South Korean presidential officials will meet a US delegation on Monday to discuss details for a summit between their leaders, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.The official told reporters Sunday that the US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, and Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will arrive in Seoul on Monday for a two-day visit. Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the White House's National Security C

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Friday to boost their countries' cooperation in dealing with various global issues while enhancing their bilateral trade relations, the Seoul government said.The German leader also promised to work closely with South Korea in ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.Her remarks came in her call to the new South Korean leader to congratulate him on his recent election. The call lasted about 15 minutes, according to the pr

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreed Friday to jointly deal with a spread of trade protectionism in the global market, Moon's presidential office said.The agreement came in a telephone conversation beginning 2:30 p.m. (Seoul time), according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. South Korean President Moon Jae-in holds a telephone conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at his presidential office in Seoul on May 12, 201

　President Moon Jae-in and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday talked over the phone to discuss the future direction of the Korea-Japan bilateral ties, focusing on unsettled history disputes such as the wartime sex slavery issue.　“President Moon talked with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone for the first time since taking office,” Yoon Young-chan, the newly appointed senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a briefing. (Yonhap)　During the 25-minute conve

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart agreed Thursday to further improve their countries' bilateral relations, while jointly calling for efforts by all concerned parties to help denuclearize North Korea, Seoul's presidential office said.China's Xi Jinping called the new South Korean leader to congratulate him on his election this week, Moon's press secretary Yoon Young-chan said at a press briefing."The two heads of state discussed ways to improve South Korea-China relat

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's much-speculated engagement with North Korea will not go beyond the United States' comfort zone and consultation may precede key decisions toward Pyongyang under the new administration, a key policy adviser to Moon said Thursday."I will fly straight to Washington ... I will go to Beijing and Tokyo and under the right circumstances go to Pyongyang as well," Moon said in his inaugural address on Wednesday. During his campaign, the former leader of the liberal De

With North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities growing rapidly, the next South Korean administration would be wise to pursue a “pragmatic” policy of multilateral dialogue and negotiation to put the brakes on Pyongyang, according to a former Russian diplomat. Georgy Toloraya, chair of regional programs at the Russian World Presidential Foundation in Moscow, said the current sanctions regime should not be an end in itself, adding that the international community could achieve more by seeking

The government of Taiwan has been harnessing all efforts to invigorate its economy by launching the Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan, which is to create a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship for the island nation’s knowledge-based economy, according to its representative office in Seoul. Announced by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in September, the scheme will hatch a haven of research and development and commercialization in the northwestern city of Taoyuan, acting as a magnet for tale

Freshly minted Georgian Ambassador Otar Berdzenishvili says his country and Korea are closer in substance than their distance, sharing a common pride of national language and alphabet as well as passion for freedom and democracy.Having assumed his post in late April, the 38-year-old wunderkind from the Caucasus country says he wants to invigorate bilateral ties with his full force, building on the achievements of his predecessor Nikoloz Apkhazava, who has been nominated to serve in Malaysia. Ber

WASHINGTON -- The deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea could raise cost-sharing questions in the United States despite Washington's agreement to pay for it, a congressional report has said.The Congressional Research Service report, dated April 4, came a few weeks before US President Donald Trump began demanding that South Korea pay for THAAD because it's designed to protect the country from North Korean threats.That shows that Trump's demand is not an isolated view and m

Unofficial "Track 2" meetings are routinely held "independent of US government involvement," the State Department said Sunday after reports that a senior North Korean diplomat is set to hold talks with former US officials.Japanese media reported that Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's bureau handling relations with the United States, headed to Europe via Beijing for talks with unidentified former US government officials.Choe Son-hui, director-general at the Nor

The US troops in South Korea are pushing to set up a unit that will be charged with gathering and analyzing human intelligence on North Korea, local authorities said Sunday.Human Intelligence, known as HUMINT, is intelligence gathered by means of interpersonal contact. This undated photo provided by the Eighth US Army shows soldiers of its 501st Military Intelligence Brigade analyzing intelligence. (Yonhap)The move comes as the North's development of communications security technology is increas

A whirlwind of events have reshaped the geopolitical landscape surrounding South Korea over the past months, including the deployment of a high-profile US missile defense system here and China's crushing retaliations against Seoul, with no incumbent president in South Korea to cope with the urgent issues.Next week, South Koreans will finally pick a new president to succeed Park Geun-hye, who was ousted from her presidency in March, about one year ahead of the completion of her five-year term.The