South Korea's foreign minister was to hold bilateral meetings with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts in Seoul on Saturday on the sidelines of their trilateral talks, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se was scheduled to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japan's top diplomat Fumio Kishida in Seoul ahead of the three-way meeting, the ministry said.Wang and Kishida flew into Seoul on Friday for a three-day stay to attend a trilateral foreign ministers' meetin

China is awaiting decisions by South Korea, Japan and Australia on whether to join a new Chinese-led Asian infrastructure bank as founding members, China's foreign ministry said Friday. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has recently gained traction as major Western economies, including Britain, Germany and France, decided to join the Chinese-led bank. Close U.S. allies in Asia -- South Korea, Australia and Japan -- have yet to make their decisions. The end of March is the deadline

The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan must have a "candid" discussion about their shared history, China's foreign ministry said Friday, expressing caution about the prospects of holding a three-way summit among leaders from the three nations.   Saturday's meeting in Seoul of the three foreign ministers -- Yun Byung-se from South Korea, Wang Yi from China and Fumio Kishida from Japan -- will be the first of its kind since 2012. History and territorial rows have prevented them from

The top diplomats of China and Japan were to fly into South Korea on Friday to attend a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting also involving Seoul's top diplomat slated for this weekend, the foreign ministry said.  The meeting scheduled for Saturday in Seoul will bring together South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts, Wang Yi and Fumio Kishida, the ministry said.  Wang and Kishida are slated to arrive in Seoul late Friday for a three-day stay to join

South Korean President Park Geun-hye will meet with the foreign ministers of China and Japan this weekend, Park's office said Friday.  Park's office did not elaborate on the meeting that will also include South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.  The courtesy call on Saturday by Wang Yi from China and Fumio Kishida from Japan comes amid simmering tensions in the region over an advanced U.S. missile-defense system that Washington hopes to deploy to South Korea, as well as history and territori

South Korean parliamentary speaker Chung Ui-hwa has asked Vietnam to show the reclusive North Korea ways of reforming and opening up, officials said on Thursday.  Chung met Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang in Hanoi Thursday and asked the head of state to invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and help the North "quickly become a normal state," according to the South Korean National Assembly officials accompanying Chung.  "North Korea should model itself after Vietnam and its successful 'Doi

Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party as Beijing's new ambassador to North Korea, according to China's foreign ministry on Thursday.  Li Jinjun, 59, vice minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of China's Communist Party, succeeds Liu Hongcai, who returned home after serving his five-year stint in Pyongyang, the Chinese ministry said in a brief statement posted on its website. Li steps into the new job as political rel

South Korea is forecast to join a China-led investment bank as a founding member this month, despite steadfast U.S. skepticism and following in the steps of European powers, government sources said Wednesday. The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank was set up last October with 21 member states, aimed at spurring the region’s development by financing projects in energy, transportation, telecommunication, agriculture and other key sectors. The $50 billion institution may provide Seoul with a chanc

South Korea should first resolve the controversial issue of anti-Pyongyang leaflet scattering if it wants to resume a dialogue with North Korea, a former unification minister said Wednesday.  The comment by Jeong Se-hyun, who served as unification minister from 2002 to 2004, came amid fears of escalated inter-Korean tension over local activists' plan to send anti-North Korea leaflets in balloons to the communist country next week.  North Korea has threatened to shoot them down with cannons or mi

The United States has issued another advisory on financial transactions with North Korea, designating the communist country as a jurisdiction with high money laundering and terrorist financing risks, a U.S. report said Wednesday.  The guidance to U.S. financial institutions, issued Monday by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, is based on the international money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force's updated list of countries with anti-money laundering and

A full-page advertisement will appear in a U.S. newspaper this week to urge Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize for the country's sexual enslavement of women for its troops during World War II, the ad's sponsor said Tuesday.  The Korean American Civic Empowerment, an organization of Korean-Americans, helped sponsored the advertisement that will appear in the Wednesday edition of the Hill, a Washington-based newspaper specializing in congressional topics.   The ad comes as Abe seeks t

U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice on Tuesday underscored the importance of strong relations between South Korea and Japan when she met with her counterpart from Tokyo, the White House said.  North Korea's nuclear and missile programs were also discussed during Rice's meeting with Shotaro Yachi, secretary general of Japan's National Security Secretariat, the White House said in a statement without providing details.  Rice also told Yachi that U.S. President Barack Obama looks forward to h