PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ― A special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in North Korea on Saturday on a sports diplomacy mission that he said would include discussions about promoting sports for women, the disabled and the disadvantaged.Wilfried Lemke, Ban’s special adviser on sport for development and peace, is making a four-day trip to North Korea in what is the highest-level U.N. visit in nearly two years.The visit takes place in the wake of tightened U.N. sanctions on t

Several South Korean civic groups called on the government Tuesday to terminate an agreement with the United States on sharing the cost of stationing American troops here.The call came as the two allies began talks in Washington Tuesday on the renewal of the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) due to expire this year. Under the agreement, Seoul paid Washington 836 billion won (US$737.4 million) last year to support about 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea.The civic groups, including the Korea Confed

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei ― President Park Geun-hye will host a “special” summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year in celebration of 25 years of their diplomatic ties, Seoul officials said Monday. The decision was made at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on Sunday. The 10-nation bloc normally hosts a summit with Korea every year. “The event will provide a chance to expand and deepen the Korea-ASEAN relations and strengthen political and security cooperati

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei ― The foreign ministers of Seoul and Tokyo held their first talks on Monday in an apparent effort to mend bilateral relations strained by historical and territorial feuds.The 25-minute conversation between Yun Byung-se and Kishida Fumio took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei. It is the region’s largest security conference with 27 countries participating, including North Korea, the U.S., China and Russia. Yun scrapped a trip to Tokyo in April

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei ― China, the U.S, South Korea and Japan on Monday urged North Korea to relinquish its nuclear programs and return to dialogue for substantive progress. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he reaffirmed the four countries’ commitment to a nuclear-free Korea with his counterparts, urging Pyongyang to meet its obligations specified in a 2005 agreement. He met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shortly after arriving here for the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei and

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei ― South Korea, the U.S., China and other regional powers beefed up diplomatic efforts on Sunday as North Korea intensifies its peace offensive despite the persistent nuclear standoff. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Brunei ahead of the ASEAN Regional Forum and other conferences hosted by the 10-nation Southeast Asian coalition for three days from Sunday. The region’s biggest security forum with 27 participating countrie

China faces a strategic dilemma as South Korea and the U.S. remain steadfast despite North Korea’s peace offensive, while its balky ally covertly continues to ramp up its nuclear capability, extending the standoff and imperiling regional stability. Beijing has long defended Pyongyang against international sanctions using its veto power in the U.N. Security Council and provided economic assistance crucial for its survival. As tensions escalated on the peninsula this year, however, Chinese Preside

The state spy agency’s disclosure of the transcript of a 2007 inter-Korean summit is forecast to deteriorate already frosty cross-border relations and deepen mistrust, opposition lawmakers and experts said Tuesday. During his summit with late North Korean autocrat Kim Jong-il, former President Roh Moo-hyun said the Northern Limit Line, a de facto sea border, should be adjusted. Roh also criticized the 2005 U.S. financial sanctions that pummeled the poverty-stricken economy. The NLL has been a fl

South Korea and the U.S. remained unwavering in their demands for North Korea’s sincerity toward denuclearization despite the communist state’s peace offensive intensified by a top envoy’s rare news conference at the U.N. over the weekend.North Korean Ambassador Sin Son-ho in New York on Friday reaffirmed Pyongyang’s offer of senior-level talks with Washington to defuse tension, discuss a peace mechanism to replace the 1953 armistice and resolve the nuclear weapons issue. The event came shortly

PYONGYANG (AP) ― In the lobby of Pyongyang’s maternity hospital, a government guide pauses during a tour, pointing down to an elaborate flower pattern glowing in buffed red and green marble.“One hundred and sixty-five tons of rare stones were used on the floor,” Mun Chang-un proudly tells the foreign visitors being offered an unusual glimpse inside.He walks toward a row of tiny booths with mounted TVs, video cameras and ‘70s-style phones, explaining that the “high-tech” video conferencing statio

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan on Thursday called on North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity toward dialogue with denuclearization measures before returning to the negotiating table. Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea’s vice foreign minister in charge of nuclear bargaining, reiterated a willingness to break the standoff through “various forums including the six-party talks” at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui on Wednesday in Beijing. But Cho Tae-yong, Seoul’s top nuclear negotiator, s

Ranking officials of North Korea and China on Wednesday held strategic talks on peninsula tension and Pyongyang’s nuclear programs. The meeting came shortly after Pyongyang proposed high-level talks with Washington and ahead of the first summit between South Korea and China in Beijing next week. The meeting was held by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan and his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui. Kim’s trip to the Chinese capital is the first since February last year when he met with G

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are ramping up their diplomatic efforts to ensure policy coherence and cooperation in the face of North Korea’s peace offensive. Cho Tae-yong, Seoul’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, left for Washington on Tuesday to meet with Glyn Davies, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Shinsuke Sugiyama, director-general of Tokyo’s Asian and Oceanian affairs.The three chief nuclear negotiators’ gathering was arrange

North Korea’s surprise offer of dialogue with the U.S. on Sunday was met with a frosty reaction by Seoul and Washington, which both call on Pyongyang to prove sincerity with its actions before resuming talks. Pyongyang proposed a high-level meeting with Washington to defuse military tensions and discuss a peace treaty and the U.S. campaign for a nuclear-free world.The overture by the National Defense Commission, the potent governing body headed by leader Kim Jong-un, came less than a week after

With uneven progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, its succeeding framework should be focused on people, equality and the environment to better fight poverty and achieve sustainable growth, UNESCAP chief Noeleen Heyzer told The Korea Herald. Heyzer is executive secretary of the Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, which oversees the development process in its 62 member countries. A group of top officials, scholars and activists from aro

South Korea signed a deal with the board of the U.N. Green Climate Fund (GCF) Monday to help the new U.N. fund establish its headquarters here, ministry officials said. South Korea was chosen last October to host the U.N. fund that aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to help developing nations combat climate change. The headquarters of the U.N. fund will be situated in Songdo, Incheon City. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Co-Chairman of the Green Climate Fund Ewen McDonald, signed the a

In his 2012 book “No One’s World,” political scientist Charles Kupchan sketches a global landscape with multiple centers of power and diverse versions of modernity. The West and the rising rest will compete over principles, status and geopolitical interests as the sea change unfolds, he argues.Despite Pyongyang’s security threat, South Korea is well positioned to take advantage of the pluralistic order due to its economic vigor and democratic vibrancy, the scholar said in a recent interview with

Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in Washington, offered his views in a recent interview with The Korea Herald on a range of issues including the U.S. policy of rebalancing toward Asia, President Park Geun-hye’s “trustpolitik,” the relations between the U.S. and China, Northeast Asian security and the rise of nationalism in Japan. The renowned scholar is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “No One’s World: The West, t

Working-level delegates of the two Koreas met in the border truce village on Sunday and confirmed their plan to hold ministerial talks on Wednesday in Seoul to put their strained relations back on track. The first formal meeting in 28 months stretched into the night at the Freedom House on the South Korean side of Panmunjeom as the two sides wrestled to fine-tune the agenda, delegation size and itinerary for the higher-level meeting. “As new governmental dialogue has opened after a long time, bo

Africa beckons the world with its huge energy resources and fast-expanding markets. But its vast potential has been a mirage for Korea, which lags behind its rivals in aid, influence and strategy.After years of failed efforts, the nation is reviving its drive to bolster partnership with pledges of increased assistance and investment. In the past week, Seoul hosted the leaders of Uganda and Mozambique and the top diplomat of Gabon, with energy, trade and development aid topping the agenda.“We hav