President Lee Myung-bak on Monday met with U.S. Senator Jim Webb, who chairs a senate subcommittee on the East Asian region, to discuss North Korean issues as well as the bilateral free trade agreement that is pending approval from their respective parliaments. Lee appreciated Webb’s efforts as chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs for early ratification of the Korea-U.S....

SANGJU, (Yonhap) - President Lee Myung-bak expressed confidence Saturday that his controversial river restoration project will gain broader support once it is completed later this year. The push for cleaning and refurbishing South Korea's four major rivers is one of Lee's main projects, the results of which will apparently affect the assessment of his presidency. "All (of the people) will accep...

A local lawmaker on Saturday forwarded a bill to transform the Dokdo islets into an inhabited area to silence Japan's sovereignty claims against the South Korean territory. Rep. Park Sun-young of the conservative Liberty Forward Party said the bill supports enhancing overall living conditions on the rocky islets in the East Sea. It outlines expanding the pier facility to accommodate larger vesse...

(Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States are conducting a joint study on Seoul's own missile defense system amid high tensions following North Korea's two deadly attacks last year, sources said Friday. South Korea is aiming to complete the building its own missile defense system by 2015 that is designed to intercept ballistic missiles from North Korea. South Korea, which has ruled out join...

President Lee Myung-bak is expected to carry out a minor Cabinet reshuffle early next month that could affect at least four ministers, which likely includes the agriculture minister, who was in charge of handling the recent foot-and-mouth disease crisis, an official said Thursday. The reorganization is expected to take place about one to two weeks after the April 27 by-elections, the official sa...

President Lee Myung-bak will send his political archrival Rep. Park Geun-hye as his special envoy to the Netherlands, Portugal and Greece later this month, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. Park, a factional leader of the ruling Grand National Party who had competed against Lee for the party’s presidential ticket in the 2007 elections, is so far the GNP’s strongest contender for the presidential race...

A partisan clash is expected over the ratification of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement in which more than 200 mistranslations were found recently. The parliamentary foreign affairs committee Wednesday opened a two-day session, during which the ruling and opposition parties were sharply divided on whether to ratify the agreement. The ruling Grand National Party is determined to ratify the agree...

South and North Korea Tuesday reached an agreement to make an on-site survey of Mt. Baekdu in mid-June after holding expert-led talks on the risk of a potential volcanic eruption at the mountain in May in Pyongyang or a convenient location, officials said. Earlier in the day, experts from South and North Korea held the second round of volcano talks in Gaesong, the North's industrial city near th...