Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election casts uncertainties over Washington’s Asia policy and its joint defense posture with Seoul, as he has hinted at a sweeping departure from the Democratic administration’s approach. The billionaire real estate mogul has yet to offer a clear foreign and security policy vision, other than an isolationist concept with the “America First” motto. Throughout the campaign trail, however, he was adamant that South Korea should pay greater defense costs, l

With American voters poised to cast ballots to pick their next president Tuesday, Seoul officials are gauging the election’s potential impact on high-stake issues such as bilateral alliance, the US policy on North Korea, regional security and trade.Throughout the campaign trail, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has in general maintained a slight edge over Republican nominee Donald Trump. In the final NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, Clinton garnered 44 percent of likely voters and Trump 40

As President Park Geun-hye on Friday expressed willingness to be investigated over the Choi Soon-sil scandal, debate is moving toward the formalities and methods on what will be the first-ever investigation into a sitting leader. The special prosecutors’ team in charge of the scandal is expected to examine possible scenarios and coordinate the procedure with Cheong Wa Dae, the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.  Officials of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea watch

Cheong Wa Dae and its inner workings are mostly veiled, apart from a museum about the history of former presidents and video clips of high-profile meetings aired on TV. So to many South Koreans, the allegations that Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s civilian friend, had been freely coming and going into the presidential palace are beyond comprehension, not to mention her suspected meddling in state affairs and alleged pocketing of taxpayers’ money. Located at the foot of Bugaksan in centr

President Park Geun-hye can be investigated over the Choi Soon-sil scandal despite conflicting constitutional interpretations, Prime Minister nominee Kim Byung-joon said Thursday, adding that all people are “equal before the law.”At a news conference, the public policy professor at Kookmin University pledged to exert “100 percent” the constitutionally assured prime minister’s right to recommend the appointment and dismissal of Cabinet members, if approved by the National Assembly. Mindful of cri

At first glance, Kim Byong-joon appears to be a long-shot for becoming the prime minister tasked with pulling the Park Geun-hye presidency from its biggest crisis sparked by a scandal involving her longtime friend. Their checkered relationship began in 2004 when the 62-year-old nominee was policy chief for late President Roh Moo-hyun. Park was chair of the then-main opposition Grand National Party, the predecessor of the current ruling Saenuri Party. They clashed over real estate, welfare and ot

As the Choi Soon-sil fiasco has left the Park Geun-hye presidency in tatters, a sense of impotence prevails across the officialdom, fueling concerns over a possible government vacuum. A spate of key initiatives are suddenly seen at a halt, including ambitious labor reform, industrial restructuring and economic revitalization, as well as the appointment of the heads of several state-run organizations. Most are showpiece programs the president had been pushing for even in the face of robust protes

With the Choi Soon-sil scandal taking a toll on President Park Geun-hye, concerns are rising over possible repercussions on Seoul’s diplomatic and security initiatives, such as a trilateral summit with China and Japan, a US missile shield deployment and an intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo. The US, China, Japan and other key diplomatic partners are closely monitoring the development of the scandal involving Park’s confidante Choi, which has virtually placed state affairs at a standstill, dipl

President Park Geun-hye on Sunday accepted the resignations of chief of staff, top political and policy coordination secretaries and some of her longest-serving aides in a bid to contain the fallout from an unbridled influence-peddling scandal pivoting around her old friend. Yet political and public pressure has only continued to mount on the commander in chief, with opposition and even ruling party lawmakers calling for a launch of a neutral Cabinet to take over some key executive duties from C

With the leadership of President Park Geun-hye in free fall, the ruling and opposition camps on Sunday stepped up calls for a launch of a neutral Cabinet to take over some of key executive duties and refurbish administrative management. The ruling Saenuri Party convened an emergency meeting of senior members and agreed to recommend Park form a neutral Cabinet while reaffirming its demand for an across-the-board shake-up of Cheong Wa Dae staff. The session followed a Saturday gathering of core pr

South Korea plans to reopen talks on an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday, seeking to boost security cooperation amid a thaw following their settlement over the sex slavery issue. The envisioned General Security of Military Information Agreement will be the first ever bilateral military accord between the two countries, designed to facilitate the exchange of intelligence and data on North Korea, as well as search and rescue missions. “Having conducted t

Throughout her nearly four years in office, President Park Geun-hye has been criticized on various fronts, ranging from her government’s slipshod response to a ferry sinking to faltering diplomacy and a lack of communication with her own aides and the general population. Park may take credit for one thing nonetheless. She has been largely free from scandals involving family members, which pestered the presidencies of many of her predecessors, especially in later years. (Park, who has never marri

Initiatives for girls should take into account the sensitivity of the issue and respecting their dignity should be a top priority, the UN Population Fund told The Korea Herald. Korea’s Health and Welfare Ministry has recently come under fire after launching a program that requires girls from poor households to visit local health centers in person and write down their family background to be eligible to receive sanitary products. Faced with simmering criticism, the ministry changed the rules to a

Seoul and Washington on Thursday failed to reach a consensus over the permanent stationing of US strategic assets on the peninsula, amid skepticism due to US financial and operational constraints, saying further discussions are needed. But after the annual Security Consultative Meeting with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Washington, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo indicated the allies may take additional military steps other than the dispatch of a nuclear bomber and advanced warshi

If elected as the next US leader, Hilary Clinton would likely continue to face a tough task in building trust with China due to the sustained strategic refocus toward Asia, while turning more interventionist in the Middle East, leading French security experts told The Korea Herald. With less than three weeks until the US presidential vote, three specialists from the Institute for Strategic Research, a think tank affiliated with the French Ministry of Defense, explored the prospects for the incom

North Korea may be able to increase nuclear arsenal to at least 79 fission bombs by 2020, a study said Tuesday, calling for Seoul and Washington to refine their long-term goals to thwart Pyongyang’s ambition.  Lee Sang-hyun, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, introduced the interim findings of a comprehensive joint study involving more than 10 diplomatic and security specialists as well as nuclear scientists, economists and psychologists during a seminar hosted in Seoul by the Presiden

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday instructed rights and legal agencies to formulate clearer guidelines on a recently effectuated anti-graft act, amid confusion in the face of conflicting interpretations and sluggish response to inquiries. The Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, which came into force last month, bans members of civil agencies, private educational institutions and the media from giving and receiving free meals, presents or monetary gifts worth 30,000 won ($27), 50,000 won an

President Park Geun-hye’s advisory panel on unification policy has proposed a reintroduction of US tactical nuclear weapons and the constant stationing of other advanced strategic assets on the peninsula as deterrence against North Korea’s evolving threats. In a recent paper, the National Unification Advisory Council made an array of policy suggestions, raising the need to better utilize top-notch US weapons systems such as the F-22 stealth fighter and B-2 nuclear bomber. On home ground, Seoul s

A senior official at North Korea’s spy agency defected to the South last year, a news report said Wednesday, marking the latest in a recent series of elites seeking to escape from political oppression and the crumbling economy amid a tightening sanctions network. The director-general level official of North Korea's Ministry of State Security has told Seoul officials that the popular sentiment around Pyongyang was “boiling” with discontent about leader Kim Jong-un’s ironfist rule, Yonhap News Age

South Korea presented to the US the development of its own nuclear weapons and “physical action including military power” as part of its response to North Korea’s then upcoming first underground detonation in 2006, according to a former foreign minister. In his new memoir, titled “Moving the Glacier,” Song Min-soon chronicled the decision-making process on sanctions, dialogue and other moves taken during the Roh Moo-hyun administration around the so-called first nuclear crisis in 2006 and afterw