunday that such a provocative act "is not a way to sit down" for negotiations that the communist nation wants.Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Haley also said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be in a "state of paranoia" and the latest missile launch is believed to be aimed at sending a message to South Korea after the election of new President Moon Jae-in.Haley also said the United S

South Korean presidential officials will meet a US delegation on Monday to discuss details for a summit between their leaders, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.The official told reporters Sunday that the US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, and Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will arrive in Seoul on Monday for a two-day visit. Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the White House's National Security C

South Korea's delegation to an international economic forum in Beijing said Sunday it held a brief meeting with its North Korean counterpart and expressed concern over Pyongyang's latest missile provocation.Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party, who leads the delegation, said he had a short conversation with Kim Yong-jae, Pyongyang's minister of external economic relations, at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that runs in Beijing through Monday. Rep. Park Byeo

White House officials handling Korea affairs plan to visit Seoul this week, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seeking an early summit with his American counterpart Donald Trump, diplomatic sources said Sunday.The US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, is scheduled to arrive here Monday for a two-day stay. Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, is also included in the group, according to sources. Matt Pottinger, senior

President Moon Jae-in on Friday tapped Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea as chief of his delegation to attend a forum in Beijing amid spats over a US missile shield, government and party officials said Friday. The five-term lawmaker will steer Seoul’s delegation for the Belt and Road Forum, slated to open in Beijing on May 14. The two-day event is designed to discuss Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative to build a new Silk Road, dubbed “One Belt, One Road,” which

US President Donald Trump has called the free trade agreement with South Korea a "horrible deal" in a recent interview, saying that Washington has already informed the Seoul government of its intention to renegotiate it.In the interview with the British weekly Economist published on Thursday (local time), he added that the FTA with South Korea is "up for renegotiation" and the United States wants a "fair" deal with its ally. (Yonhap)"Everything in NAFTA is bad. That's bad. Everything's bad. But

The United States is believed to have started putting together a delegation of officials to be dispatched to South Korea to lay the groundwork for the first summit between President Donald Trump and South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in, sources said Thursday.Trump said in his first phone call with Moon on Wednesday that he will send a high-level delegation to Seoul to discuss Moon's first visit to Washington as president. Moon also said he would send a special envoy to Washington to lay the g

　President Moon Jae-in and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday talked over the phone to discuss the future direction of the Korea-Japan bilateral ties, focusing on unsettled history disputes such as the wartime sex slavery issue.　“President Moon talked with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone for the first time since taking office,” Yoon Young-chan, the newly appointed senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a briefing. (Yonhap)　During the 25-minute conve