South Korean and Chinese nuclear envoys held talks here Monday on ways to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table, capitalizing on the mood of closer security ties between the two nations following President Park Geun-hye's visit to Beijing last week.Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed in a summit to push for the resumption of "meaningful" six-party talks on denuclearizing the North. They also warned Pyongyang against further provocations to raise military tensions on the p

South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun plans to visit Iran for a high-level policy consultation meeting later this week, as Seoul steps up efforts to bolster bilateral ties in the wake of the landmark Iranian nuclear deal.During his stay in Tehran on Friday and Saturday, Kim will hold a policy meeting with Ibrahim Rahimpour, deputy minister for Asia-Pacific affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.Kim also plans to

Unification Ministry spokesperson Jeong Joon-hee (Yonhap)South Korea chided North Korea Friday for criticizing President Park Geun-hye’s mention of the Aug. 4 land mine provocation during her summit with the Chinese leader, and for Pyongyang’s repeated moves to discredit the recent bilateral agreement to defuse border tensions.Seoul had refrained from trading barbs with Pyongyang to stably implement the Aug. 25 agreement including the resumption of reunions of families separated across the borde

Tiananmen Square on Thursday turned into a pomp-filled showcase of China’s military prowess, with the march of its goose-stepping troops leading a formidable display of intercontinental nuclear missiles, fighters, bombers, drones and other high-tech weapons.During the much-anticipated military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered a message of “peace and justice,” which was eclipsed by the massive presentation of China’s homebuilt com

President Park Geun-hye’s trip to China this week further underscored Pyongyang’s deepening isolation and estrangement from Beijing, drawing keen attention to how the communist regime would seek to address its diplomatic impasse. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a recent party meeting. (Yonhap)Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a summit for the sixth time Wednesday with a focus on joint efforts to address North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and provocations, reaffirming pr

Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun came under fire again for an online column that called President Park Geun-hye’s plan to attend China’s World War II victory event “toadyism” and likened her to a 19th-century Korean empress assassinated by Japan.President Park Geun-hye presides over a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. (Yonhap)In its Monday edition, the conservative daily carried the column accusing Korea’s diplomacy of being historically subservient to big powers -- China, Russia or

South Korea faces a tough decision over its economic sanctions against North Korea, as the public here remains torn over the issue that could affect voter sentiment ahead of the parliamentary elections next April.Seoul maintains that the so-called May 24 sanctions, which were imposed after Pyongyang’s torpedo attack on the corvette Cheonan in March 2010, can only be terminated with the regime’s apology for it, steps to prevent a recurrence and the punishment of the attackers. North Korea leader

Cross-border tensions further abated over the weekend as North Korea accepted the South’s offer to hold bilateral Red Cross talks on Sept. 7 to arrange the reunions of separated families, with each military seen readjusting their readiness posture to a precrisis level.The DMZ train traveling along the border areas comes to a halt at Daemari Station in Cheolwon, Gangwon Province, on Sunday. Its operations had been stopped for some time due to cross-border tensions. (Yonhap)On Saturday, a day afte

The South Korean Red Cross is set to launch a survey of surviving members of the separated families soon to prepare for the reunions to be held in mid-October.The organization will set up some 100 telephones and begin the confirmation process of the applicants’ current status and whereabouts after consultation with the Unification Ministry, a Red Cross official told The Korea Herald.Since 1988, a total of 129,698 people have registered with the Seoul government as having their relatives in the N

 The new wartime contingency plan of South Korea and the U.S. is presumed to address the growing concerns over North Korea’s evolving weapons of mass destruction and likely to reflect changes in the U.S. force structure and strategy, analysts said Thursday.North Korea soldiers pledge allegiance in front of the statues of North Korea’s national founder Kim Il-sung and former leader Kim Jong-il on Tuesday. (Yonhap)Seoul and Washington reportedly signed the so-called Operations Plan 5015 in June to

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will hold talks with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry to discuss a range of issues, including North Korea’s recent provocations and the bilateral summit slated for October, during his visit to the U.S. from Saturday to next Monday.Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the bilateral meeting will be held on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers over Arctic-related issues, called “Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, En

Past inter-Korean talks over sensitive issues often descended into acrimonious squabbles with North Korean officials spewing out verbal threats, such as turning Seoul into a “sea of flames,” and sometimes storming out of the conference room.South Korea’s Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo speaks during his meeting with Son Gwang-ju, the new director of the Korea Hana Foundation, an organization to support North Korean defectors, in his office in central Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)The latest talks

 An intense war of nerves unfolded during the rare four-day cross-border talks, with South Korea pressuring the North to apologize for the recent set of North Korean provocations, while the other side tried to gloss over its responsibility, a senior Seoul official said Tuesday.Top officials from the two Koreas engage in intense talks in South Korea’s Peace House in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom this week. (Unification Ministry)However, the two sides reached an agreement through t

Although the rare cross-border talks brought the two Koreas away from the brink of an armed clash Tuesday, concerns persist over whether the development would effectively end what South Korea terms the “vicious cycle” of North Korean provocations. A peaceful North Korean village in Gaepung, North Hwanghae Province, is seen from South Korea’s frontline area on Tuesday. (Yonhap)Following the four-day talks that stretched into Tuesday morning, Pyongyang offered a rare expression of “regret” in a jo

President Park Geun-hye on Monday increased her pressure on North Korea to apologize for the recent land mine blast and prevent a recurrence, warning that South Korea would continue its propaganda broadcasts should her demands not be met.President Park Geun-hye presides over a meeting of her senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday. (Yonhap)Park maintained a hard-line stance as the two Koreas continued grueling high-level talks over a recent spate of North Korean attacks at the inter-Korean

The rare inter-Korean talks resumed on Sunday and stretched into the late evening as the two sides struggled to reach a compromise to defuse tensions on the peninsula, with Pyongyang warning of military actions to stop Seoul’s propaganda broadcasts.Held at South Korea’s House of Peace in the border village of Panmunjeom, the high-level talks began at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and continued until 4:15 a.m. on Sunday. After what they called an “adjournment,” the talks resumed at 3:30 p.m. the same day

From a series of provocations to an abrupt offer of cross-border dialogue, North Korea’s contradictory actions have raised questions about whether its leader Kim Jong-un’s dealings with the South are based on thought-out strategy or ham-fisted decision-making.　Last Thursday, the regime sharply raised inter-Korean tensions by issuing a 48-hour ultimatum for the South to halt propaganda broadcasts and warning of “military action,” only to offer high-level inter-Korean talks the next day.North Kore

Major regional powers are vying to strengthen their geopolitical foothold on the strategically vital Eurasian continent with their distinctive policy initiatives striving to court Asian nations including South Korea.For them, Eurasia, accounting for 71 percent of the world’s population and 60 percent of the global gross domestic product, is critical as their influence over it would, after all, determine their global status, analysts say.Among other policy initiatives, China’s “One Belt One Road”

For South Korea, Eurasia is a continental landmass of opportunities for energy supply, economic growth, cultural exchanges and other untapped possibilities. But it also entails daunting geopolitical challenges the divided country has long confronted. Participants of the Seoul-led Eurasia Express journey wave for a photo at Perm Station in Russia on July 25 during their 14,400-kilometer trip from Beijing and Vladivostok to Berlin. (Yonhap)Despite a series of constant obstacles to its diplomacy in

South Korea revved up its diplomacy Friday to secure international cooperation in deterring North Korean provocations, as tensions flared anew due to Pyongyang’s rocket attack and warning of “military action.”  　Seoul explained the facts of the North’s rocket provocation to major countries and the United Nations, and discussed with them ways to fend off additional provocations that could include a rocket launch disguised as a satellite launch.Earlier in the day, South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy