The Korea Herald

Leaders send message to North Korea

The leaders of South Korea and China raised pressure on North Korea to renounce its nuclear ambitions on Thursday, saying they were “adamantly” against the development of nuclear weapons on the peninsula.In a joint statement issued after the summit between Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping in Seoul, the two sides also stated the need to create conditions for the resumption of the six-party denuclearization talks. The talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia have be

July 3, 2014

Park-Xi summit draws regional powers’ attention

The summit between the leaders of South Korea and China took the international spotlight Thursday as it proceeded amid growing volatility in a Northeast Asian security landscape beset by geostrategic rivalries and territorial antagonism. The fluid security environment has posed a tough foreign policy challenge to Seoul, which has been striving to deepen its long-standing security alliance with the U.S., strategic partnership with China and practical cooperation with Japan.“Given the volatile pol

July 3, 2014

Park-Xi summit draws regional powers’ attention

Chinese leader Xi arrives in S. Korea for summit with Park

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in South Korea on Thursday for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, officials said, amid fresh tensions over a series of missile and rocket launches by North Korea. Xi and his wife were greeted by South Korean officials at an airport just south of Seoul before heading to their hotel.(Yonhap)Park and Xi were to hold a summit meeting later in the day -- the fifth since they took office in 2013 -- to discuss how to further deepen their relations and

July 3, 2014

Chinese leader Xi arrives in S. Korea for summit with Park

Beijing eyes closer ties with Seoul, increased clout

China is working to strengthen its strategic partnership with South Korea as it seeks to shape a new security architecture and financial institution in the region, and deepen trade relations with Asian nations in apparent efforts to undercut U.S. influence and raise its regional clout.Chinese President Xi Jinping is to arrive in Seoul for a two-day state visit, during which he and President Park Geun-hye are to discuss ways to deepen cooperation in areas including security, trade and business.Ex

July 2, 2014

Beijing eyes closer ties with Seoul, increased clout

East Sea naming law takes effect in Virginia

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― A new law went into effect in the U.S. state of Virginia Tuesday, requiring local school textbooks to use the South Korean name “East Sea” alongside the more commonly used Japanese name “Sea of Japan” for the body of water between the two countries.The landmark legislation passed through the Virginia House of Delegates in February, despite strenuous Japanese government lobbying against it, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed it into law in April. Virginia is the first U.S. stat

July 2, 2014

Chinese leader set to visit S. Korea amid regional tensions

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit South Korea this week for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, an official said Wednesday, amid regional tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program and Japan's growing nationalism.Xi is scheduled to hold summit talks with Park on Thursday that are expected to focus on how to further boost their relations and how to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons program as well as the Japanese leader's nationalistic policies.South Korea has ex

July 2, 2014

Korea, China to announce stepped up cooperation

South Korea and China are likely to adopt an annex to a joint presidential statement after their leaders’ summit in Seoul on Thursday to underscore their efforts to strengthen cooperation in various fields including trade and business, sources said Tuesday.Accompanied by a large economic delegation, Chinese President Xi Jinping is to arrive in Seoul for a two-day state visit on Thursday. He will have a summit with President Park Geun-hye to discuss North Korea’s nuclear threat and other bilatera

July 1, 2014

Korea, China to announce stepped up cooperation

Japan ends pacifist security policy

Japan approved its right to fight in overseas wars on Tuesday, overturning its strictly defensive postwar security policy and defying public protests and international concerns over its unabated revisionist push. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an impromptu cabinet meeting to lift the longstanding ban on exercising collective self-defense by reinterpreting its Constitution’s war-renouncing Article 9, which barred Tokyo from waging war and possessing war-related materials. With the decision, J

July 1, 2014

‘Social media reshaping political debate’

One of the key forces challenging political orthodoxy and debate in Asia in the coming years is likely to be social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and their regional counterparts, according to the latest issue of Global Asia, a Seoul-based quarterly journal. “What we uncovered in our assessment of social media in this region, ‘Digital Dynamite: The Power of Social Media to Transform Asia for Better and Worse,’ is that the rapidly accelerating rate of smartphone usage and Internet penet

July 1, 2014

‘Social media reshaping political debate’

S. Korea reaffirms stance on Japan's collective self-defense

South Korea reaffirmed its stance Tuesday that Japan should seek explicit consent from Seoul if Tokyo exercises the right to "collective self-defense" in cases of emergency situations related to security on the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to reinterpret its war-renouncing Constitution that has banned Japan from exercising what is called the right to collective self-defense, a major shift in Japan's postwar security policy. The right would allow Tokyo t

July 1, 2014

Japan set for shift in postwar security policy

Japan is poised to set its plan in motion to allow its military to help defend other countries, which will herald a major shift in the country’s defense-oriented postwar security policy amid rising concerns over its creeping assertiveness in the region. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to convene a cabinet meeting Tuesday to approve Tokyo’s right to exercise collective self-defense by reinterpreting the war-renouncing Article 9 of its Constitution. The change will allow Japan’s Self-Defense

June 30, 2014

Japan set for shift in postwar security policy

Park-Xi summit to focus on North Korean nukes, FTA

The leaders of South Korea and China are expected to underscore their opposition to North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and their push to expedite bilateral free trade negotiations during a summit in Seoul later this week, government sources said Monday.After the summit on Thursday, Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping are to issue a joint statement, which observers presume will include their resolve to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, but may fall short of singling out the North for d

June 30, 2014

Park-Xi summit to focus on North Korean nukes, FTA

Seoul to publish sex slavery white paper by July 2015

South Korea is seeking to publish a white paper to shed light on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by July 2015 in a bid to protest against Japan’s review of its 1993 key apology of such atrocities, officials said Monday.The move comes as Japan has recently said that Seoul and Tokyo officials coordinated the wording of the so-called Kono Statement that apologized for coercing women into sexual servitude for its frontline troops during World War II.The Ministry of Gender Equality

June 30, 2014

Seoul seeks to publish white paper on 'comfort women' by July 2015

South Korea is seeking to publish a white paper to shed light on Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by July 2015 in a bid to protest against Japan's review of its 1993 key apology of such atrocities, officials said Monday.The move comes as Japan has recently said that Seoul and Tokyo officials coordinated the wording of the so-called Kono statement that apologized for coercing women into sexual servitude for its front-line troops during World War II.The Ministry of Gender Equalit

June 30, 2014

Korea, China, Japan build bridges

South Korea has a bridge-making role to play in enhancing cooperation between Japan and China, as well as in regional community building in East Asia in general, said the chief of the ASEAN-Korea Centre on Tuesday.Secretary-General Chung Hae-moon made the comments after returning from a two-day meeting in Beijing with his ASEAN Centre counterparts in Japan and China.ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary-General Chung Hae-moon (right), ASEAN-Japan Centre Secretary-General Yoshikuni Ohnishi (left) and ASEA

June 29, 2014

Senior Irish ministers talk public sector reform in Seoul

Brendan Howlin (center), minster for public expenditure and reform, and Irish Ambassador to South Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue (second from right) pose for a photo with officials from the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul on Wednesday. (Irish Embassy)Two senior Irish government ministers were in South Korea to discuss enhancing two-way ties on finance and trade with their counterparts here and also to talk about public sector reform and participate in a conference on the top

June 29, 2014

Senior Irish ministers talk public sector reform in Seoul

Korea, U.S. celebrate friendship in annual fete

The Korea America Friendship Society celebrated United States servicemen and women during its annual “Friendship Night,” at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul on Thursday. As part of the annual fete, four U.S. soldiers and one U.S. Department of Defense civilian received Korea America Friendship Society awards. The awards recognize them for teaching English on a volunteer basis; holding cultural exchanges, athletic events and festivals for young Korean students; and leading other projects that promo

June 29, 2014

Korea, U.S. celebrate friendship in annual fete

Azerbaijan celebrates 96th Armed Forces Day

Commander Elchin Jafarov (center), the Azerbaijani Embassy’s military attache, poses for a group photo with other defense attaches during a reception celebrating his country’s 96th Armed Forces Day in Seoul on Wednesday. (Azerbaijani Embassy)The Azerbaijani Embassy here celebrated the 96th anniversary of the establishment of the country’s armed forces during a reception in Seoul on Wednesday.The event was attended by members of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, members of the Azerbaijani military

June 29, 2014

Azerbaijan celebrates 96th Armed Forces Day

Envoy celebrates Egypt’s presidential election

The Egyptian ambassador here celebrated the presidential election that took place in his country this month during a reception for Egypt’s 62nd National Day at his residence in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, on Monday.Ambassador Hany Selim said that the recent presidential election in his country marks the beginning of “a new Egypt,” as he hosted Choi Sung-joo, ambassador for international security affairs; members of the foreign diplomatic community; and other VIPs at his residence in Seoul.“Apart from

June 29, 2014

Japan completes draft bill for collective self-defense

In a move that has triggered a backlash at home and from neighboring countries, the Shinzo Abe administration has come up with a final draft of a reinterpretation of its pacifist Constitution to make it possible to exercise its right to collective self-defense, Japanese media said Friday. The decision will mark a major shift in Tokyo’s exclusively defensive postwar security policy by allowing it to use force to defend its allies under attack. Article 9 of the constitution bans the country from w

June 27, 2014