South Korea and 13 other member countries of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework kicked off negotiations for the US-led initiative to boost regional economic cooperation, prompting China to again question their intentions. Minister-level officials of the 14 countries attended the first in-person meeting of the IPEF held for two days from Thursday in Los Angeles. There, they agreed to start forma...

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- In a somber, regal procession, Queen Elizabeth II's flag-draped coffin was driven slowly through the Scottish countryside Sunday from her beloved Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Mourners packed city streets and highway bridges or lined rural roads with cars and tractors to take part in a historic goodbye to the monarch who had reigned for 70 years. Th...

The frozen relationship between South Korea and Japan seems to be thawing, at least among the general public. Korean people’s positive sentiment toward Japan bounced back to levels last seen in 2019, before Japan imposed trade sanctions on Korea over historical conflicts and S. Koreans responded with the “No Japan” boycott of anything Japanese. According to a report jointly released by Korean t...

Now is the time for Korea and China to look back on the past, face the present and talk about the future. Over the past 30 years, Korea-China relations have developed to the point that we may call it explosive in respective fields. The establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations was an important turning point in advancing the new era of prosperity in Northeast Asia. And now both Korea and C...

President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris in Seoul on Sept. 29 and discuss the bilateral alliance, North Korea and other issues of mutual interest, his office said Thursday. Harris's visit comes four months after US President Joe Biden visited Seoul for a summit with Yoon shortly after the South Korean president took office. Yoon and Harris plan to discuss ways to s...

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States have agreed to quickly launch ministerial level talks on ways to minimize damage from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on South Korean carmakers, South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said Wednesday. Ahn made the remarks after meeting with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai. "We will discuss specific dates and other details (of the l...

Anticipation is growing here for top-level negotiations on the US Inflation Reduction Act that Korean electric-vehicle makers say would hurt their business, following news of a possible visit to the country by US Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris is reportedly coordinating a visit to Seoul to meet with Korean authorities after going to Japan to attend the state funeral of assassinated former ...

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States reaffirmed the countries' commitment to their shared goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea, and joint efforts to deter the regime's nuclear provocations, at a meeting held Wednesday on Tokyo. The three officials, Kim Gunn, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, Sung Kim, Washing...

INDEPENDENCE DAY -- Brazilian Ambassador Marcia Donner Abreu delivers remarks to commemorate her country’s 200th anniversary of independence at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on Thursday. Brazil gained independence from Portugal on Sept. 7, 1822. (Sanjay Kumar/The Korea Herald)

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo met with new US Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations and pending issues, his office said. Han requested Washington's special interest and consideration for South Korean firms entering the US market following the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that excludes electric vehicles assembled outside North America from...

South Korea’s top nuclear envoy took off to Japan to attend trilateral talks with his US and Japanese counterparts on North Korea and its nuclear development on Tuesday. Kim Gunn, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will meet with Sung Kim, Washington's special representative for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi, director general for Asian and Ocean...

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it will review the various suggestions and opinions raised in the consultative group it formed to find solutions to the wartime forced labor issue involving Japanese companies and Korean workers, and vowed to come up with a solution soon. The ministry also said it has not yet set a deadline for when it would present a government solution to the legal d...

WASHINGTON -- South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun arrived in the US on Monday for talks on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that excludes electric vehicles assembled outside of North America from tax incentives. Ahn said the new US law, which Seoul believes violates the Korea-US free trade agreement, will be an important test for the two countries and their trade relations. "The IRA is an...

With the top court’s decision on wartime forced labor case being pushed back, the government is striving to come up with a diplomatic solution to a legal dispute that has risen as a major point of political friction with Japan. On Monday, the Foreign Ministry held the fourth government-private consultative meeting discussing possible solutions to the forced labor issue. The Supreme Court was ex...

South Korea and Oman agreed Monday to strengthen cooperation on stable energy supply chains and hydrogen sectors amid global uncertainties, Seoul's energy ministry said. The pledge was made during the meeting between Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang and Oman's Minister of Energy and Minerals Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi held in Seoul, according to the ministry. During the talks...