The vice foreign ministers of South Korea and China will hold maritime demarcation talks in Seoul on Tuesday for the first time since 2008, as the two neighbors remain poles apart over how to address their overlapping exclusive economic zones.The talks were arranged after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed the early resumption of the official talks during his summit with President Park Geun-hye in Seoul on Oct. 31. The talks, which used to be director-general-level, have been elevated to the vi

This is the 10th installment in a series of interviews with scholars and experts on China as a resurgent Asian power that is changing the regional order. This installment looks into China’s industrial innovations. -- Ed.　China’s economy is transitioning toward a knowledge-based one through its constant pursuit of technological innovations, mitigating its notoriety for churning out low-quality and fake products, China expert Eun Jong-hak said.The transition has been substantiated by China’s massi

 Seoul and Tokyo failed to bridge their differences Tuesday over the issue of Japan’s colonial-era sexual enslavement of Korean women during their 11th round of director-general-level talks in Tokyo, dashing hopes of settling it by the end of the year. Lee Sang-deok, director general of Northeast Asian affairs at Seoul`s Foreign Ministry speaks to the press in Tokyo on Tuesday. (Yonhap)The two sides agreed to hold an additional round of consultations at the “earliest date,” Lee Sang-deok, direct

The top U.S. general on Monday voiced concerns about the potential “transregional” ramifications of North Korea’s military threats that have evolved with its development of ballistic missiles and capabilities in the cyber and space realms.  Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 1. (AP-Yonhap)Speaking at a defense forum, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford stressed that a conflict on the Korean Peninsula would not be li

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn and his Lao counterpart, Thongsing Thammavong, agreed Monday to work closely on a hydropower project in the Southeast Asian country, a South Korean official said.The two sides had planned to sign a deal on the development of Sepon III hydropower plant at their meeting, though they failed to ink the deal due to differences.The two sides remain at odds over which country will build a road leading up to the power plant, among other things.Still, Hwang and T

South Korea won't give up efforts to improve ties with North Korea despite a failure to strike a deal in their latest talks, a top official said Monday.Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said the government will "leave the door for dialogue open and continue efforts for the development of South-North relations and peace on the Korean Peninsula on a step-by-step basis."He was speaking at a parliamentary forum on the feasibility of a second inter-Korean industrial complex.The two Koreas had two da

The defection of Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and the looming split of the party is a heavy blow to the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, with only four months remaining until the next parliamentary elections. NPAD floor leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul (front) and a few other lawmakers wait for the party`s sgeneral assembly to open at the National Assembly on Monday. (Yonhap)But it is also a repetition of history for a party that has experienced countless divisions and mergers over the past six decades.All th

North Korea may stage additional nuclear and missile tests including from a submarine next year, the country’s top military commanders warned Monday, calling for developing a joint response mechanism with the U.S. and airtight readiness posture at all times. In the wake of the abrupt calling-off of the much-touted performance by North Korea’s Moranbong Band last weekend in China, relations between Pyongyang and Beijing may well head further downhill, the military assessed. “We see that we should

North Korea is keen on resuming the long-stalled tours to Mount Geumgangsan as they would offer a stable source of hard currency, spur efforts to develop tourism on its east coast and eventually enhance the regime’s political legitimacy, analysts said Monday.North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun inspects a fish farm in Pyongyang last week. (Yonhap)Restarting the tour program was one of the thorniest issues at the rare cross-border talks that broke down Saturday as Pyongyang insisted it should be addr

Much-anticipated performances in China by a North Korean female propaganda troupe were canceled abruptly Saturday, sparking many rumors including one related to a possible friction between Beijing and Pyongyang over the latter’s nuclear program. The performances by the Moranbong Band were supposed to begin at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing at 7:30 p.m., but they were called off just three hours before. They were scheduled to continue three days from Saturday.Following the

Uncertainties over the prospects of inter-Korean ties rose Saturday as the rare cross-border talks broke down due to differences over a series of pending issues including the stalled tours to Mount Geumgangsan and the issue of families separated by the border. The vice minister-level talks that started amicably Friday turned into a grueling tug-of-war as Pyongyang officials insisted on resuming the lucrative tours to the mountain and linking the issue to the issue of separated families, Seoul of

Japanese police Wednesday arrested a 27-year-old Korean man suspected of having triggered a small explosion in a restroom at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo last month, according to Japanese reports.The man, identified by his surname Jeon, denies the charges, reports said. Jeon was arrested on charges of “intruding in the shrine without a valid reason” as soon as he landed at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on the day. Seoul’s Foreign Ministry sent a consul to meet him and provide any necessary government

This is the ninth installment in a series of interviews with scholars and experts on China as a resurgent Asian power that is changing the regional order. This installment looks into China’s growing nationalism. -- Ed.　　　China has utilized growing nationalism for domestic purposes such as fostering national unity and reinforcing the governing legitimacy of the Communist Party, China expert Lee Dong-ryul said, calling its nationalism a “state-controlled” one.Lee Dong-ryulUnlike South Korea, the C

Relations between South Korea and a group of four central European nations opened a new chapter on Thursday as they agreed to step up their cooperation in infrastructure development, security, climate change and other areas during their first-ever summit in the Czech Republic. President Park Geun-hye (second from left) and the leaders of the four-nation "Visegrad Group" hold a joint press conference in Prague, the Czech Republic on Thursday. (Yonhap)At the summit with the “Visegrad Group” -- als

The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan shared the need to continuously send a “stern” message to deter North Korea’s provocations such as its test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, during their trilateral meeting on Thursday.After the meeting in Washington, Seoul’s chief negotiator Hwang Joon-kuk said that the three sides agreed to continue their joint efforts to press Pyongyang to return to the dialogue table for its denuclearization, and enhance the “efficacy”

A South Korean man is suspected of triggering an explosion in a restroom at the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japanese war dead, in Tokyo last month, Japanese news reports said Thursday, citing police officials.Mainichi Shimbun reported that an investigation is underway after the police found that a South Korean man in his 30s appeared in the footage of a surveillance camera installed near the restroom right after an explosion that caused no casualties.In the footage, he was seen wandering aroun

South Korea and the Czech Republic agreed to cooperate in the latter’s project to build and maintain additional nuclear power plants during their summit Wednesday, paving the way for Korean firms to join the project estimated to be worth more than 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion).President Park Geun-hye and Czech President Milos Zeman shake hands before their summit talks Wednesday at the Prague Castle in the Czech Republic’s capital. (Yonhap)On the occasion of the summit between President Park Ge

This is the eighth installment in a series of interviews with scholars and experts on China as a resurgent Asian power that is changing the regional order. This installment looks into China’s military power vis-a-vis that of the U.S. Due to the depth and extent of areas covered in this installment, the interview is published on two consecutive pages to provide an unabridged version. -- Ed.　　　China remains far inferior to the U.S. in terms of aggregate military power, but it would be wrong to und

In March 2014, President Park Geun-hye unveiled an ambitious plan to build a multilateral bank to develop North Korea and other areas in Northeast Asia, saying it would help bolster inter-Korean exchanges, ease cross-border tensions and lay the groundwork for reunification. Park continued to tout the initiative most recently at the G20 summit last month.President Park Geun-hye speaks during a U.N. climate change forum in Paris, France on Monday. (Yonhap)But the much-trumpeted plan faces a series

The two Koreas agreed to hold vice-minister-level talks at the joint industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong on Dec. 11 to discuss bilateral pending issues to improve cross-border relations, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday. 　Kim Ki-woong (right), assistant minister of South Korea’s Unification Ministry’s Special Office for Inter-Korean Dialogue, shakes hands with Hwang Chol (left), a senior official of the North’s Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherla