The U.S. has included its advanced missile defense system as part of its extra forces to be supplied to help defend South Korea in contingencies, a news report said Sunday, adding to heated controversy over the asset’s possible deployment on the peninsula. Last week, the U.S. Forces Korea confirmed for the first time that the military has carried out a site survey for possible stationing of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system. Though no final decision had been reached on its deploymen

Korea’s former ambassador to Indonesia Kim Young-sun will take the helm at the ASEAN-Korea Center on Friday, vowing support for the region’s political, economic and social integration. Kim Young-sunThe 60-year-old career diplomat succeeds Chung Hae-moon and will serve for three years as the agency’s third secretary-general. Kim called 2015 a “momentous year” as the 10-member coalition gears up to introduce the ASEAN Economic Community for greater security, economic and sociocultural integration.

The U.S. has carried out a site survey for a possible stationing of its advanced missile defense asset, the U.S. Forces Korea said Thursday, adding that no final decision had been made on the deployment. The monthslong study is believed to have taken place early last year at five sites including Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province; Wonju, Gangwon Province; and Busan. The statement was the U.S. military’s first official confirmation of the survey. The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system would he

Unification Minister nominee Hong Yong-pyo on Wednesday said sending a special envoy to North Korea could be an option to consider in the efforts to help defrost cross-border ties. At his confirmation hearing, the former presidential unification secretary and college professor apologized for allegations of tax evasion, fake resident registration, plagiarism and other wrongdoings. Expressing regret over strained inter-Korean relations, Hong pledged to explore the “best ways” to bring about a thaw

Police have launched a probe into allegations by a female official at the Foreign Ministry that she was sexually harassed by her director-level senior during a recent trip to Africa, officials said Wednesday. The victim claimed that she woke up in her single guesthouse room on feeling the accused touching her body and removing her clothes. The two had drinks together previously in the evening with others. She filed a complaint at an internal human resources team and reported the incident to the

Korea stepped up pressure on Japan to resolve the issue of its sexual enslavement of Asian women during World War II at the U.N. on Monday, as bilateral negotiations continue to make little headway. At the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hee-jung tacitly urged Tokyo to face up to history and resolve the issue in line with its commitment to tackling violence against women. It was the first time for Seoul to raise the issue at the panel. “I am encour

President Park Geun-hye on Monday visited U.S Ambassador Mark Lippert, who was attacked by a radical activist last week, immediately upon her return from the Middle East tour and wished him a swift recovery while pledging a more robust alliance.Park’s visit topped throngs of calls made by Seoul’s high-level officials and politicians, as various religious and civic groups continued to hold rallies and events to send well-wishes to the ambassador who suffered deep cuts to his face and left hand.Du

Seoul and Washington are seeking to boost high-level exchanges as they strive to turn around the mood and contain the aftermath of a knife attack against the U.S. ambassador here. Mark Lippert received slashes to his face and arm before a seminar in Seoul on Thursday by an ultraleft activist wielding a 25-centimeter knife and calling for a halt to South Korea-U.S. military drills and reunification with North Korea. The incident prompted concerns that it could sour public sentiment in both countr

South Korea on Tuesday urged the North to take action to improve its human rights situation, lambasting its ongoing attempt to undermine a landmark U.N. study in the wake of a defector’s changes in his account. Speaking at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul called on the international community to provide “special care and protection” to North Korean asylum seekers, taking a veiled swipe at China for deporting them despite the harsh punishment they face ba

The U.S. has stepped in to defuse a rising furor after a top official openly expressed frustration over ongoing historical feuds in Northeast Asia, tacitly blaming South Korea and China for exploiting “nationalist feelings” toward Japan for domestic interests. At a seminar in Washington on Friday, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said historical and territorial “disagreements” between the three countries are “understandable, but it can also be frustrating.”“Nation

After pursuing a hard-line approach for years, South Korea may be seeing its policy toward Japan coming to a head as signs emerge of a rift with the U.S.With President Park Geun-hye’s inauguration in February 2013, it seemed the relationship with Japan could not possibly deteriorate further. Two years later, ties are still frosty. Many diplomatic and security initiatives are at a standstill. Businesses have closed down or scaled back investment, while tourist in- and outflows contracted. Though

The two Koreas are poised to face off at the U.N. in Geneva this week as the South plans to ratchet up pressure over the North’s grim human rights record while Pyongyang wages a campaign to undercut an upcoming resolution against it. Seoul’s Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is scheduled to deliver a keynote address on Tuesday at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which kicks off Monday for a four-day run. He is expected to stress the need for follow-up measures in line with

President Park Geun-hye on Sunday urged Japan to face up to and sincerely atone for its brutalities during colonial rule as a first step to writing a “new history” with Korea for the next 50 years. In her Independence Movement Day address, she called for the two Koreas to meet to discuss reunions of families displaced by the 1950-53 Korean War, while expanding cooperation in sports, culture, arts and humanitarian areas. With the Korea-Japan relationship marking the 50th anniversary of its normal

North Korea is not yet likely to have miniaturized nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles, though it appears to have been developing related technology to a “considerable” degree, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.“They have technology of a considerable level but it is unlikely they are capable of miniaturizing nuclear warheads. In other words, they have not mastered the weaponization process,” ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a regular news briefing.His remarks run counter

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo said Wednesday he will look into the money-for-prisoner scheme used by former West Germany in tackling the issue of South Korean abductees in North Korea, rekindling concerns about its feasibility.In his debut facing parliamentary questions, Lee pledged to sustain humanitarian matters as a top priority in Seoul’s approach to Pyongyang despite “difficulties” such as bilateral sanctions imposed after the communist country’s fatal attacks on a South Korean corvette and a

A Korean teenager who went missing in Turkey last month is training to become a member of the Islamic State militant group, the National Intelligence Service said Tuesday. The 18-year-old tourist from Seoul, surnamed Kim, vanished on Jan. 10 after leaving a hotel in the border town of Kilis. He initially arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 8 and flew to the southern city of Gaziantep before reaching Kilis by car the next day, a typical route locals say is taken by aspiring IS jihadists. The Seoul police

South Korea and the U.S. plan to stage their annual joint military drills next month, the allies said Tuesday, as North Korea threatened a military response to what it called a “rehearsal for aggressive war.” Key Resolve, a computer simulated command post exercise, will kick off on March 2 for a 12-day run, involving some 10,000 South Korean troops and 8,600 American servicemen. The Foal Eagle field training drill, which will continue through April 24, is expected to mobilize about 200,000 South

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is coming under mounting pressure to defuse his revisionist views and embrace a more repentant attitude toward wartime history as some activists seek to submit a petition against his envisaged plan to address U.S. Congress this year. The Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, a group consisting chiefly of Korean-American scholars and activists based in the U.S. capital, said it plans to send a letter to Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on

Seoul on Sunday slammed the Japanese government’s dispatch of a high-level official to a local event designed to stress its claim to the Korean islets of Dokdo. The Shinzo Abe administration sent a vice minister-level official for a third straight year since its launch to the “Takeshima Day” ceremony in Shimane Prefecture attended by some 500 politicians, local government officials and residents. The islets are an “inherent part of Japan’s territory under international law. We will make all-out

Propelled by her lifelong wish to help the needy and thirst for field experience, Hong Na-yeon volunteered to head to Sierra Leone and look after Ebola patients as part of Korea’s first emergency response team in December. There, the virus’ worst epidemic in history continues to unfold. Dozens of new patients pour every week into the Goderich treatment center in the suburbs of the capital Freetown. The 100-bed hospital, run by Italian relief group Emergency, is hardly able to keep track of patie