South Korea said Monday it was seeking to spur its efforts this year to bring about reunification by establishing a legal and institutional framework, holding joint economic and cultural events with the North and boosting cooperation with other countries. While pushing for robust defense and the North’s denuclearization, it vowed to formulate a vision for an integrated Korea, build consensus at home and abroad and expand dialogue and economic exchanges with Pyongyang. The measures were submitted

A Korean teenager has gone missing in Turkey near the Syrian border, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday, following news reports suggesting the involvement of the Islamic State militant group. The 18-year-old tourist, from Seoul, vanished on Jan. 10 after leaving a hotel in the border town of Kilis, the ministry said. He entered Turkey two days earlier for an eight-day trip with another man, who reported his disappearance to the Korean Embassy on Jan. 12. Turkish daily Milliyet reported that the

Seoul and Tokyo are set for a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving their row over Japan’s sexual slavery involving Korean women during World War II in an effort to narrow their historical differences and improve bilateral ties. Lee Sang-deok, director-general for Northeast Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry here, is slated to meet with Junichi Ihara, director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, on Monday in Tokyo. Launched last April, the consultations will

Amid Japan’s frosty relations with Korea and China, a growing number of U.S. scholars are ramping up pressure on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take a more forward-looking approach toward wartime history. The hawkish premier is currently working on a statement to be unveiled on Aug. 15 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, which will likely determine Tokyo’s relations with its two key neighbors. With Abe pushing for a constitutional revision, a greater military role and

North Korea is seeking to revive a moribund project to develop the border areas along the Tumen River and a pipeline to transport Russian gas as part of efforts to build trust and expand economic cooperation with South Korea and other neighbors, according to a report. The Tumen River Area Development Project, which was later renamed the Greater Tumen Initiative, was launched in 1992 as a joint initiative among China, Russia and Japan and the two Koreas following a proposal a year earlier by the

President Park Geun-hye on Monday pledged to improve relations with North Korea through dialogue, despite growing tension between Pyongyang and Washington after the U.S. slapped new bilateral sanctions in retaliation against the North’s purported hack on Sony Pictures. As ties with Japan remain at their lowest ebb in decades, she called for Tokyo to tackle the issue of its sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II as a vital step toward a thaw and summit with Prime Minister Shinzo A

The U.S. has brushed off North Korea’s offer of a moratorium on nuclear tests if Washington shelves its planned military drills with Seoul this year, calling it an “implicit threat” and urging its sincere commitment to denuclearization. The North’s state media reported Saturday the country has delivered the proposal through an unspecified relevant channel, saying it is “ready to sit with the U.S. anytime if the U.S. needs dialogue regarding this issue.”“The message proposed the U.S. to contribut

Calls are growing for the government to deal more sternly with anti-North Korea leaflets after a court ruling paved the way for authorities to block their launches, complicating South Korea’s efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. A local court in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday dismissed a case filed by Lee Min-bok, a North Korean defector who leads the leaflet distribution drive, seeking 50 million won ($45,000) in compensation from the government for inflicting emotional distres

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province ― The U.S. Forces Korea Commander on Tuesday raised hopes for a fresh round of dialogue between the two Koreas despite concerns over heightened tension after Washington slapped new sanctions on Pyongyang. Yet Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti stressed the need for “strong and credible” defense readiness in order for their talks to be effective, calling for U.S. and South Korean servicemen to maintain an airtight posture. “Discussion between North and South Korea is always a g

South Korea appears ready to ramp up its humanitarian assistance to North Korea after their leaders exchanged conciliatory signals in their New Year messages, renewing hopes for reconciliation. A civic group here secured the Unification Ministry’s endorsement to ship 20 tons of sweet potatoes worth 52 million won ($47,000) late last month to the northeastern border city of Sinuiju, while another organization is gearing up to send nutritional food and medical kits soon. They are part of health, a

A South Korean citizen was executed for drug trafficking in China in the fourth such case in less than six months, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday. The man, identified by his surname Kim, was convicted of smuggling 5 kilograms of methamphetamine into China in April 2012, a senior ministry official told reporters on customary condition of anonymity. A higher court upheld the ruling six months later. He was arrested in May 2010. Under Chinese law, producing, carrying or selling 50 grams or m

North Korea appears to have set out to step up its peace offensive since its leader Kim Jong-un displayed his willingness to hold a summit with South Korea and put cross-border relations back on track in his New Year address.State media on Friday churned out articles and editorials backing up the young ruler’s speech, in which he said talks could reopen even at the highest level “if Seoul truly seeks to improve relations through dialogue” and “the atmosphere and environment are ready.”Uriminzokk

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Thursday he was open to a summit with South Korea and willing to mend cross-border ties as his country strives to head off international pressure over its military ambition and human rights record. In his nationally televised New Year address, he said high-level talks could be restarted including at the top level “if Seoul truly seeks to improve relations through dialogue.” “If the atmosphere and environment are ready, there is no reason not to hold highest-l

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo face a rough ride yet again in 2015 as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to expedite a series of revisionist foreign and security policies while showing little signs of atoning for the country’s imperial past. The Park Geun-hye government is coming under mounting pressure, entering its third year and gearing up to reset the relationship with the old foe to mark the 50th anniversary of its normalization this year. At home, President Park faces the challen

South Korea on Monday proposed high-level talks with North Korea to discuss the issues of separated families, humanitarian aid, economic cooperation and joint projects that could help lay the groundwork for unification. Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said he had sent a message to Kim Yang-gon, director of the North’s United Front Department, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, through a border telephone channel. Ryoo requested that they meet next month in Seoul, Pyongyang or elsewher

Park Hee-kwonThere are several definitions of globalization. The commonly used globalization index encompasses four main types of cross-border flows: trade (in both goods and services), information, people (including tourists, students and migrants) and capital. Judging by this index, history shows that over the past 60 years, the trend of globalization has been on the march. After some backpedaling since the 2008 financial crisis, the trend of growing global interconnectedness resumed in 2013.

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Sony's PlayStation reported that its network was back online and claimed that it had been attacked, three days after it and Microsoft's Xbox went down in an outage.An allegedly coordinated Christmas day hack brought down the gaming consoles, both hot gifts for the holiday season, although Xbox has been working at near full capacity since Friday."PlayStation Network and some other gaming services were attacked over the holidays with artificially high levels of traffic designed

With its Internet networks continuing to suffer outages for the sixth straight day, North Korea placed the blame on the U.S. and stepped up its verbal attacks over the weekend amid a hacking row involving the film “The Interview.” As of midday, a number of propaganda websites remained down, including Uriminzokkiri (Among Our People), Ryugyong and Ryomyong. They have servers in Shenyang, Dandong and other Chinese cities. The website of the Choson Sinbo, a pro-North newspaper based in Japan, came

South Korea plans to dispatch a team of officials and has offered military support to Indonesia as a search and rescue operation unfolds after an AirAsia jet disappeared en route to Singapore on Sunday. At least three Koreans were confirmed to be aboard Flight QZ8501 -- a couple in their 30s with an infant girl. They were among the 162 passengers and crew members on the aircraft that lost contact with Indonesia’s air traffic control while flying over the Java Sea from Surabaya about an hour befo

The U.S. Congress is seeking a fresh set of bilateral sanctions against North Korea, ratcheting up pressure on the communist state over its grim human rights record and the recent purported hack on Sony Pictures. Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has proposed a bill calling for tightening sanctions on Pyongyang, similar to the one introduced by his House counterpart Rep. Ed Royce and passed by the chamber in July. The two legislations are designed to make