South Korea strongly condemned the North for “abusing” the Non-Proliferation Treaty to openly develop nuclear weapons and urged the regime to return to dialogue for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization during international nuclear arms talks. Addressing the 10th NPT Review Conference held at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, Korean Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs of Foreign Ministry Ham Sang-wook said the nonproliferation goal is bein

K-pop sensation BTS may be able to practice and hold overseas concerts while serving in the military, as South Korea’s Defense Ministry appears to be considering “alternative service” for the boy group. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said during a parliamentary session on Monday that he is considering a series of options for alternative military service for BTS, such as providing them time to prepare for performances and allowing them to hold overseas concerts.

They are not allies, but they are close neighbors and sometimes join hands for regional security. Yet, there has always been tension between South Korea and Japan, as disputes stemming from their bitter history plague relations. The current issue between the two nations is the South Korean Supreme Court’s ruling that orders Japanese companies to sell their assets based in South Korea to provide compensation for Koreans who they forced into labor during the Japanese occupation of Korea

As China appears to relay stronger words to express its discomfort against Seoul’s diplomacy plans largely aligning with the United States, eyes are on how the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will navigate its way through the US-China rivalry. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday demanded the Yoon administration, which was inaugurated in May, to up hold the previous government’s China policy of the so-called “Three Nos” -- no additional deployment of the US-made Term

North Korea appears to be ratcheting up efforts to strengthen its power grip on the young, as it celebrated the anniversary of the Korean War armistice signed in 1953. In an editorial, Pyongyang’s state-run daily Rodong Sinmun urged young people to learn from their predecessors, highlighting the value of patriotism as the North celebrated the 69th anniversary of the signing of the armistice on Wednesday. “The youth should learn from the excellent minds and ethos of their past ge

South Korea condemned Myanmar military regime’s latest execution of democracy activists, issuing a joint statement with top diplomats from the United States and seven other countries on Tuesday. On Monday, Myanmar’s ruling military said it had executed four democracy activists accused of committing “terror acts.” The activists were sentenced to death in secretive trials in January and April for supporting a civilian resistance movement fighting the military since last

As the United States is seeking to include South Korea in a chip alliance it is planning to form, eyes are on whether Seoul would again join US’ apparent effort to strategically isolate its rival China in the semiconductor supply chain. The US first made the proposal to South Korea, Japan and Taiwan to establish a strategic alliance of global chip powerhouses in March. While the envisioned alliance, dubbed “Chip 4” explicitly aims at boosting the manufacturing prowess of fri

The South Korean government on Friday strongly condemned Japan’s renewed claims over South Korea’s Dokdo islets in its latest defense white paper, and summoned Japanese diplomats in protest. “We strongly protest that Japan has renewed its unjust territorial claims to Dokdo in its defense white paper, which is clearly our inherent territory, historically, geographically and internationally, and we urge an immediate retraction of the claims,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson

The Foreign Ministry and Busan Metropolitan City launched a team of university student ambassadors, dubbed “UNs,” and held a kick-off ceremony on Friday. According to the ministry, it chose 50 Korean and 50 foreign university students as its ambassadors promoting the Busan City. The foreign students come from 22 countries, including China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, among others. The student ambassadors will carry out activities including creating promotional content for social media,

South Korea will aim to reset relations with the neighboring countries of Japan and China and build regional cooperative network to strengthen its role as a “global pivotal state,” Foreign Minister Park Jin said in his briefing to the president on major diplomatic tasks on Thursday. In his first official report to President Yoon Suk-yeol, Park presented an operation plan to carry out seven major diplomatic tasks, including a diplomacy road map with major countries, operation plans

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun virtually participated in the Supply Chain Ministerial, a US-led ministerial-level meeting to discuss ways to build long-term supply chain reliance for the future, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The Supply Chain Ministerial, hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, was attended by ministers from 18 countries, who together signed a joint statement that was

South Korea will continue to contribute to global peace and prosperity by joining the international community in efforts to put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Minister Park Jin said at a foreign ministerial meeting, according to the ministry Wednesday. Park virtually attended the COVID-19 Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial Meeting, which was jointly hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Tuesday. Park was in Tokyo on his o

South Korea was downgraded in a US annual human trafficking report by a tier for the first time in 20 years. As the US State Department report pointed out, Korea did not “fully” meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Seoul said it would review its past year’s effort and work to provide explanations if necessary. Although Seoul authorities have made no official assessment of the downgrade, officials have reportedly hinted at insufficient communications

The government named Lee Shin-wha, an international relations professor at Korea University, as ambassador-at-large on North Korean human rights issues on Tuesday, filling in the post that has been vacant for the past five years. The Foreign Ministry said it is appointing Lee as the ambassador to support the government’s diplomatic efforts to promote North Korean human rights, on bilateral and multilateral levels. Lee, of the university’s department of political science and inte

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and discussed ways to improve the long-strained bilateral ties between the two countries in Tokyo on Tuesday. In his meeting with Kishida, Park delivered South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s message and Yoon’s determination to reset bilateral ties with Japan. “I relayed President Yoon’s message and suggested for the two leaders (Yoon and Kishida) to meet at a convenient time to re