As North Korea threatens to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, South Korea and the US on Monday warned the communist state against any further provocations they said would be met with stern military and diplomatic reactions.The North’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday the ICBM could be launched “at any time and any place,” adding that it had developed miniaturized warheads. A North Korean propaganda outlet, Korea Today, on Monday repeated its call for a halt in South Korea-US joint def

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn plans to send a congratulatory message to incoming US President Donald Trump in time for his inauguration later this month, an informed source said Monday. The plan came as Seoul is seeking to strengthen its alliance with Washington amid a string of diplomatic and security challenges such as Beijing's apparent retaliation about the planned deployment of a US anti-missile system to the peninsula and a reignited row with Tokyo over Ja

The Japanese consul general based in South Korea's port city of Busan returned to Tokyo on Monday as a diplomatic row deepened over a recently erected statue that condemns Japan's wartime atrocities, sources said. Consul General in Busan Yasuhiro Morimoto boarded a flight to Japan in the morning at Gimhae International Airport near Busan, according to the sources. Around noon, Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine is also scheduled to leave the country in a gesture of protest

South Korea’s leadership vacuum is precipitating a diplomatic crisis, as Japan and China press their respective cases over a new “comfort women” statue and a US missile shield in an apparent bid to capitalize on Seoul’s political uncertainties for their own interests. With President Park Geun-hye’s duties in abeyance, Seoul officials are seen struggling to strike a balance between foreign policy interests and ever-growing people’s voices on sensitive diplomatic and security issues. After a respi

South Korea's top presidential security advisor will visit the United States next week to meet officials of the incoming administration to discuss a range of security issues, including North Korea's nuclear threats, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. Kim Kwan-jin, the chief of the National Security Office under the presidential office, will visit the US from Sunday through Wednesday.  Kim Kwan-jin, Chief of the National Security Office (Yonhap)His trip has been arranged amid a fl

`

The No. 2 diplomats of South Korea and Japan sparred over history issues Thursday as they met in Washington on the sidelines of a trilateral cooperation session with the United States. From left are South Korean Vice Minister Lim Sung-nam, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama (Yonhap)The meeting between South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama came after historical tensions flared an

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday welcomed an opposition leader‘s proposal for talks with ruling and opposition party chiefs to discuss the economic and security challenges facing the country. Hwang has vowed to enhance cooperation with the National Assembly in normalizing state affairs that have been hamstrung by a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (Yonhap)On Thursday, Kim Don

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Thursday to step up joint efforts to increase pressure on North Korea after the communist nation threatened that it's close to perfecting a long-range ballistic missile. South Korean Vice Minister Lim Sung-nam, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama reached the agreement when they held the last round of deputy-level trilateral consultations under the outgoing US administration.  From left ar

Controversy is growing over a trip to Beijing taken by opposition lawmakers, as top Chinese officials have called for a halt to South Korea’s plan to station a US missile shield while shunning official diplomatic consultations.  An eight-member delegation led by Rep. Song Young-gil of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is currently visiting China. The group, which includes Park Sun-won, a former unification and security secretary to former President Roh Moo-hyun, said it would address

The foreign ministry called in the Chinese ambassador to South Korea on Thursday as diplomatic tensions grew over Seoul's plan to deploy an advanced US missile shield.Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong was summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier in the day, according to officials.Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong (Yonhap)Ministry officials discussed China's recent retaliatory actions over the plan to deploy the Terminal-High Altitude Area Defense system, also known as THAAD, with the envoy,

US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert abruptly postponed a press conference scheduled for Thursday, citing an "urgent" reason for the decision.Lippert who started his duty as top US envoy in October 2014 was supposed to hold a "farewell" press conference at 11 a.m. in his residence located in central Seoul. The ambassador appointed by President Barack Obama is expected to leave office soon after the Donald Trump administration takes office on Jan. 20.An embassy official said that the press m

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) and Rep. Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party of Korea (Yonhap)China's top diplomat called Wednesday for South Korea to halt the planned deployment of the US THAAD missile defense system when he met with a group of South Korean opposition lawmakers, according to the legislators.Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the appeal, saying China doesn't want relations with South Korea to move backward, but it would be unimaginable for the country to say it wants to