South Korea will expand "future-oriented" cooperation with the United States on supply chains, technologies and other areas next year while reinforcing "conflict prevention" efforts with China, the foreign ministry said Thursday. The ministry delineated the plans in a written policy report for 2022 to President Moon Jae-in as Seoul seeks to craft an optimal diplomatic strategy amid a hardening S...

South Korea on Wednesday became the 10th country outside of Europe to join the European Union (EU) law enforcement cooperation agency that fights terrorism and other international crimes, police said. The National Police Agency (NPA) joined Europol by signing a working-level agreement that was approved unanimously by the 27 EU nations on Oct. 6. The accession is an outcome of efforts by police t...

South Korea called on the United States Wednesday to quickly start talks to revise the Section 232 tariff rules on Seoul's steel exports.South Korean Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook made the request to his US counterpart, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, in phone talks, the ministry said. "Moon told Raimondo that Washington should launch negotiations on the issue as soon as possible as i...

South Korea on Wednesday unveiled a plan to offer $15 million to Africa for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines during US-hosted virtual ministerial talks on responses to the omicron variant, the foreign ministry said. Seoul's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong attended the session involving top diplomats from some 10 countries, as well as the African Union (AU) and the European Union. It was hos...

South Korea on Tuesday voiced concerns as the operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant filed for approval for its plan to release radioactive water into the sea. The Seoul government held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting after Tokyo Electric Power Co. submitted an application for the planned release to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority. "We express serious concerns as ...

South Korea said Tuesday it will hold high-level strategic talks with China via video links this week, the first bilateral session of its kind in more than four years. Choi Jong-kun, first vice foreign minister, is scheduled to hold the 9th Strategic Dialogue with his Chinese counterpart, Le Yucheng, Thursday afternoon, according to Choi Young-sam, spokesman for Seoul's foreign ministry. They ha...

South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook met with his Thai counterpart in Bangkok on Monday to discuss defense cooperation between the two countries and the security situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, his ministry said. Suh held talks with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who doubles as defense minister, on the second day of his three-day visit to Thailand. During the me...

South Korea is an essential partner in the global semiconductor supply chain and has much more to offer, a visiting senior US diplomat in charge of economic and trade policy said Friday. Jose Fernandez, US undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, made the remark at the start of the sixth Senior Economic Dialogue with Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon. Ma...

Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States are set to hold annual economic talks in Seoul on Friday to discuss bilateral cooperation on global supply chains, energy, infrastructure and technology, Seoul officials said. Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon and Jose Fernandez, US undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, will lead the sixth Senior E...

South Korea and the US plan to discuss cooperation on "trusted" 5G networks, global supply chains and other key issues in their upcoming economic talks, a senior US diplomat said Thursday, amid an intensifying America-China rivalry. Jose W. Fernandez, the undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said he expects to talk about a number of "positive" economic issues ...

WASHINGTON -- The United States is committed to the Singapore Declaration that calls for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and normalization of US-North Korea relations, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea Mark Lambert said Wednesday. Lambert also reiterated the US' willingness to meet with North Korea at any time without preconditions. "We're committed t...

South Korea has a duty and obligation to take a special interest in the Beijing Olympics as the host of the previous games and will decide later whether it is appropriate for President Moon Jae-in to attend the opening ceremony, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday. Moon earlier said South Korea is not considering a diplomatic boycott of February's Beijing Olympics after the United States dec...

President Moon Jae-in departed Sydney on Wednesday to return home from a four-day state visit to Australia during which the countries agreed to expand cooperation on securing stable supply chains. Moon began his visit in Canberra on Sunday where he met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for a summit on deepening ties in defense, pandemic response and strengthening supply chains with t...

This year marks another historic milestone in Korea’s diplomacy. In June, President Moon Jae-in was invited to the Group of Seven (G-7) Summit. In July, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reclassified Korea as a developed country, the first time for the UN agency to upgrade its member state’s status since it was founded in 1964. These are testaments that the world not only acknow...

President Moon Jae-in, who is on a state visit to Australia, met with Australian businesspeople on Tuesday to discuss expanding cooperation in key minerals between the two countries. The meeting came a day after the Korean and Australian industry ministries signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the core mineral supply chain. It was attended by Simon Crean, the chair of the Aus...