President Park Geun-hye said Monday that South Korea will join forces with the international community to induce North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons development program and return to the negotiation table during a Memorial Day speech.   "North Korea must realize that the international community will roll out tougher sanctions as the regime clings to the development of nuke and missiles," Park said, adding the country will eventually fall into further isolation and self-destruction.   The

South Korean banks' loans to the country's three biggest shipbuilders and two major shipping lines jumped 4.8 trillion won (US$4 billion) in the past two and a half years as they borrowed more to continue operations, data by a private corporate firm showed Monday.    Bank loans extended to Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. climbed 4.5 trillion won to 50.54 trillion won at the end of April from 46.06 trillion won as of end-

A former South Korean prime minister who served late President Roh Moo-hyun said Monday that diplomats are not usually suitable for domestic politics, targeting the possible presidential bid by the incumbent United Nations secretary-general.   "The talents of diplomats are not suitable for local politics.Although diplomacy is also important, they don't fit to the politics where tensions are high," former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan said. "I have seen many diplomats, but none of them

North Korea is moving to expand its second work-hard campaign launched this year as it pushes for more growth, state-run media reported Monday.   Pyongyang has kicked off its "200-day campaign of loyalty" this month as part of its five-year economic development plan, unveiled by at the rare ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) congress in early May.   The drive comes on the heels of a 70-day work-hard drive that began earlier this year ahead of the key party gathering that helped solidify North

South Korea's ruling and opposition parties remained at a stalemate a day before the deadline for the formal launching of the new National Assembly, political sources said Monday, casting concerns about the willingness of lawmakers to serve the people.   The ruling Saenuri Party and the Minjoo Party of Korea have been wrangling over the formation of committees and who will name the speaker after the main opposition took one more seat than the ruling party in the 300-seat unicameral parliament fo

Public opinion on North Korea worsened in the wake of that country's fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch earlier this year, a nationwide poll showed Monday.   According to the National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC), a poll carried out on 1,000 adult South Koreans in mid March, showed 34.6 percent saying Seoul should maintain a high degree of vigilance towards the North and its provocations. The same survey showed 27.2 percent of the respondents viewing the reclusive neighbor

As we celebrate the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relationships between France and Korea, 2015 and 2016 have been very rich in high level meetings. Following the State Visit of President François Hollande last November, President Park Geun Hye is currently on a State Visit (the first in 16 years!) in France from June 1st to 4th. These meetings at the top are great impulses to strengthen the ties between both countries’ companies and economic institutions, especially regarding creative economie

A visiting U.S. Republican Senator said Monday that the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. will remain firm regardless of who will win the upcoming U.S. presidential election, Seoul's foreign ministry said.   The remarks by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) were made at a luncheon between Lim Sung-nam, a South Korean vice foreign minister and a group of U.S. Republican senators in Seoul earlier in the day, the ministry said.   Sullivan, who leads the U.S. delegation, said that the U.S. Congres

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's newest expression of "great satisfaction" over a recent friendship game between the North Korean and Chinese men's basketball teams is drawing keen attention about his real intention among North Korea watchers here.   On Monday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, "Kim Jong-un expressed great satisfaction over the successful game they played with deep friendship, displaying admirable technique." The game refers to the match between t

South Korea plans to spend around 2.73 trillion won (US$2.29 billion) on its development assistance projects next year aimed at helping less developed countries in many areas, the foreign ministry said Monday.The amount is up 289.2 billion won from 2.44 trillion won set aside for the country's official development assistance (ODA) efforts for this year, according to the ministry.   The government earlier held an ODA committee and finalized its plan to push for a total of 1,295 projects next year

President Park Geun-hye and her Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni launched South Korea's aid program for Uganda on Monday in the latest sign of Seoul’s commitment to boosting development cooperation in Africa.   South Korea -- which has become the first former aid recipient to join the ranks of official donors in a half century -- has been sharing its development experience with many developing countries.   Park and Museveni attended the ceremony to kick off the program, called “Korea Aid”in M

Japan has put its military on alert as North Korea is showing signs of launching a ballistic missile, Japanese media reports showed Monday.   Citing a local government source, NHK reported that the Japanese government has ordered its military to be ready to intercept any ballistic missile to be fired by the North if it enters its territory.    Under the order, Japan's military will deploy Aegis destroyers equipped with high-performing radars and intercept capabilities along with ground-based int

Park holds talks with Museveni on trade and N. KoreaPresident Park Geun-hye met with her Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni on Sunday as South Korea is reaching out to Africa to boost business opportunities with the continent that has huge growth potential.   The summit -- the third such meeting between the two leaders -- came as Museveni has cited South Korea as a model for his country’s economic development.   South Korea has become a donor country from a key recipient of U.N. aid in half a c

South Korean police will start wearing new uniforms starting in June, the government said Sunday.   The new uniforms are to be worn by all officers starting on Wednesday and will come in two different versions, one for ordinary police and another for those tasked with traffic control, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.   The shirt of the ordinary police officer uniform will be bluish green in color with navy blue trousers. Traffic police uniform shirts will be ivory white, to make them more

A book on a legal battle between the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and 300 South Koreans who were forced into labor decades ago has hit the shelves, a civic group supporting the victims said Sunday.   The book explains detailed court records of a decade-long battle starting in 1999 when eight S. Korean victims first filed a lawsuit with a Japanese court against Mitsubishi Heavy, demanding compensation for their forced labor during the country's 1910-45 colonial rule.   The legal

South Korea has signed a series of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Uganda to strengthen cooperation in the health sector, health ministry officials here said Sunday.   The agreement was made in Kampala as South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni watched their representatives sign three MOUs in the health care sector and one MOU in the social welfare sector, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.    The MOUs call for, among other things, advancing a br

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni vowed Sunday to cut off his country’s security and military cooperation with North Korea, in the latest increase in international diplomatic pressure exerted on Pyongyang over its nuclear program, a South Korean official said.   North Korea is under the toughest U.N. sanctions ever over its fourth nuclear test and its long-range rocket launch earlier this year.   “I have instructed officials to faithfully enforce the U.N. Security Council resolution, including s

The organizing committee of the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics said Sunday that its has launched a cybersecurity panel to guard against possible hacking attacks.      The committee said it appointed civilian experts in the cybersecurity field late last week as well as officials from the science and ICT, culture and interior ministries as well as the police so it can guard against and respond effectively to Internet-based threats.   PyeongChang, located 182 kilometers east of Seoul in the m

North Koreans seem to feel minimal impact from the recent economic sanctions, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported Sunday, citing price data surveyed by Japan's Asia Press.   According to the data, the price of 1 kg of rice is 5,000 North Korean won in North Hamkyung province, which is only a slight increase and indicates no major difference from the past.   Rice prices in other parts of the country remain relatively stable as well. In some parts, corn prices even dropped.    While many factors come i

South Korean Navy's Aegis destroyers will get an upgraded missile launch system that will allow them to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, a government source said Sunday.The Navy is moving to install new vertical missile launch systems on its three King Sejong the Great class ships that will allow them to launch the longer range SM-3 and SM-6 ship-to-air missiles, said the military source who declined to be identified.    At present, the ships are only able to fire off the SM-2 missiles