A former national security adviser to Donald Trump slammed Joe Biden’s foreign policy, saying North Korea is a year closer in perfecting its nuclear and ballistic missile technology as a result of Biden’s diplomacy on Pyongyang -- or lack thereof. 　 In an op-ed published by Washington-based news outlet the Hill on Sunday, John Bolton identified Iran and North Korea as the Biden administration’s nuclear proliferation failures in 2021. 　 Bolton, who championed a hawkish policy

North Korea Jan. 3, 2022

A policy of “strategic ambiguity” has guided South Korea’s diplomacy over the years, with Seoul seeking to juggle relations with its security ally Washington and key trade partner Beijing. But this precarious balancing act may no longer be sustainable, according to a key foreign policy adviser to the main opposition People Power Party’s presidential nominee. In an interview with The Korea Herald, Korea University professor Kim Sung-han, who advises Yoon Suk-yeol, said

Foreign Affairs Dec. 28, 2021

For years, South Korea, the US and the international community have tried to coax North Korea into giving up its nuclear and missile program. Despite a series of negotiations, headline-grabbing summits and carrot-and-stick tactics, the reclusive regime has not ceased from developing the weapons of mass destruction, but instead has been advancing them. What the years of failed negotiations have taught us is that the North’s nuclear issue is a complex conundrum that requires a multifaceted

Foreign Affairs Dec. 27, 2021

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday the country would look to expand cooperation with the US on many fronts next year, including on supply chains and cutting-edge technology, as well as North Korea’s denuclearization. 　 The Foreign Ministry, along with the Unification and Defense Ministries, jointly delivered a written policy report for 2022 to President Moon Jae-in on Monday, detailing Seoul’s priorities and direction on diplomacy, security and North Korean policies

Foreign Affairs Dec. 23, 2021

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. Marking his first trip to the region since taking office in August, his weeklong trip to Tokyo

Foreign Affairs Dec. 17, 2021

The runup to the March 9 South Korean presidential election could be a “golden time” to make strides in the stalled diplomacy with North Korea and a potential inter-Korean summit could be an answer for a breakthrough, experts at the state-funded think tank said Wednesday. 　 “The period up till the presidential election could be the ‘golden time’ where decisive change could happen (on the peninsula),” Lee Sang-sin, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for

North Korea Dec. 15, 2021

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug on Tuesday called on countries in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to tackle various global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis.   　 His remarks came during the inaugural ceremony of the 29th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum that kicked off for a three-day run from Monday to Wednesday. Under the theme of “The Role of Parliaments in Strengthening Re

Foreign Affairs Dec. 14, 2021

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong stressed the partnership with Washington, but remained apart on key sticking points with Tokyo, in a brief meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the Group of Seven session in the UK.   　 Chung joined the in-person gathering of G-7 foreign and development ministers meeting in Liverpool, England, over the weekend, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. South Korea was invited as a guest -- along with Australia, India, South

Foreign Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

The announcement of fresh US sanctions against North Korea might deal a blow to Seoul’s attempts to revive diplomacy with Pyongyang, experts said Sunday. 　 The US on Friday declared extensive sanctions and visa bans on human rights grounds against officials and entities in eight countries, including China, Russia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and North Korea. The action, coinciding with international Human Rights Day and a two-day summit on democracy led by Washington, is a tool to “draw a

North Korea Dec. 12, 2021

South Korea is seeking to play its “role as the previous host nation” of the Winter Olympics, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Thursday, alluding that Seoul is less likely join the US in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Games. 　 Choi made the remarks during an interview with local radio station TBS, stressing that the upcoming Beijing Olympics are a “relay of Northeast Asian Olympics from PyeongChang to Tokyo and Beijing and are very meaningful.”

Foreign Affairs Dec. 9, 2021

Advisers to South Korea’s two leading presidential candidates agreed during a forum in Washington that the alliance with the US needs to be strengthened, but opinions diverged on how to denuclearize North Korea. 　 Former South Korean Ambassador Wi Sung-lac, who advises Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Sung-han, a professor at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies who advises Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition People

North Korea Dec. 8, 2021

The South Korean government has again raised concern about Japan’s plans to treat radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant and release it into the sea, saying Tokyo has only looked at the short-term impact on the marine environment. 　 Korean officials and experts voiced their concerns to their Japanese counterparts at a special virtual session held last Friday, in regard to a draft report released by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the state-run operator of the wrecked p

Foreign Affairs Dec. 7, 2021

At a time when uncertainty looms large on regional and international security order, South Koreans will head to the polls in March to elect a new president. 　 The leading contenders are Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition People Power Party. While domestic issues such as runaway housing prices and continuing economic fallout from the pandemic are expected to be on the forefront of voters’ minds, the result will al

Foreign Affairs Dec. 6, 2021

North Korea will hold a key party meeting later this month as leader Kim Jong-un is set to mark 10 years in office, North Korean media said Thursday, with growing speculation that Pyongyang could unveil its policy toward Washington and Seoul for the next year.  The decision to hold a plenary session was made during a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea held on Wednesday, presided by leader Kim, according to the Korea Central News Agency. 　 The 4th plenary meetin

North Korea Dec. 2, 2021

Starting Saturday, some 260 Sakhalin Koreans -- ethnic Koreans who were forced to relocate to the far-eastern Russian island by their Japanese colonizers during World War II -- are set to arrive in their ancestral homeland, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.  The repatriation is in accordance with legislation that took effect in January, which expanded the eligibility criteria for relocation and financial support from the South Korean government for Sakhalin Koreans.  Previously,

Foreign Affairs Nov. 25, 2021