South Korea's new vice unification minister on Thursday raised the need to push for inter-Korean dialogue in a prudent manner by taking into account North Korea's changes in its attitude. Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said that any rush for inter-Korean talks can give the wrong message to the North at a time when Pyongyang is not giving up its nuclear and missile development programs. ...

ULSAN -- The municipality of Ulju, southeastern South Korea, is set to form a pact with the Portuguese city of Sintra next week to seek friendship and cooperation in tourism, local officials said Thursday. Ulju chief Shin Jang-yeol and Sintra Mayor Bas?lio Horta will represent each side when the two towns sign the pact on Monday in the Portuguese city, southwest of Lisbon. The arrangement calls...

South Korea should convince China to accept the ongoing deployment of an advanced US missile defense shield on its soil instead of trying to reverse the move, which could send the wrong signals to both Washington and Beijing, a scholar has said. The installation of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery has been under way at a former golf course in southeastern South Korea since early Mar...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that his new government will use all available means to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table, noting the objective of ongoing international sanctions, too, is to bring the communist state back to negotiations. "North Korea continues to stage nuclear and missile provocations despite the wishes of the international community, and because such...

Argentina has undertaken a string of economic reforms aimed at sustainable development and new vigor and dynamism await investors, according to the country’s top envoy to Korea. Speaking at the National Day reception last week, Argentine Ambassador to Korea Jorge Roballo said the administration of President Mauricio Macri, who was sworn in in December 2015, is wholly committed to reducing povert...

The Azerbaijani Embassy marked the silver jubilee of relations with Korea last week that have expanded comprehensively over the last 25 years, with strides made in infrastructure, energy, construction, transport and telecommunications. Korea’s former acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn wrote a congratulatory letter to his Azeri counterpart on the occasion, conveying Seoul’s desire to deepen cooperati...

The World Green Economy Organization launched the Smart and Sustainable City Platform last week, a forum aimed at devising and spreading knowledge about solutions promoting environment-friendly urban development. The launch event brought together members from the organization, Global Green Growth Institute and Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement, among others. The WGEO was la...

As some nations race to the bottom of protectionism, Canada is rising to the top of economic integration and technological innovation by harnessing strategic partnerships worldwide, including the one with Korea, according to the country’s international trade minister. Francois-Philippe Champagne, who has helmed the ministry of international trade since January, stressed that fostering comprehens...

Following the peace agreement with armed guerilla group FARC, Colombia has entered an environment of security and stability ideal for investors, according to the country’s trade minister. In an interview with The Korea Herald last week, Colombian minister of trade, industry and tourism, Maria Claudia Lacouture, highlighted the freshly available opportunities in infrastructure, agriculture, housi...

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok met with Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj on Wednesday and discussed joint climate change responses as well as ways to enhance ties between the two nations, the mayor’s office said Thursday. “As desertification in Mongolia and China is deepening due to global warming, the world should join hands to tackle the phenomenon and yellow sand that stems from it,” th...

A South Korean senior diplomat will depart to the United States on Thursday to prepare a summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump set for next month, the foreign ministry said. During his three-day trip, Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam is expected to discuss the timing, agenda and protocol details for the first talks between the two leaders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said....

MOSCOW -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's special envoy has told the Russian Far East development minister and parliament leaders that South Korea intends to increase economic cooperation with Russia as a means to dissuade North Korea from its nuclear weapons development and military provocations. After meetings with the Minister for Development of Russian Far East Alexander Galushka and pa...

By Pakistani Ambassador to Korea Zahid Nasrullah Khan On 6 June 1998, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1172 and expressed deep concern over the risk of a nuclear arms race in South Asia. Determined to prevent such a scenario from happening, it urged India and Pakistan to resume all of their bilateral dialogues covering outstanding issues and encouraged them to find mutuall...

"The more Seoul harped on its unification rhetoric, the further it will drift away, as Pyongyang would suspect Seoul’s intention and interpret it as a strategy to topple the regime."

“Transactional diplomacy would decouple the nuclear issue from broader strategies and create conditions for success by not maximizing the interest of any party, but by optimizing the interests of all parties.”