President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday agreed to take steps to restore the two countries’ relations strained by a dispute over Seoul’s decision to house a US missile shield.　In their first, 40-minute phone call, Moon raised the issue of China’s economic retaliation over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here, offering to dispatch a delegation to solely discuss the matter. Xi, who requested the call in celebration of Moon’s inaugura

President Moon Jae-in faces an uphill battle in navigating through a bleaker-than-ever diplomatic security landscape with diminishing strategic space in the face of North Korea’s rapidly evolving threats. Fresh off the grueling snap election, he now has to rapidly switch gears as the new commander in chief to manage the volatile situation on the peninsula while regrouping institutions that have been in tatters in the wake of his predecessor Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. President Moon Jae-in (Yon

Tens of millions of South Koreans flocked to polling stations to elect their next president Tuesday, hoping for lasting political and economic reform, as well as national unity, following months of disarray. At 6 a.m., voters started to trickle into nearly 14,000 stations across the country, braving fine dust and rain in some regions. In Gangwon Province, victims of this week’s massive forest fire resorted to booths nearby their makeshift shelters.  Voters form a long queue at a polling station

After basking in its peak years, the relationship between South Korea and China has been going downhill rapidly in recent months, as Beijing embarks on economic retaliation over Seoul’s decision to host the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile shield. Concerns are growing the diplomatic strains may spill over into sociocultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries despite their deepening economic interdependence. Alarming signs have already surfaced from both sides

The US is ready to ramp up pressure against North Korea through additional penalties, secondary sanctions and a tighter implementation of UN resolutions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday, adding “a lot of work” is left to maximize its strategy. “So it’s a pressure campaign that has a knob on it. I’d say we’re at about dial setting five or six right now, with a strong call of countries all over the world to fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions regarding sanctions, be

Rekindled by his demand for Seoul to pay for the THAAD anti-missile system, US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach centered on unrefined, unilateral remarks and Twitter posts is fanning concerns it may undermine the two countries’ 60-year alliance. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly argued that allies should shoulder a greater share of defense costs and the “job-killing” South Korea-US free trade agreement needs to be negotiated.Just over 100 days into the Trump presidency, signs

US President Donald Trump on Friday called for South Korea to pay $1 billion for a missile shield’s deployment here, and vowed to renegotiate a bilateral free trade pact, stirring heated reactions in South Korea. Amid intense debate at home and diplomatic friction with China, key components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system including a radar, launchers and interceptors were brought Wednesday to the planned deployment site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Seoul secured use o

The Donald Trump administration is seeking to step up sanctions and pressure as its key drivers to tackle North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, while engaging the regime through diplomacy, top US officials said Wednesday. Following a two-month review, the administration is said to have recently settled on its North Korea policy, dubbed “maximum pressure and engagement.” Trump hosted a rare closed-door briefing for all 100 senators at the White House, after which Secretary of State Rex Till

The de facto inception of the installment of a US missile shield on Wednesday was met with mixed responses from South Korea’s presidential candidates, prompting even some advocates to take issue with the unanticipated move and the lack of a related environmental impact assessment. The planned stationing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system has been one of the biggest sources of debate in the election race, with security and foreign policy ascending on the agenda in the face of North

Former US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert has joined US aviation giant Boeing as vice president of international affairs, a news report said Monday.The Politico report did not provide any details on the timing or conditions of his new position, but his diplomatic and military experiences were likely taken into account in his appointment.Former US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert (Yonhap)Boeing has longstanding ties with South Korea, not only as one of the biggest suppliers of passen

Seoul on Tuesday protested Tokyo’s intensified claim to the Korean islets of Dokdo in an annual diplomatic paper, which added to territorial and historical tension between the two countries. Japan’s Foreign Ministry reported to the cabinet its latest diplomatic bluebook, which argues Dokdo is the country’s “inherent territory” based on historical facts and international law, and calls last year’s visits to the islets by some Korean lawmakers “adamantly unacceptable.” Seoul’s Foreign Ministry ins

A day before North Korea marks a major holiday, the US Trump administration sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang, holding presidential phone calls with China and Japan before a supercarrier heads toward the peninsula. In just 11 days, Trump had another phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday to discuss the security situation surrounding the Koreas. The US leader also spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The calls came amid speculation North Korea may be prepari

Conservative presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo apologized during Sunday's TV debate over controversy about his suspected involvement in a potential sex crime about four decades ago.Hong of the Liberty Korea Party initially wrote about his role in the incident that took place while he was in university in an autobiographical essay published in 2005. The scandal has drawn fresh attention in the run-up to the May 9 presidential election. Conservative presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo (Yonhap)

TOKYO -- An American aircraft carrier heading toward the Korean Peninsula began joint exercises Sunday with Japanese naval ships in the Philippine Sea. Two Japanese destroyers joined the USS Carl Vinson and two other US warships as they continued their journey north in the western Pacific Ocean, the US Navy said in a statement. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (US Navy)The Vinson had canceled a scheduled visit to Australia to divert toward North Korea in a show of force, though it still cond

ATHENS -- China's foreign minister called Sunday for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula amid rising tension over North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes."China is firmly supporting the denuclearization of the area in the name of stability and peace", Wang Yi told reporters in Athens after meeting Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias. "China may not have the key to this solution ... but we are happy that more sides are accepting our point of view," he added. Chinese Foreign Min

Centrist presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo declared Sunday he would become a president of all people, not of any ideological camp.In a stump speech at the heart of Seoul, the nominee of the center-left People's Party said he would open a new future free of political divisions and vested rights if elected on May 9. Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential nominee of the People's Party, gives a stump speech outside the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul on April 23, 2017. (Yonhap)"I, Ahn Cheol-s

Presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in's campaign unveiled former presidential aides' memos Sunday to counter claims that Seoul abstained from a UN vote against North Korea after consulting Pyongyang in 2007 when he served as a top presidential aide.The documents indicated Seoul had decided not to join the vote on the UN resolution on North Korea's human rights violations in consideration of improving inter-Korean ties, and later notify Pyongyang of the decision.  Rep. Kim Kyung-soo (R), spokesma

Seoul is pushing for the official identification of the waters between Korea and Japan as the East Sea at an international conference in Monaco this week in the face of robust resistance from Tokyo, officials said Sunday. The International Hydrographic Organization will kick off its triennial assembly in Monaco on Monday for a five-day run, during which its 87 member states are expected to discuss the amendment of the Limits of Oceans and Seas, its guideline for world maps and charts. For the me

Amid unabated concerns over North Korea’s fresh nuclear test in time for another major anniversary, South Korea and the US are poised to be on heightened alert this week with cutting-edge military assets ready. With the communist state marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People’s Army on Tuesday, Seoul and Washington have been intensifying their warnings against any additional provocation.  (Yonhap)Tension has been spiraling in recent weeks amid widespread speculation th

Following the second round of televised debates, South Korea’s presidential race is heating up over the all-too-familiar issue: Is North Korea the “main enemy?”During the late Wednesday session, Yoo Seong-min of the conservative splinter Bareun Party launched an offensive against front-runner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking whether he considers the communist neighbor to be South Korea’s “main enemy.”Moon sought to evade in answering, saying, “Such labeling is not the job for