South Korea said Monday North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seems to be sending a special envoy to Russia to counter international pressure over its nuclear program and human rights abuses."Our government views the dispatch of Choe Ryong-hae to Russia as in line with (Pyongyang's) attempt to diversify its external relations," unification ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said at a press briefing.It looks like the North is pushing for aggressive diplomacy, as the international community's cooperati

South Korea and Norway will seek to boost their bilateral cooperation in the Arctic, plans that include the joint development of a new shipping route there, the South Korean government said Monday.The countries are set to hold talks to this end Tuesday in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries."The ministry has been strengthening the country's cooperation with countries surrounding the Arctic, including Russia, as part of efforts to develop a new shippin

President Park Geun-hye returned home Monday after concluding a set of multilateral summits on global economy and security in a trip that took her to China, Myanmar and Australia.The trip raised the possibility of fence mending with Japan as she met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the first time in eight months in Beijing on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.Later, she also proposed resuming a stalled summit with Chinese and Japanese leaders during a separ

The Corea Image Communication Institute will host its 18th CQ forum at 6:20 p.m., Nov. 18, at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Seoul. Rep. Jeon Ha-jin of the ruling Saenuri Party, who has a long career in the venture business, will speak about his experience and Korea’s roadmap for the “creative economy.” CICI is a nonprofit organization founded in 2003 and registered under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea. It brings together opinion leaders from diverse sectors through seminars, forums

South Korea will host meetings of senior officials and foreign ministers from fellow middle powers in 2015, the country's foreign ministry said Sunday.Seoul will host the senior officials' meeting (SOM) of MIKTA in February next year, followed by a gathering of foreign ministers from MIKTA members in May, according to the ministry.MIKTA is the acronym of its member states: Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia. It's an informal cooperative channel established in September last yea

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and other world leaders held talks on global economic resilience and energy in Australia on Sunday, the second and last day of their annual summit.The summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Brisbane came as world leaders renewed their commitment to lift growth by more than 2 percent by 2018.On Saturday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the determination of the G-20 leadership to raise growth by more than 2 percent in the next

South Korea and New Zealand announced Saturday that they have struck a free trade agreement to boost trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.The announcement, made on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in this Australian city, wrapped up more than five years of tough negotiations between the two countries. South Korea is a G-20 member but New Zealand was invited to the Brisbane summit as a guest."The FTA will provide a basis to further e

Korea, China and Japan are working to arrange a foreign ministers’ meeting for around the end of next month to help foster the mood for a long-delayed trilateral summit, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. Consultations on hammering out the exact date for the ministerial talks will begin shortly after the ongoing Group of 20 summit in Australia, presidential foreign and security secretary Ju Chul-ki said.His briefing came one day after President Park Geun-hye displayed hopes that her first three-way gath

BEIJING (AFP) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested US news organisations had themselves to blame for Beijing not granting journalist visas, in response to a rare unscripted question from a foreign reporter on Wednesday.Washington has criticised China's treatment of foreign correspondents after reporters from The New York Times and Bloomberg were not given residence visas in apparent retaliation for investigative stories on the wealth amassed by leaders' families.Beijing is highly sensitive

South Korea on Wednesday called for Japan to explain why it had barred entry to a Korean pop star who recently performed on a set of islets claimed by Seoul and Tokyo.Lee Seung-Chul, 47, was held at Japan's Haneda Airport for hours on Sunday before eventually being sent back to Seoul. According to Lee, a Tokyo immigration official initially told him the ban was related to a "recent event" reported in the media."Then I instantly knew it was about Dokdo ... and knew Japan was exacting its revenge,