South Korea and the U.S. are “on the best of terms” regarding a shared belief to remain firm against North Korea’s nuclear activities and activate their free trade deal at the earliest possible date, Seoul’s ambassador to Washington said Thursday.“We have been together on maintaining international sanctions against North Korea, while also keeping open chances of dialogue,” Amb. Han Duck-soo said d

Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi again emphasized the need for the resumption soon of the stalled multinational talks on North Korea’s denuclearization, indicating the lingering opinion gap with Seoul over how to deal with the North’s ongoing nuclear ambitions. The two-day visit by Yang Jiechi comes as regional powers share escalating concerns over Pyongyang’s ongoing nuclear threat a

The Foreign Ministry issued an alert against traveling to all regions of Libya on Tuesday, strengthening its previous warning as anti-government protests have been spreading across the northern African state and rioters breaking into Korean construction sites. Under the second-highest travel alert, all South Korean nationals are advised to leave the state or defer nonessential trips, the ministry

South Korea opened an annual conference of its diplomatic mission chiefs Monday, with hundreds of senior diplomats gathering in Seoul to discuss “business diplomacy” plus other topics prepared to familiarize them with the nation’s foreign policy objectives this year. Some 115 ambassadors and consuls-general will be attending the meeting running through Friday. The diplomats will be briefed on a va

S. Korea issued an alert against travelling to Libya. (Yonhap News)South Korea on Sunday issued an alert against traveling to Libya, asking its nationals to defer nonessential trips to the northern African state currently engulfed in violent anti-government protests. Eastern parts of Libya have been issued with the strongest alert, while South Korean nationals are also asked to reconsider trips to

Viewing North Korea not only as a military threat, but also a diplomatic rival, South Korea strove to prevent its major allies from increasing exchanges with the North three decades ago, Seoul’s declassified diplomatic papers showed Monday. Following the assassination of its authoritarian strongman Park Chung-hee in 1979, Seoul went through a rough period in the early 1980s, striving to prevent di

One of the South Korean crew of a fishing boat recently released by Somali pirates apparently fell to his death from a hotel in Kenya, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Kim Yong-hyun, the chief engineer of the freed vessel Keummi 305, was found dead around 8:25 a.m. Thursday, Korean time, after falling from his third-floor hotel room. It is unclear whether he jumped as no suicide note has be

South Korea and Japan reconfirmed their shared position not to unconditionally jump into peace talks with North Korea during their ministerial-level talks this week, giving China and Russia a wide berth on the issue. Seoul’s Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said he and his Japanese counterpart Seiji Maehara agreed to “create the necessary terms” for the restart of the stalled international talks on

Seoul says there are no clear signs of additional food rationing usually given out to mark anniversaryNorth Koreans greeted the 69th birthday of their “Dear Leader” on Wednesday, their deepening food shortages and apparent hunger momentarily forgotten amid hordes of flowers and neon signs, which light up the usually bare streets.Images released by the North Korean media this week showed handouts a

South Korea is to enact laws to discourage its people from engaging in illegal activities overseas, a move seen by Christian groups here as an attempt to curb missionary work.The South Korean government has been trying to deal with the growing dangers of Christians working as missionaries in Islamic nations, especially after a young missionary was kidnapped and killed by insurgents in Iraq in 2004

South Korea and the U.S. will hold a second round of talks over how to revise their decades-old nuclear cooperation pact, sources said Tuesday. Forged in 1974, the current Seoul-Washington peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement, which bans South Korea from reprocessing spent fuel from civilian nuclear plants, will expire in 2014.Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department’s special adviser for nonpr

A South Korean fishing vessel released by Somali pirates arrived in Kenya on Tuesday, its crew walking on land for the first time since being kidnapped four months ago, according to news reports. Seoul’s Keummi 305 arrived at Kenya’s Port Mombasa about a week after it was freed on Feb. 9 under the escort of a Finnish warship belonging to a fleet of the European Union.All 43 crew members of the 241

A South Korean fishing vessel recently released by Somali pirates is expected to reach Kenya early Tuesday, as it heads back home after four months of captivity, the Foreign Ministry here said. Seoul’s Keummi 305 is currently passing through international waters at an 8-knot average speed after receiving fuel over the weekend, a ministry official said. The 241-ton boat is expected to arrive at Ken

Seoul remains lukewarm toward assistance amid stalemate in tiesThe U.N. has said it will send experts to North Korea next week over a purported foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, in the first international move to help the impoverished state curb the fast-spreading livestock virus. While the South Korean government so far remains lukewarm toward joining the move, North Korea’s apparent call for outs

Chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China discussed North Korea’s nuclear programs in Beijing on Thursday, a day after Pyongyang dealt a setback in resuming international peace negotiations by walking out on Seoul during their defense talks. Two days of inter-Korean preliminary military talks at a border village ended Wednesday after delegates from Pyongyang abruptly left the room, saying they

The base of South Korea’s provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan came under attack from unidentified assailants who fired rocket propelled grenades, but there were no casualties, a Seoul official said Wednesday. The attackers fired five shells, two of which fell within the South Korean base, a Foreign Ministry official said, on the condition of anonymity. “The situation came under control w

Experts say resistance by N.K. military to father-son succession more likely than popular revoltIf there is one thing the ironfisted North Korean regime fears, it’s outside information ― and what that can do to its people. As the world is paying close attention to the antigovernment protests in Egypt, the reclusive North has so far not made any comments regarding the weeks-long situation in the No

The U.S. and South Korea are working closely together to coordinate policies on “tricky issues,” a visiting U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights said Tuesday, indicating the allies’ ongoing discussions over whether to send food aid to the impoverished state. Special envoy Robert King arrived here Sunday for talks with South Korea’s foreign and unification ministry officials as recent reports s

While a growing number of South Koreans are empathetic toward North Koreans, fewer view reunification as essential, a local study showed Tuesday. Some 12 percent of people here currently view reunifying with communist North Korea as an “essential national goal,” a sharp decline from the 58 percent of people who felt this way in 1995, according to analysis released by a North Korea expert here. On

Some 297 volumes of Korean royal books taken by France during their war in the 19th century will be returned by the Paris government by May, the Seoul government said Monday. One of the Joseon-period royal books set to return from France (Yonhap News)South Korea and France officially forged a pact Monday over the return of centuries-old “Oegyujanggak books” as follow-up to French President Nicolas