Nearly 200 Korean college students studying abroad have applied for a Seoul internship program focusing on relations with North Korea, the Unification Ministry here said Wednesday, indicating the growing interest among youngsters in the issue. Among some 185 students who applied for the one-month summer internship program, a total of 60 students studying at colleges in the U.S., Canada, Britain, C

Chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and Japan are to meet in Tokyo Wednesday to discuss ways to resume the suspended dialogue with North Korea over its ongoing nuclear ambitions.Before heading to Japan Tuesday, Seoul’s chief envoy Wi Sung-lac said he plans to share views with his counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama on whether changes must be made to the existing strategy to get Pyongyang to talk with Se

The government’s controversial plan to select diplomats through a state-managed postgraduate school instead of current written exams has been shaping up this week, as a related bill has been approved by a parliamentary subcommittee.Under the bill approved by the National Assembly foreign affairs committee, up to 60 people will be entering the so-called “diplomat academy” each year to be trained as

Shin says trilateral secretariat to drive global influence of three as a groupWith South Korea playing the role of a middleman, the Korea, China and Japan cooperative secretariat has the potential to be a global economic giant capable of wielding influence in Asia and beyond, the first secretary-general of the institution said. “These are three already influential nations we are talking about. Can

Washington strongly supports Seoul’s strategy on resuming dialogue with Pyongyang and China shares such position, a visiting U.S. diplomat on East Asian affairs said Friday, promising continued patience in the prolonged deadlock on denuclearizing North Korea. Despite the few differences they have, the U.S., South Korea and China all note the necessity of seeing improved inter-Korean ties before mu

Officials employed as law firm advisors after retiring from mid- and high-level government posts will be forced to disclose their advice fees, the Justice Ministry announced Thursday.The move is part of efforts to stamp out inappropriate financial and political privileges enjoyed by former public servants. Under revised regulations announced by the Ministry of Justice, former officials will also h

Pyongyang, Beijing push joint industrial zone; N.K. defector gets high-level S. Korean postInter-Korean ties remained chilly this week following North Korea’s sudden exposure of the Seoul government’s “humiliating proposal” to hold a summit meeting. As the Lee Myung-bak government in Seoul strove to prevent negative political fallout following the incident, news spread that Pyongyang’s military ha

The U.S. government has tapped Sung Kim, a Korean-American State Department official, as its new ambassador to Seoul, diplomatic sources said over the weekend, a move that is expected to have positive influence over bilateral ties and ongoing efforts to denuclearize North Korea. Once the nomination is officially confirmed, the 51-year-old diplomat will become the first U.S. ambassador to Seoul of

No classified information containing telephone conversations between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama have been leaked, the Foreign Ministry here said over the weekend, denying speculations over the Chinese hacking incident. Speculations soared over the weekend after Shin Hak-yong, lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, claimed to have received a repo

North Korea’s disclosure of what it claims was an “under-the-table proposal” from the South for summits seems to seek a stir here that observers say will not only worsen inter-Korean ties but trigger political conflicts.Pyongyang’s National Defense Commission said Wednesday some of President Lee Myung-bak’s aides had made secretive contact with the North earlier this year to propose three summit m

Ministry says North distorting South’s ‘real intentions’North Korea said Wednesday South Korea proposed to hold three meetings between their leaders and pleaded for any gesture to appease South Koreans still angry over last year’s attacks via an unofficial communication channel.Pyongyang’s powerful National Defense Commission said senior officials from Seoul including President Lee Myung-bak’s sec

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (eighth from left) and his son and heir apparent Jong-un (fourth from left) pose with officials during his recent visit to the Heechun Power Plant construction site in Jagang Province. (Yonhap News)Abandoning its months-long reconciliatory gesture, North Korea threatened this week to cut off a military hotline with South Korea, a change analysts say might affect the

South Korean military officers have been warned not to open suspicious emails sent to them as signs of a North Korean hacking attack have been detected, a military official here said.North Korea, which is believed to be operating a special computer hacking military unit to collect secret information on South Korea, is suspected of sending spam emails carrying viruses to collect classified informat

South Korea must maintain full alert at all times for any provocations by North Korea against its western border islands, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Monday, while visiting the isolated regions that have been the target of North Korean attacks. South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island, one of the five islands located near the western maritime border with the North, became the target of Pyongyang’s de

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s days-long trip to China appears to have done little in securing a promise of reliable financial and diplomatic support from the longstanding ally, observers in Seoul said Friday.A special train carrying Kim and the 70-member entourage left the border region of Dandong Friday morning and is expected to arrive back in Pyongyang later in the day, the South Korean med

Experts say Beijing may have pressured North Korean leader on nuke talksNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il is likely to have pleaded for steady financial support from China, his impoverished state’s last-remaining benefactor, during his purported talks with President Hu Jintao, officials and analysts here said Thursday. The reclusive leader of Pyongyang arrived in Beijing the previous day for an appa

BEIJING (Yonhap News) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Wednesday apparently on boosting economic cooperation and resolving deadlock over Pyongyang's nuclear programs.As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Sunday that Kim's trip, the third in just more than one year, is aimed at learning from China's

A U.S. fact-finding team will be departing for North Korea on Tuesday with some of its members staying over a week for detailed inspection of the food conditions there, officials here said, confirming the mission that may lead to Washington’s resumption of aid and dialogue with the communist state. The team, led by special envoy for North Korean human rights issues Robert King, is expected to stay

Kim’s trip indicates urgency in securing economic assistance from ChinaNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in the eastern city of Nanjing and looked around industrial facilities there, the South Korean media said on Tuesday, the fifth day of the secretive trip indicating the communist state’s need to secure aid and economic support from its main benefactor. Kim traveled to Nanjing in a convoy

The cooperative secretariat of South Korea, Japan and China will help strengthen the partnership between the three neighboring countries and thereby wield a strong influence over the Northeast Asian economy, Seoul’s secretary-general of the institution said. Shin Bong-kil, appointed as the first chief of the institution on May 21, will serve for two years after which the post will be passed to ano