A former U.S. ambassador to South Korea on Monday visited Pyongyang, apparently to try to secure the release of an American detained there, AP Television reported. Donald Gregg, a former Central Intelligence Agency official who served as Washington’s ambassador to Seoul from 1989-93, was leading a four-member delegation of the Pacific Century Institute, a non-governmental organization based in the Los Angeles area. The goal of his mission remains unclear, as it coincides with Pyongyang’s cancell

South Korea and the U.S. plan to undertake their annual military drills starting later this month despite North Korea’s threats to renege on a planned reunion of separated families. The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises will begin on Feb. 24 and run through Mar. 6 and April 18, respectively, with the aim of ensuring the allies’ joint combat readiness, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. The announcement came days after Pyongyang threatened to “reconsider” the agreement to hold the f

This is the first installment in a new series featuring the growing number of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific seeks to broaden cooperation with Korea’s government, private sector and civil society to help the country play a bigger role in promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth in the region. In an interview with The Korea Herald, Kilaparti Ramakrishna, director of its East and Northeast Asia office located in

The two Koreas on Wednesday agreed to hold reunions of families displaced by the 1950-53 Korean War from Feb. 20-25 at Mount Geumgangsan, the Unification Ministry said. The decision was made at working-level talks at the North’s side of the border village of Panmunjeom. Three officials from each side took part in the meeting, which followed the North’s offer two days ago. The reunion would be the first such event in more than three years. About 100 families from each side would reunite with thei

A legislative committee at Virginia’s lower house on Monday endorsed a bill calling for the use of the name “the East Sea” in school textbooks together with “the Sea of Japan” as the state’s Korean community intensifies its longtime campaign. The House of Delegates’ education panel passed 18 to 3, sending the bill to the plenary session expected to vote Thursday. It requires new school textbooks to note that the body of water between Korea and Japan is also called the East Sea. The legislation,

GAESEONG ― The two Koreas introduced an electronic identification system to their joint factory park in Gaeseong on Tuesday, marking a major operational step forward which will facilitate travel for South Korean businesspeople.More than 20 people crossed the border early in the morning through the radio frequency identification system in a test-run, where they scanned their ID cards embedded with an electronic chip for a faster and easier immigration procedure. In the past, South Koreans were re

South Korea on Monday formally proposed holding reunions of separated families on Feb. 17-22 at Mount Geumgangsan, welcoming the North’s belated acceptance of its earlier offer. Seoul also suggested a working-level meeting between the two countries’ branches of the Red Cross on Wednesday for the event’s arrangement at the North side of the border village of Panmunjeom. The message, delivered through a border telephone line, was a follow-up to Pyongyang’s offer on Friday of the first family gathe

South Korea on Friday once again turned a cold shoulder to the North’s offer of reconciliation, demanding action to prove its resolve to break from the past pattern of overtures followed by provocations. While welcoming Pyong­yang’s pledge to cease slander, Seoul warned the communist neighbor against “attempting to evade responsibility for its previous military provocations by suggesting leaving behind the unsavory past.” “North Korea is insisting that its ‘crucial proposals’ don’t constitute a

A Korean trade official abducted in Tripoli was released after Libyan authorities arrested the gunmen Thursday, capping a three-day kidnapping that prompted Seoul to issue a travel alert and highlighted the instability of the North African country. Han Seok-woo, head of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s Libya unit, was handed over uninjured to the Korean Embassy in the capital at about 4:15 a.m., Seoul time, the Foreign Ministry here said. He was kidnapped by four men while heading h

Tension is intensifying further in Northeast Asia after Japan protested the launch of new facilities devoted to a Korean independence fighter in China, triggering strong condemnation from Seoul. Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Monday slammed the memorial hall that opened a day before to honor Ahn Jung-geun, who fatally shot Japan’s first Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito in Harbin in 1909 in protest against its colonial rule. Suga said Ahn was a “terrorist sentenced to death” for the

A South Korean official at a state-run trade agency was kidnapped in Libya by unidentified armed men, and his whereabouts remains unknown, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday. Han Seok-woo, head of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s Libya unit, was abducted by four gunmen while on his way home from his office in Tripoli at around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, ministry officials said. The assailants headed west, leaving behind Han’s car and Iraqi driver, who reported the incident to the Korea

South Korea appears to be hardening its stance against North Korea as the Kim Jong-un regime steps up its peace offensive, which Seoul sees as an attempt to build rationale for a possible military provocation. The communist country’s propaganda machine has been churning out articles and editorials calling for efforts to improve inter-Korean relations in line with its leader’s New Year address. Last week it offered reconciliation through the cessation of slander and military drills with the U.S.

In A.D. 512, Gen. Kim Isabu was on a mission to conquer an island country off the east coast of the peninsula. To defeat the tribesmen, who were notoriously ferocious and aggressive, the shrewd commander used a trick. He erected wooden figures of fire-breathing lions on his vessels and threatened to let the prides loose unless they surrendered. The frightened islanders finally succumbed and became subjects of Kim’s Silla Kingdom.The episode, featured in the “Samguksagi” (“The History of the Thre

 Everything about the Dokdo islets is common knowledge among older Koreans: their history, marine life, climate, rainfall and even exact latitude and longitude coordinates, all of which are mentioned in the lyrics of a popular 30-year-old song titled “Dokdo is Our Territory.” Not simply some remote outcroppings in far-away waters, the islets are a source of pride and patriotism entrenched in Koreans’ collective consciousness, stemming from centuries of battles with Japan. Early documents indicat

With its unique location and natural history, Dokdo boasts ample fishing grounds, untapped resources and a potential for environmental, geological and cultural research.Dokdo is the product of underwater volcanic eruptions in the East Sea about 4.6 million-2.5 million years ago. It is therefore much older than Ulleungdo (formed about 2.5 million-10,000 years ago) and Jeju Island (formed about 1.2 million-10,000 years ago). Originally, Dokdo’s main East and West islets were not divided like they

Yuji Hosaka, born in Japan, harbored good feelings toward Korea from childhood when he was charmed by its singers, sports stars and the friends of his father, who ran a plastic lens factory in Tokyo. The fond curiosity developed into academic enthusiasm during his college years after he was struck by the 1895 assassination by the Japanese Empress Myeongseong, the wife of the Joseon era’s last king, Gojong.What Hosaka found disturbing was not only the incident itself, but the fact that he never l

South Korea on Friday brushed off the North’s offer of reconciliation through the cessation of slander and military drills with the U.S., calling for action toward denuclearization to prove its sincerity. Pyongyang’s powerful National Defense Commission made the “crucial proposals” late Thursday, which also included taking a “mutual practical measure to prevent a nuclear holocaust.” Such steps would help resolve inter-Korean issues such as reunions of separated families, it said. Seoul’s Unifica

The new accord on sharing the costs of keeping U.S. troops in Korea faces a rough ride in the National Assembly, with opposition lawmakers churning out criticism over a sharp rise in Seoul’s burden and its failure to achieve further administrative improvement. After grueling six-month negotiations, the two countries reached a deal on Saturday to renew the Special Measures Agreement, under which South Korea will pay 920 billion won ($871 million) this year to support the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces

Seoul on Friday urged Pyongyang to accept its proposal for reunions of separated families, expressing its intention to discuss the restarting of lucrative tours to a North Korean mountain resort. The North rejected Seoul’s offer of talks on Thursday, citing as hurdles South Korea-U.S. military drills, the cold weather and lack of preparation time ahead of the gathering timed for Lunar New Year’s Day later this month.“We once again urge North Korea not to call for humanitarian projects using word

North Korea on Thursday rejected the South’s offer for talks on reunions of separated families, crushing long-held wishes of aging Koreans and hopes for improved cross-border ties. While agreeing on the event’s need and humanitarian nature, Pyongyang cited as barriers Seoul’s military exercises, the cold weather and short preparation period for the gathering timed for Lunar New Year’s Day later this month. Seoul expressed regret, calling on the communist neighbor to demonstrate sincerity with ac