The diplomatic spat between South Korea and Japan appears likely to continue, with the two sides reiterating their positions six days before their military information-sharing pact expires.  On Sunday, Japanese media reported that Tokyo has decided it will not retract trade measures applied to South Korea. According to Yomiuri Shimbun, the Japanese government has arrived at the decision and has informed the US. The paper said the decision was based on the results of talks between foreign af

The top military commanders of South Korea and the US will meet in Seoul on Thursday to discuss the allies’ military readiness and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula at the 44th Military Committee MeetingThe agenda for the meeting is likely to include issues surrounding Seoul’s General Security of Military Information Agreement with Tokyo, and the ongoing defense cost-sharing negotiations. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley arrived in Seoul on

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the importance of strengthening ties with ASEAN member states, saying the region is key to his administration’s foreign policy. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Busan ahead of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the Mekong-Korea Summit scheduled to be held in the southern port city Nov. 25-27, Moon highlighted the importance of the region and developments in Korea-ASEAN relations and said his foreign policy differs from that of past administrati

The Ministry of Justice will put into place a number of key prosecutorial reform measures within the year to maintain the momentum of reform, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.  According to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung, Vice Minister of Justice Kim O-su briefed President Moon Jae-in on the ministry’s prosecutorial reform plans on Friday, listing changes the ministry aims to complete by the end of the year. According to the plans, the Justice Ministry has selected core tasks for pro

President Moon Jae-in on Friday stressed the importance of ridding the nation of corrupt practices, listing education and prosecution reform as two of the most urgent issues. Speaking at a meeting of the anti-corruption policy committee, Moon said the labor market and the practice of giving preferential treatment to retired public officials need urgent reform.  “Anti-corruption reform and (building a) fair society is a calling of our administration,” Moon said. Listing changes m

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang on Wednesday stressed the need to lay the grounds for resolving the latest Seoul-Tokyo friction within the year, while Japanese media reported that Tokyo would not accept the plans Moon proposed the previous day. Speaking at a meeting with leaders of a Korean school in Japan, Moon said that legislative processes regarding the matter must be resolved within the year. “There are two important turning points on Nov. 23 and at the end of the year. O

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party raised the heat on Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday, calling for the removal from office of two of President Moon Jae-in’s top aides. The main opposition accuses national security office chief Chung Eui-yong of perjury and senior secretary for political affairs Kang Gi-jung of insulting the National Assembly, in connection with their actions during the parliamentary audit of the presidential office Friday.  “Chung no longer has the right to sit in

President Moon Jae-in’s diplomacy plans appear to have been foiled by Chile’s decision to cancel the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit which was scheduled to be held in Santiago on Nov. 16-17. On Wednesday, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced the cancellation of the APEC meeting, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which were to be held in November and December, respectively. Announcing the decision, Pinera cited unrest caused by nation

The funeral of President Moon Jae-in’s mother Kang Han-ok was held Thursday. Kang’s remains were interred at a Catholic facility in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. She died Tuesday evening at the age of 92. Kang was born in Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province, in what is now North Korea. Korean funerals are customarily held over a period of a few days, usually three or five days, with the burial taking place on the final day. The funeral mass at the Namcheon Catholic Cathedral

The US did not ask South Korea to bear the cost of deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula and nearby regions in the ongoing defense cost sharing negotiations, Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.  “The US did not request sharing of the cost of strategic assets’ deployment in the two SMA negotiations,” a Foreign Ministry official was quoted as saying by a local news agency. Seoul and Washington are currently engaged in Special Measures Agree

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday mourned the passing of his mother, and thanked the public for sharing his sorrow. “My mother has passed on. Fortunately, my family and I could watch her go with a peaceful face,” Moon wrote in a Facebook message posted in the early hours of Wednesday.  “All her life she missed her home she could not go back to, and experienced hardship as with all the mothers but she left behind the words ‘still, I was happy.’”Moon&rsquo

North Korea on Tuesday continued to pressure Seoul and Washington, accusing the allies of raising tensions and saying their policies will determine the future of the peninsula. Speaking at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Azerbaijan, Choe Ryong-hae, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, accused the US of aggravating the situation on the peninsula. “The Korean Peninsula situation is at a critical juncture, whether the situation rides on the current of eas

Lee Choon-myeon, a victim of forced labor during Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula during the first half of 20th century, died Saturday. According to the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, Lee passed away in the early hours of Saturday. She was 88 years old.  Lee’s suit seeking compensation from Japan’s Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. is pending at the Supreme Court. Lee’s surviving family members plan to continue the suit. In 1944, Lee, then 13, began working f

The government will push for deregulation and expand subsidies to support the development of the country’s artificial intelligence-related industries, and a national AI strategy will be drawn up within the year, President Moon Jae-in said Monday. Speaking at Developers View 2019 -- the largest AI-related industry event held in Korea -- at the Coex exhibition center in Seoul, Moon pledged increased support for the industry, saying that the “era of AI” has arrived. “We

President Moon Jae-in said Friday that he will not hurry to name a new justice minister, adding that a nomination could affect the prosecutorial reform process by introducing a new variable. The post of justice minister has been vacant since Cho Kuk stepped down amid criminal investigations into his wife, Chung Kyung-shim, and other members of his family. “Prosecutorial reform measures are being implemented and there is the question of whether bills on the fast-track process will be made i

President Moon Jae-in said Friday that tours to North Korea’s Kumgangsan cannot be revived in the form they took before they were discontinued. The comment came hours after the Ministry of Unification revealed that the North had informed the concerned South Korean parties of its intentions to remove facilities from the mountain resort. “(The North Korea’s demands) could go against public sentiment, and such elements may damage inter-Korean relations,” Moon said at a

President Moon Jae-in said Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s idea of denuclearization matches that of the US and Seoul.Speaking at a meeting with the Cheong Wa Dae press corps, Moon said Kim has made it clear that his idea of denuclearization is the same, but that this outcome can only be achieved if the North’s conditions are met.  “Between the two Koreas, the term complete denuclearization is used, and what complete denuclearization means is the same as the d

North Korea on Friday sent official statements to the South demanding the removal of South Korean-built facilities from the Kumgangsan resort, the Ministry of Unification said.  According to the ministry, the statements were sent both to the ministry and to Hyundai Group early Friday. Hyundai Group is the South Korean company that led the development and operation of the resort at the North Korean mountain.In the statement, the North said a new “international tourism and culture zone&

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Tokyo on Thursday and agreed that the deterioration of bilateral relations cannot be allowed to continue.“I interpret (the situation) as being that the sporadic, undisclosed talks between the two sides are becoming official,” Lee was quoted as saying by a local news agency after the meeting. “I have hopes that (the talks) can speed up a little.” Earlier in the day, Cho Sei-young, the first vice

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday called for stronger cooperation between Korea and Spain, saying that Korea hopes to emulate Spain as a bridge that connects the ocean to the continent. Speaking at the Korea-Spain business forum held in Seoul on the occasion of a state visit by Spain’s King Philip VI, Moon highlighted similarities between the two countries and the opportunity for cooperation.  “As Korea and Spain are the gate and hub where a continent and an ocean meet, there ar