Later Monday, Park was to attend a dinner meeting hosted by the Mongolian president. The president also invited Park for a breakfast meeting on Tuesday. Park also paid courtesy calls to Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and Parliamentary Speaker Gombojavyn Zandanshatar. Starting with Park’s visit, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said the government will activate bilateral consultative...

The South Korean government is sending a delegation of negotiators to Washington to discuss the US Inflation Reduction Act, which excludes electric vehicles built outside of North America from tax benefits, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. The move comes as the US inflation law signed last week sparked concerns among EV makers, as it would get rid of tax subsidies given to EVs assembled in ...

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and the Asia Exchange Association launched a youth exchange program to bring together young people of Korea, the United States and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region. According to the ministry, it held the opening ceremony of the Youth Camp for ASEAN and Friends’ Engagement (YCAFE) invi...

The top US diplomat for East Asia policy and South Korean officials, including Seoul’s chief nuclear envoy, reaffirmed the allies’ commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea in meetings held in Seoul. The two sides also discussed a wide range of topics, including trade issues, during the US diplomat’s three-day trip. Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and...

North Korea reported four new fever cases in Ryanggang Province on Thursday, just 13 days after the country claimed victory over the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters, Pyongyang’s state media said four fever cases suspected of being infected with the “malignant epidemic” occurred in Ryanggang Province in the northeastern region on Tuesday. ...

South Korea and China marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Wednesday, holding separate celebratory events in their respective capitals. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries could not hold a joint celebration, but they ran the events simultaneously, with their respective foreign ministers taking part as principal guests in the events, according to Seoul’s Foreign M...

‘Decoupling’ unrealistic Experts say Korea should maintain a balanced position in the Sino-US rivalry, as it is “unrealistic” to cut ties with China which the country’s economy is so heavily dependent on, and also “wisely” manage diplomatic disputes. China, together with Hong Kong and Macau, take up about 30 percent of Korea’s total exports. “Perspectives on how to approach China may differ d...

Some of the major issues triggering anti-China sentiment include the clash over the traditional South Korean food kimchi (salted and fermented vegetables). In 2020, a claim that China has been awarded certification from the International Organization for Standardization for “pao cai” — a pickled vegetable dish from Sichuan — as the definitive version of kimchi sparked outrage among social media u...

Friction between Seoul and Beijing over a US anti-ballistic missile defense system continues, with the two sides issuing statements and rebuttals over Seoul’s position. On Thursday, Seoul flatly dismissed Beijing‘s claim that Seoul had adopted an official policy of not deploying an additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in its territory, saying the US anti-missile defense system i...

The top diplomats of South Korea and China met this week, and agreed that bilateral relations should be reinvigorated into a more stable and mature one, for the two countries to become “strategic partners.” While the meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Tuesday was conducted in an “amicable” mood, its outcome may only just be no more tha...

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Tuesday met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss a series of thorny issues, including North Korea, regional security and economic exchanges. In their second bilateral meeting held in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on Tuesday afternoon, the two sides agreed to further enhance bilateral ties. While the meeting was conducted in an “amicable” mood, t...

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is taking off for his first official trip to China on Monday, where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to discuss a series of issues including regional security and economic cooperation. Park were to departed from Seoul Air Base to Qingdao, Shandong province, for the three-day trip from Monday to Wednesday. The bilateral talks between Park ...

North Korea bashed the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s North Korea policy, likening the “audacious plan” which offers economic benefits in exchange for denuclearization as rehashed “trash” on Sunday. The Tongil Shinbo, a weekly North Korean publication, said Yoon’s “audacious plan” to offer significant economic benefits to the North if it abandons its nuclear program is only rehashing former pres...

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin relayed concerns on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to his Russian counterpart Surgey Lavrov at a multilateral summit on Friday. Attending the East Asian Summit held as part of the series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Park spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for some six ...

South Korea has been reelected to Group B (major investors) of the Council of the International Seabed Authority for the fifth consecutive year, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday. In the election during the 27th session of the ISA Assembly held in Jamaica on Thursday, South Korea was chosen for Group B, in which countries lead the process of drawing up main policies for the a...