Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the US and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting this week in Hawaii to discuss ways to restart the stalled talks and rid the North of its nuclear weapons, amid escalating tension after the regime’s back-to-back missile launches. 　 South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will meet with his American and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakos

Foreign Affairs Feb. 7, 2022

North Korea continued to expand its nuclear and missile programs last year despite international sanctions, while the regime relied on cryptocurrency heists as its key revenue source, according to a news report Sunday. 　 A United Nations panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang said the regime “continued to develop its capability for production of nuclear fissile materials,” despite no reported nuclear tests or launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles last year, in

North Korea Feb. 6, 2022

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Thursday expressed deep disappointment and protested against Japan’s recent decision to seek a UNESCO World Heritage List designation for the gold mine on the island of Sado, which is associated with the wartime abuse of Korean laborers, in his first phone call with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi.  Their conversation came just days after the Japanese government on Tuesday decided to go ahead with the listing of the Sado min

Foreign Affairs Feb. 3, 2022

The South Korean government is seeking to establish a new office in a city along the China-North Korea border to facilitate inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, amid signs that the North may relax its pandemic border closure soon. 　 The South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association, which is run by the Unification Ministry, plans to open its first overseas bureau in a Chinese city near the border with North Korea, the ministry said Thursday. 　 “There are many private

North Korea Feb. 3, 2022

After more than a year wait, the Joe Biden administration has decided on a new US ambassador to South Korea, according to sources here. It will nominate Philip Goldberg, a career diplomat currently serving as US Ambassador to Colombia, to lead the US mission in Seoul at a critical moment on the Korean Peninsula. Observers are trying to determine what Washington’s selection would mean for the future of the 70-year alliance and its approaches to nuclear-armed North Korea, as well as how it

Foreign Affairs Jan. 31, 2022

North Korea on Friday confirmed it had test-fired an upgraded long-range cruise missile and a tactical guided missile this week, as its leader Kim Jong-un inspected a munitions factory for the first time in years.  The official Korean Central News Agency said it “conducted the test-firing for updating long-range cruise missile system and the test-fire for confirming the power of conventional warhead for surface-to-surface tactical guided missile” respectively on Tuesday and T

North Korea Jan. 28, 2022

South Korean government advised its nationals residing in 15 regions in Ukraine to leave amid heightened fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. 　 The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday additionally placed 12 provinces located in the eastern and northern regions of Ukraine, including capital Kyiv, Rivne, Sumy and Odessa, under the elevated travel alert, advising South Korean nationals to swiftly exit the region. 　 Fifteen out of Ukraine’s 25 provinces are now under a Level 3 travel ad

Foreign Affairs Jan. 26, 2022

The US’ push to impose UN sanctions on five North Koreans responsible for the regime’s recent missile launches could be delayed for at least six months, after China and Russia blocked the move. 　 Norway, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in January, confirmed that China and Russia have put a hold on a US initiative to impose additional UN sanctions on the regime, according to a Voice of America report Tuesday. It added that the block period can last up

North Korea Jan. 25, 2022

Seo Kyung-duk, a well-known professor at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul, on Monday slammed the Japanese Embassy in Seoul for rejecting President Moon Jae-in’s Lunar New Year gift that bears an image resembling the Dokdo islets on the gift box, saying it was an attempt to make the island an area of conflict. 　 Cheong Wa Dae had sent a gift box with chestnuts, traditional liquor and other items to all the foreign ambassadors, including Japanese Ambassador Koichi Aiboshi, ahead

Foreign Affairs Jan. 24, 2022

US Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed support for South Korea’s proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean War, but stressed that the declaration on its own is “meaningless” if Pyongyang is reluctant to talk or makes no progress toward denuclearization. 　 “I commend the Biden and Moon administrations for taking steps to engage North Korea and urge North Korea to return to the negotiating table,” Meeks said in a statemen

North Korea Jan. 20, 2022

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who is running to be the next director general of the International Labor Organization, will face a public hearing to present her candidacy and take questions from the organization’s governing body on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland. 　 The ILO on Wednesday said public dialogues with five candidates for its top job will be held on Thursday and Friday. A Foreign Ministry official said Kang’s meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. (Geneva time) on Thur

Foreign Affairs Jan. 19, 2022

The US has called for a new UN Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea’s fourth missile launch this month, as Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on the reclusive regime to curb its prohibited weapons program.   Closed-door consultations of the UN’s most powerful body are expected to take place on Thursday, at the request of the US, along with the UK, France, Albania, Ireland and Mexico, according to Agence France-Presse. 　 “We will continue to ramp up the pre

Foreign Affairs Jan. 19, 2022

The US envoy for North Korea urged Pyongyang to cease its “unlawful and destabilizing” activities and engage in dialogue in his talks with South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Monday after the North’s latest missile test. 　 US Special Representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, South Korea’s Noh Kyu-duk and Japan’s Takehiro Funakoshi held three-way phone talks immediately after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles –- the latest in a flurry of weapons

North Korea Jan. 18, 2022

Seoul on Monday strongly protested against Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s remarks that renewed territorial claims over South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, demanding an immediate retraction.  South Korea’s reaction came after Hayashi reiterated Tokyo’s stance that Dokdo, which is known as Takeshima in Japan, is a territory inherent to Japan in view of historical facts and international law in his speech outlining the government’s foreign

Foreign Affairs Jan. 17, 2022

Cargo trains between North Korea and China have resumed operation for the first time in nearly two years since the border closure due to the pandemic, in a sign that the two countries may be readying to fully resume land trade soon. 　 The first train, which arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Sunday, returned home to the North’s Sinuiju at around 7 a.m., according to Yonhap News Agency. 　 The first train was empty when it arrived in China, but its return trip was likely loa

North Korea Jan. 17, 2022