President Yoon Suk Yeol could visit Japan this month for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida following Seoul's decision to compensate wartime forced labor victims without Japanese firms' involvement, the presidential office said Tuesday. The visit is under strong consideration, the office said, making it the first time in four years detailed discussions are taking place over a South...

WASHINGTON-- The United States will continue to strengthen its trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, a state department spokesperson said Monday, shortly after Seoul and Tokyo announced steps aimed at improving their bilateral ties. Department Press Secretary Ned Price said the US welcomes the "historic" steps taken by the two US allies. "The United States welcomes the historic ann...

Exclusion of Japanese companies from compensation plan prompts backlash amid calls for closure

President Yoon Suk Yeol may visit Japan later this month to mark a historic deal between South Korea and Japan to resolve a long-standing dispute over compensation to forced laborers during Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945, according to sources on Monday. The details of the visit are still being discussed and have not been confirmed by either side. Yoon’s visit is likely to be sc...

Apology, compensation left out of settlement as widely anticipated

National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han said Sunday he plans to finalize the timing and level of President Yoon Suk Yeol's upcoming visit to Washington when he meets with officials in the US capital this week. Kim made the remark to reporters at Incheon International Airport before departing for Washington on a five-day trip that will include meetings with US government officials and academics on...

The Bulgarian Embassy celebrated its National Day on March 3, marking the nation's liberation from the Ottoman Dominion. Bulgarian Embassy commemorated Bulgarian volunteers who fought and liberated Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, leading to the re-establishment of Bulgarian statehood. Delivering welcome remarks at the ceremony, Bulgarian Ambassador Petko Draganov recalled hi...

WASHINGTON -- The United States supports South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's vision for cooperative relations between Seoul and Tokyo, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday. Department Press Secretary Ned Price said the US also applauds both South Korea and Japan for their recent efforts to improve their bilateral relations. "Let me say generally that bilateral cooperation between t...

WASHINGTON -- The United States and South Korea agree on the need to further strengthen US extended deterrence, a US defense department spokesperson said Tuesday, also reaffirming US commitment to deploying strategic assets to South Korea on a rotational basis. The remarks from Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder come after the countries held a Deterrence Strategy Committee Table-Top Exercise aimed at enhancin...

He also introduced a unique Slovak alcoholic drink called Tatratea, a unique herbal tea liqueur. Tatratea, which originated in the Tatra Mountains that border Slovakia and Poland, has alcohol content ranging from 17 percent to 72 percent and an array of enticing flavors. "Everyone can find a Tatratea to suit his or her taste," Kuderjavy said, inviting Korean tourists to discover the beauty of S...

Al-Rashidi referred to the Sheikh Jaber Causeway, the Al-Zour Refinery Plant, the Abdullah and Al-Ahmadi Refinery Plants and applauded Korean companies for playing an important role in implementing several mega-projects of infrastructure, construction, and energy in Kuwait worth billions of US dollars during the past 20 years. "The participation of Korean companies in Kuwaiti projects reflects K...

The Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO commemorated Language Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day 2023 in Seoul on Wednesday. The day is celebrated every year worldwide to promote linguistic and cultural diversity as well as multilingualism. In honoring Bangladesh’s efforts to protect their language, UNESCO also declared Feb. 21 International...

WASHINGTON -- The United States has no hostile intent toward North Korea, a state department spokesperson said Monday, adding that North Korea, on the other hand, continues to make provocations. The remarks come after the North cited what it claimed to be US hostility toward the country, while warning that US provocations against the North will be considered a "declaration of war." "It is the D...

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States are making "practical" progress in enhancing the implementation of US extended deterrence, South Korean ambassador to the US Cho Tae-yong said Monday. Cho also said the allies will hold additional joint exercises to further strengthen the extended deterrence. Extended deterrence refers to US commitment to the defense of South Korea, using the full...

South Korea's National Assembly adopted a resolution Monday urging Japan to withdraw its bid to register a former gold mine linked to wartime forced labor as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Last month, the Japanese government submitted a recommendation letter again to the U.N. body for the listing of the mine on Sado Island, after the initial version, delivered in February last year, was deemed in...