The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States held phone talks Sunday to discuss preparations for the upcoming summit between their leaders and other issues of mutual concern, the foreign ministry here said.US President Donald Trump is to arrive in South Korea on Tuesday for a two-day stay during which he will have a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.In the phone conversation earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha hoped t

Experts on Sunday called for the leaders of South Korea and the United States to use their upcoming summit as a chance to reaffirm their strong alliance and dismiss worries over possible differences on major issues.US President Donald Trump will arrive in Seoul on Tuesday for a two-day visit as part of his first Asia trip as head of state, and will hold a summit with President Moon Jae-in later in the day.His visit to South Korea comes amid high tensions caused by the North's sixth and most powe

President Moon Jae-in welcomed the new chiefs of six diplomatic missions to Seoul on Thursday.Each of the six new foreign ambassadors to South Korea presented Moon with their credentials in separate ceremonies held at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.The new ambassadors are Julian Clare of Ireland, Michael Schwarzinger from Austria, Difie Agyarko Kusi from Ghana, Matilda S. Masuka from Tanzania, Piotr Ostaszewski from Poland and Olexander Horin from Ukraine. 　 President Moon Jae-in (R) shak

South Korea congratulated Japan on the launch of its new cabinet on Wednesday, voicing hopes for a future-oriented partnership based on the "right" understanding of shared history. (AFP-Yonhap)Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the statement after Shinzo Abe was re-elected as Japan's prime minister following his ruling coalition's landslide victory in the snap parliamentary elections last month."The (South Korean) government hopes to continue to cooperate with the Japanese government to

“We don’t have much larger stakes in these issues like the superpowers US or China, therefore it’s easier to raise our concerns and search for solutions together. It’s more like supporting a good friend.”

Milan Stech, president of the Czech Republic’s Senate (right) and Czech Ambassador to Korea Tomas Husak pose at the country’s recently reopened embassy at the K Twin Tower B-dong, Jongno-1-gil 50, Jongno-gu, in Seoul. (Joel Lee/The Korea Herald)Milan Stech, president of the Czech Republic’s Senate, said during a visit to Korea last week that the Central European nation will participate in the PyeongChang Winter Games in Korea next February with a National Olympic House in Gangneung, Gangwon Prov

Food and beverages of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were in the limelight last week at the ASEAN Trade Fair 2017, organized by the ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul. The fair was held in conjunction with Food Week Korea -- the country’s largest international culinary exhibition -- at Coex in Seoul from Wednesday through Saturday. Under the banner “Taste the Happiness,” the event invited 100 food and beverage companies from the block of 10 nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, S

“We never had radical confrontation between Shias and Sunnis throughout history. Our government fully subsidizes all religious institutions and their places of worship regardless of faith.”

South Korea and China have agreed to put their bilateral relations back on the right track, apparently normalizing ties that have been soured over the deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.They reiterated their long-held stance on issues related to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system deployed in South Korea but agreed to continue to discuss ways to resolve the differences going forward."The two sides attached great importance to th

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral summit next week, the first step toward normalizing the countries' relations that have long soured over the deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea, an official from South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.The Moon-Xi summit, the second of its kind, will be held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that will be held in Da Nang, Vietnam, next T

South Korea's government supports civic group-led efforts to list documents related to Japan's wartime sexual slavery of women as a "Memory of the World" listing of UNESCO, a foreign ministry official said Friday, adding that it will make possible diplomatic efforts for the matter to be "fairly" discussed by the UN body.Earlier, NHK reported that the decision will be made by the International Advisory Committee after completing its four-day closed-door session that started in Paris on Tuesday. I

South Korea's next ambassador to Japan reaffirmed Wednesday a "two-track" approach to bilateral ties that separate historical disputes from future-oriented cooperation on North Korea and the economy. Amb. Lee Su-hoon also expressed hopes for a visit by Japanese Emperor Akihito to Seoul, which, he said, would contribute significantly to improving relations between the neighboring countries. The new envoy is to leave for Japan early next week."The president seems to be very firm that such historic

South Korean President Moon Jae-in congratulated his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping Wednesday on his reelection as the head of the Chinese Communist Party."I sincerely congratulate you that the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has been successfully held, and that you have been reelected the general-secretary of the Communist Party of China," Moon said in his letter to Xi. (YonhapXi's reelection as the party chief ensures the second half of his 10-year presidency.Moon expres

OLYMPIA -- Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met with US Olympic Committee Chairman Larry Probst on Tuesday and asked for help in getting US President Donald Trump to visit South Korea for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, officials said.During their meeting held in the Greek city of Olympia ahead of a ceremony to light the torch for the PyeongChang Games, Lee said he hopes Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will visit the South Korean alpine city during the Olympics.Probst said he could not make any pr

“I am confident that cities will be the ones making long-term strategic decisions and luring investments toward sustainable development, not only on the national scale, but global scale.”