Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, expressed hope for "forward-looking" relations with South Korea as "important neighbors" in his recent letter to President Moon Jae-in, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. Suga sent a reply to Moon on Saturday for his congratulatory message, as he was sworn in as the successor of Shinzo Abe, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Suga said he hopes that the two sides will establish forward-looking ties by overcoming "diff

An international organization on maritime data is expected to adopt new guidelines later this year to refer to all seas by numbers, rather than specific names, officials said Monday, a move expected to affect a long-running dispute between South Korea and Japan over what to call the East Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) plans to brief its member states on the results of discussions about how to revise the "future of limits on oceans and seas," known as "S-23

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed deep regret over former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead. The shrine honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals. Visits there by ranking Tokyo officials have often provoked the ire of neighboring countries such as South Korea and China, which suffered from Japan’s brutal war crimes. “We express our deepest concern and regret that Abe paid

Russia plans to allow the resumption of flights to and from South Korea late this month, Russia's state coronavirus crisis center said.  Russia banned the entry of foreign nationals and international flights in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has been lifting the ban gradually since August.  The government body announced Friday that flights between Moscow and Incheon, west of Seoul, will restart on Sept. 27 on a weekly basis.  Operations to and from Belarus, Kyrgyzs

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Friday chances are slim of progress in stalled nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea before the US presidential election in November. Kang made the remarks during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Hanoi after talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. "Chances are small that something will happen between North Korea and the United States before the US election," she said when asked about the possibility

The top diplomats of South Korea and Vietnam held talks in Hanoi on Friday to discuss the easing of coronavirus entry restrictions for essential business travelers, bilateral ties and regional issues. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, shared the understanding on the need to introduce a special entry procedure for businesspeople travelling between the two countries, the foreign ministry said. In particular, Minh noted that measures to allow South K

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee has advanced to the second round in the race to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization.   The WTO announced the results of the first round of voting on Friday, selecting five of the eight candidates to proceed to the next round. They are Yoo, Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri from Saudi Arabia, Liam Fox from the UK, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria and Amina Mohamed from Kenya. Three other candidates -- from Egypt, Moldova and Mexico

A South Korean expert on human rights has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors civil and political rights, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.  Soh Chang-rok, a professor based at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies, will serve a four-year term starting in 2021 as one of 18 individual experts on the committee, which oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its member stat

Former South Korean National Assembly speakers are urging Seoul and Tokyo to mend ties, saying that allowing bilateral relations to remain in their current state is detrimental to both countries. In an interview with a local diplomacy journal, four former National Assembly speakers -- Chung Ui-hwa, Moon Hee-sang, Lim Chae-jung and Kim Hyung-o, who served in the role between 2004 and 2020 -- said Korea-Japan relations must not be allowed to continue on their current course and proposed ways to

South Korea, the United States and Japan should work together to protect shared liberal values against Chinese threats undermining such principles, a US State Department official said Thursday. Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, made the remark as he expressed hope for Seoul and Tokyo to mend their ties badly frayed over wartime history so as to promote trilateral cooperation for security in the region. "Our three countries share the values of freedo

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday left for Vietnam for talks with her counterpart there on introducing an expedited entry program for essential visitors from South Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We will have to consult intensively. There still remain a lot of parts that need to be coordinated,” Kang told reporters at the Incheon International Airport as she departs for Hanoi for a two-day trip, when asked about the prospect of a fast-track entry pro

South Korea will hold a ceremony this week to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Philippines' participation in the Korean War, the veterans affairs ministry said Thursday. The Southeast Asian country sent around 7,420 ground troops to help defend South Korea during the 1950-53 conflict, with the first batch arriving at a port in the southern city of Busan on Sept. 19, 1950, according to government data. It was the third country in the world to send troops after the United States and Brit

South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent a letter congratulating new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday, in which he made clear that Seoul is ready to hold dialogue with Tokyo anytime.  Moon is looking forward to a positive response from Suga, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.   In the letter, Moon suggested that they make joint efforts for the development of relations between the neighboring countries, Kang added.  The president is &q

South Korean President Moon Jae-in had a meeting with former British Prime Minister Theresa May at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday and expressed hope for the two nations to continue forward-looking bilateral cooperation. He noted that Britain is a "core partner" that shares basic and universal values with South Korea, having dispatched many troops to help it fight against North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War. This year, in particular, marks the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of th

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked Colombia to support South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee's bid for the top job at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Kang's office said Wednesday. Kang made the appeal during phone talks with her Colombian counterpart, Claudia Blum Capurro de Barberi, earlier in the day, saying that Yoo is the right person to take on the role of restoring multilateralism and to act as a bridge between developed and developing countries, the foreign ministry said in