China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang will make a three-day visit to South Korea this week on cementing bilateral ties, a diplomatic source said Monday.  Zhang, who ranks third in China's ruling Communist Party hierarchy, is scheduled to make a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye during the visit starting Wednesday and meet with leaders of South Korea's ruling and opposition parties, the source said.   The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to t

The Unification Ministry said Monday it plans to install devices to detect the MERS virus at the joint industrial zone in North Korea later in the day to prevent the spread of the virus there.  At the request of the North, South Korea has lent Pyongyang three thermal scanners for those who travel in and out of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, where about 53,000 North Korean workers are employed, ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said in a press briefing.  "The government plans to install the t

South Korea will press Japan this week to drop its bid to have some early industrial sites linked to wartime atrocities registered as UNESCO's world heritage, Foreign Ministry officials said Monday.  Senior diplomats from the neighboring countries plan to hold their second round of talks on the issue, yet another legacy of Japan's imperialistic past dating back to World War II, in Seoul on Tuesday.  Japan has sought to win UNESCO's recognition for 23 locales including mines, shipyards and factor

South Korea should be more vocal against China's behavior in the South China Sea, a U.S. expert said, days after a senior American diplomat issued a similar appeal ahead of South Korean President Park Geun-hye's visit to Washington.  Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, made the point in an article, claiming that increasing cooperation in Southeast Asia should be on the agenda for an upcoming summit between Park and U.S. President Barack Obama.  "It would be

The Jordanian embassy on May 29 celebrated the 69th anniversary of its independence day, which marks the country’s liberation from British colonial rule in 1946.The national holiday pays tribute to the bygone generations of Jordanians who sacrificed their lives to contribute to the foundation of modern Jordan. National Assembly Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, president of the Korean-Jordanian Friendship Association, and four Jordanian parliamentarians participated in the event at Lotte Hotel. Jordan and Kor

The United States has extended a visa waiver program for South Korea for two years again, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.It would enable South Koreans to continue to travel to the U.S.for tourism or business without obtaining a visa for stays of up to90 days."The U.S. government informed (us) through its embassy in South Korea that our country's Visa Waiver Program member status has been extended again until March 2017," it said in a press release.South Korea, a key regional ally of the U.S. f

The South Korean government said Friday that it has asked the parliament to ratify the country's bilateral free trade agreement with China that was signed earlier in the week, apparently demonstrating its firm resolution to quickly implement what it has called one of the most significant trade deals it has ever signed.The government bill on the ratification of the Korea-China FTA was submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday, along with similar bills for the ratification of the country's bi

The chief of South Korea's weather agency has been elected executive council member of a U.N. organization overseeing weather and climate issues, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.Ko Yun-hwa, head of the Korea Meteorological Administration, was chosen to serve a four-year term as a regional representative on the executive council of the World Meteorological Organization during the WMO's ongoing congress in Geneva on Thursday, the ministry said in a joint press release with the KMA.South Korea, wh

South Korea and Britain will work together to become viable offshore yuan trading hubs and enhance transparency in the China-led infrastructure development bank, the finance ministers from the two countries said Thursday.In a meeting in London, Choi Kyung-hwan and his British counterpart, George Osborne, stressed that the two countries have complementary industrial structures that allow for cooperation in a wide range of areas.The two men agreed that South Korea and Britain can forge closer busi