ULAN BATOR (AFP) ― Senior Japanese and North Korean diplomats resumed rare “tough” talks Friday, with Tokyo expected to press Pyongyang on its kidnapping of Japanese nationals and its arms programme.Japanese negotiator Shinsuke Sugiyama said the two sides held “serious” talks on Thursday in the Mongolian capital.“Although the consultation itself is not an easy matter, both sides have exchanged views sincerely,” Sugiyama told Japanese reporters Thursday night, after a nearly seven-hour session.“T

A group of high-level Chinese officials plan to visit South Korea next week to discuss bilateral cooperation and explain policies under the new leadership, diplomats here said Friday. The six-member delegation, led by Chen Baosheng, vice president of the Communist Party’s Central Party School, will arrive here Tuesday, according to the Chinese embassy in Seoul. Other officials include Han Baojiang, director of the school’s Institute for International Strategic Studies, and Zhao Bingbing, an exec

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan and North Korea have begun bilateral talks in Mongolia that Tokyo hopes will shed light on a series of decades-old abductions.The talks in Ulan Bator are scheduled to last through Friday. In August, lower-level negotiators from the two countries held their first bilateral talks in four years, but made little progress.Japan wants information on the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and `80s. Japan believes at least one abductee may still be ali

Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik urged North Korea to break a “vicious cycle of sanctions and isolation” by changing course and engaging in dialogue with the South. With leadership shifts taking place across the region, neighbors will have a chance to “break with their passive concept of maintaining the status quo” and reassess their policy so as to help resolve the standoff with the nuclear-armed state and realize the peninsula’s unification, he said in a forum Tuesday.“North Korea must no longer

North Korean defectors Kim Kwang-hyok and Ko Jong-nam dreamed of a life free from repression and hunger. Nearly four years later they found themselves at the bottom of the social ladder, suffering from financial difficulties, prejudice and social isolation.That was the “miserable life” in the South the couple described at a news conference in Pyongyang on Nov. 8 after they returned to the North with their 2-year-old son Se-han. According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim, 2

Korea should streamline its policy process and boost cooperation with the non-governmental sector so that it can follow through with its commitment to overseas development aid despite budget constraints, a leading foreign affairs think tank said.Seoul joined the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee in 2010 to become the first member of the international community to turn from aid recipient to donor. But the country fell slightly short of its target amount of foreign aid last year. Hong Ji-in,

The ASEAN-Korea Center began on Monday a seven-week Korean language training session in Bangkok for officials from the Thai tourism, lodging and food and beverage industries to help them better accommodate increasing Korean travelers. The event is part of the institute’s Korean language education program launched early this year to improve communication skills of tourism workers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The participants will take basic courses involving reading, listening a

Following is the last in a series of articles on the future relations between China and two Koreas under next Chinese leader Xi Jinping ― Ed.A rising China has been a boon for the Korean economy as its top export market, a major manufacturing base and rich source of investment, tourism and cheap products, despite the countries’ growing competition in the world markets. Their ever-deepening ties are about to take a fresh turn as the world’s second-largest economy shifts toward domestic consumptio

Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to more flexibly implement his two-track approach on North Korea, pressing it to give up nuclear arms while promising rewards for a shift toward openness and reform. The Democrat president’s re-election will likely facilitate cooperation with South Korea and other regional partners in curbing the communist state’s nuclear ambitions.A potential game changer is the South’s December presidential election to replace Lee Myung-bak, the hardline

South Korea will play a key role in devising a new global development cooperation paradigm, and more than double its assistance to developing countries over the next three years, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Tuesday.Speaking during the second session of the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Laos for a two-day run from Monday, Kim stressed the necessity of expanding official development aid despite global economic difficulties, according to his office in Seoul.“Development cooperation is an invest

Two South Korean religious groups were this week given approval for plans to visit North Korea to promote cooperation with their counterparts in the North, Seoul‘s Unification Ministry said Tuesday.The ministry said it approved the visits of the two group whose religions originated locally, one of which follows the Dangun beliefs and the other a Cheondogyo group, to visit Kaesong on Thursday and Friday, respectively.A total of 10 officials from the groups will travel to the North during the sepa

Globalization spreads growth and risks. Trade and development have lifted many countries out of poverty but also left inequality and disintegration in their wake.To cope with the “growing pains,” countries should pursue a strategy that intrinsically combines growth and social protection in a way tailored to their unique conditions and specific needs, said Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau, director of the United Nations Development Program’s Seoul Policy Center. “Social protection is actually an ess

Following is the second in a series of articles on the future relations between China and two Koreas under next Chinese leader Xi Jinping ― Ed.Despite ever-growing economic interdependence, South Korea and China remain discordant over history, territory, fishing, North Korean defectors and regional security issues.With China ushering in a new leader this week, the two governments are expected to continue to try containing those volatile issues from flaring up, as stable bilateral ties are crucia

Following is the first in a series of articles on the future relations between China and two Koreas under next Chinese leader Xi Jinping ― Ed.One week before enthronement, China’s next leaders are expected to maintain their predecessors’ policy toward stability on the Korean Peninsula, experts said. Ahead of the once-in-a-decade power transition in the emerging global powerhouse, the international community is closely watching for any signs of shift in its policy toward Pyongyang. While almost n

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday received this year’s Seoul Peace Prize on Monday for his devotion to world peace, the rights of women and children and the fight against climate change. He was granted $200,000 in honorarium at a ceremony in Seoul as the first Korean winner. The country created the biennial award in 1990 to commemorate its hosting of the 1988 Olympic Games here and those contributing to international peace and unity.  Previous recipients include Kofi Annan,

Recent bouts of vandalism in the U.S. aimed at claiming Japan’s sovereignty over the islets of Dokdo in East Sea have prompted an uproar in the Korean community there. A white wooden stake was founded Saturday at the entrance of Seoul’s consulate general in Manhattan in New York, officials said. It reads “Takeshima is Japanese Territory,” referring to Japanese name of the outcrops. A day earlier, a sticker with the same note was discovered near the signboard of the office’s petition room. A simi

The board of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on Thursday accepted its president Suh Nam-pyo’s offer to resign on Feb. 23.Suh recently announced that he would step down in March after years of protests from professors and students against his reform measures. His term originally was to expire in July 2014.Instead of dismissing him immediately, the 16-member board decided to respect his position.“We agreed to allow him finish his term honorably and attend the school’s gradua

In less than a week, Korea has emerged as the center of global efforts to help developing countries implement a low-carbon growth strategy. The country was picked Saturday to host the secretariat of the Green Climate Fund, which will be the largest financial source for eco-friendly development for poor countries. On Thursday, Seoul successfully transformed its Global Green Growth Institute into an international organization to lead research and policy planning for the same cause.Richard Samans,

KUWAIT CITY ― Sheikha Alanoud Al-Sabah has been a fan of the Korean Wave since her first contact with its music and soap operas a few years ago.Mesmerized by the exotic culture, from fashion to history, the 28-year-old member of the Kuwaiti royal family is now playing a key role in promoting it through a monthly event hosted by the Korean Embassy.“We are exposed to Korean culture, drama and music. The embassy helped promote Korean movies, which was great. I personally like historic Korean dramas

After years reeling from a lack of foreign investment and a moribund property market, Songdo is brimming with fresh vigor and a new vision as it was picked to house the secretariat of the Green Climate Fund. Long known for its seaside amusement park, the reclaimed island is the centerpiece of the Incheon Free Economic Zone, launched in 2003 with an aim of developing a leading business, logistics and tourism center in Northeast Asia.The ambition, however, was dented by doubts of its advantages ag