US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that all options even including military choice remain on the table in dealing with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, adding that the so-called strategic patience with Pyongyang has ended.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (Yonhap)Tillerson also urged China to refrain from retaliating against South Korea over the ongoing deployment of an advanced US missile defense system on its soil, calling the move purely a self-defense measure. He mad

The foreign ministers of South Korea and the US held talks Friday as Washington calls for a “new approach” to North Korea and Seoul is taking heat from China’s economic retaliation over a plan to host a US missile shield here. A North Korean soldier takes a snapshot from outside the window while US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (right) listens to USFK Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks during his visit to Panmunjeom, the truce village on the inter-Korean border, Friday. (Yonhap)　US Secretary of

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson began his two-day trip to South Korea on Friday, which is expected to focus on discussing ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance and fend off the growing threats from North Korea. Tillerson arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul at about 10:10 a.m. He came from Japan where he held talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and others in Tokyo on Thursday.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shakes hands with one of officials waiting f

US President Donald Trump won't remove any option from the table when dealing with North Korea, the White House said Thursday."The president never takes anything off the table. That's something he's been very clear about," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at a briefing when asked about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's remark that diplomatic efforts to disarm the North failed.Tillerson's remark suggests that Trump's approach to the North will be tough and pressure-oriented.Trump has

Six-party nuclear talks with North Korea failed to deliver their intended results, the State Department said Thursday, adding to Secretary Rex Tillerson's point that diplomatic efforts to disarm Pyongyang failed and a new approach is necessary."There's a recognition that certain mechanisms, like the six-party talks, haven't really borne the fruit that we would have liked to have seen them bear over the years," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said at a regular briefing."That's no sur

A Seoul court on Thursday ordered a Japanese company to compensate a South Korean for forced work during Japan's colonial rule. In the latest legal victory for wartime forced laborers, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of  Lee Chun-myeon, 86, who filed the case against Nichi-Fujikoshi Corp. in May 2015. The court ordered the Japanese firm to pay 100 million won ($88,500) to the plaintiff in compensation for her coerced work at a factory in Toyama Prefecture in the 1940s."Japan mobi

China's retaliation against South Korea over the ongoing deployment of an advanced US missile defense system could be viewed as meddling with internal affairs, a senior foreign ministry official hinted Thursday.During a meeting with lawmakers, Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam said "Yes" to a question on whether China's bashing of Korea over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system represents interfering in internal affairs.He went on to say that giving into Beijing's pressure would not b

In recent years, there has been fierce debate over the value and efficacy of volunteerism as more young students, faced with increasing job scarcity, opt to take on a temporary, nearly-unpaid position in a harsh environment for the sake of earning professional skills and experiences. But Olivier Adam, executive coordinator of the UN Volunteers, said that despite social and environmental differences in each country, there are “a lot of misperceptions” volunteers give their services without receiv

South Korea should temporarily suspend the deployment of a controversial US missile defense system here until the US convinces China to forgo economic retaliation against South Korea, a South Korean security expert said Thursday. “I don’t understand why South Korea solely takes the hit from the Chinese economic retaliation,” said Hong Hyun-ik, a senior researcher at Sejong Institute in Seoul, at a seminar on diplomacy, security and unification organized by the Seoul-based think tank.“The US shou

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to visit the Demilitarized Zone on Friday as the first major schedule of his trip to South Korea, the foreign ministry said Thursday, in an apparent bid to demonstrate a strong alliance between the two countries against North Korea.Tillerson is to come to South Korea early Friday after staying in Japan as part of his three-country trip to Asia that will also take him to China on Saturday.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (C) arrives in Tokyo on March 15,

Thae Yong-ho, a former Pyongyang diplomat who defected to Seoul last year, on Thursday urged South Korea to be "predictable" when it comes to inter-Korean issues."(The conservative and liberal parties) must reach consensus to let North Korea know that it will pay dearly for any provocations against South Korea," Thae said during a meeting with lawmakers."Only then will North Korea not roll out thoughtless policies against the South."Thae Yong-ho, a former Pyongyang diplomat who defected to Seoul

A national security expert on Thursday called on South Korea to consider putting on hold the ongoing deployment of a US missile defense system on its soil until China stops its stepped-up retaliation on Korean goods and businesses.South Korea and the US recently started the process of installing a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to cope with the North's missile threats. Members from conservative civic organizations calls for China to stop retaliatory steps against South Korea's planne

South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting in Seoul to discuss cooperation for the safe use of nuclear power, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The meeting will be held later in the day between Ham Sang-wook, director-general for nonproliferation and nuclear affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, and his Japanese counterpart Kazutoshi Aikawa, according to the ministry.They will discuss their own nuclear power-related policies and measures aimed at increasing cooperation in the global stage includi

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Sri Lanka have agreed to work together in pressuring North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons program, the foreign ministry here said Thursday.South Korea's Yun Byung-se and Sri Lanka's Mangala Samaraweera also shared the understanding that North Korea's recent series of ballistic missile launches pose a serious threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific as well as the entire international community during their talks in Colombo a day earl

The floor leader of the Democratic Party said Thursday South Korea should delay the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in the country until it wins consent from Beijing and Moscow.Rep. Woo Sang-ho also said Seoul should let the new government decide on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and ensure that the issue does not damage South Korea's relationship with neighboring countries. Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the Democratic Party (Yonhap)"