A South Korean military aircraft evacuating Korean nationals and their families from Lebanon returned home Saturday, as Israel intensifies ground operations against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah inside Lebanon, the South Korean government said Saturday. A total of 96 South Korean nationals and one foreign family member who had been residing in Lebanon arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at 12:50 p.m. local time aboard a South Korean Air Force KC-330 Cygnus transp

Foreign Affairs Oct. 5, 2024

Seoul and Washington have finalized a new defense cost-sharing agreement for 2026 to 2030. The deal comes just one month ahead of the US presidential election, in which former President Donald Trump -- who previously demanded a significant increase in South Korea's defense contributions -- is running as the Republican candidate. Over five months of intensive negotiations, the allies engaged in eight rounds of talks, culminating in a final agreement for the 12th Special Measures Agreement during

Foreign Affairs Oct. 4, 2024

South Korea's Defense Ministry on Friday condemned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his sister Kim Yo-jong's criticism of President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Armed Forces Day celebration in South Korea, calling it "behavior that can never be tolerated." North Korean state media earlier in the day reported Kim Jong-un denounced and dismissed Yoon's Armed Forces Day speech, which warned of the regime's end if it attempts to use nuclear weapons, launching a direct and v

North Korea Oct. 4, 2024

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday directed the immediate dispatch of military aircraft to evacuate nationals from the Middle East as tensions escalated rapidly with intensified clashes between Israel and Iran as well as its backed militias Hezbollah and Hamas. "The president emphasized that protecting South Korean nationals in Israel and the Middle East is of utmost importance and instructed that all necessary measures be taken," his office said in a statement issued fo

Foreign Affairs Oct. 2, 2024

North Korea may revoke the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, which has served as a pivotal foundation for the development of inter-Korean relations and efforts toward peaceful reunification for more than three decades, during its parliamentary session scheduled for next week, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said Wednesday. The potential action aligns with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's public declaration that the two Koreas are engaged in relations between "two hostile states" lo

North Korea Oct. 2, 2024

South Korea ramped up its diplomatic efforts to gain greater influence over North Korea’s traditional allies and old friends -- China, Cuba, and Iran -- with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul spearheading a series of high-level talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Central to the efforts was Cho's third face-to-face meeting of the year with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday, a meeting South Korea's Foreign Ministry described as part of &

Foreign Affairs Sept. 30, 2024

South Korea and China reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and communication, highlighting the significance of their partnership during a reception on Thursday celebrating the upcoming 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1. The Chinese Embassy hosted the event at The Shilla Seoul on Thursday, with the attendance of over 800 guests, including South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun, current and former lawmakers

Foreign Affairs Sept. 29, 2024

South Korea and Japan are poised to hold talks on the joint development of untapped natural resources, including petroleum and underground minerals, beneath the continental shelf in the East China Sea for the first time since 1985, breaking nearly 40 years of stalled negotiations. The South Korea-Japan Joint Commission, a platform for consultations on the implementation of their bilateral joint development agreement, is set to hold its sixth meeting Friday in Tokyo, the South Korean Foreign Mini

Foreign Affairs Sept. 26, 2024

Rwanda's top diplomat emphasized that building stronger partnerships with South Korea -- particularly in fostering human and technological capital and attracting more investment and Korean companies -- is key to accelerating the country's transition from aid dependency to a self-reliant, trade-driven economy focused on industrialization In an interview with The Korea Herald, Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Olivier Nduhungirehe shed light on the signifi

Foreign Affairs Sept. 25, 2024

The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed on Monday to advance the creation of a trilateral secretariat to institutionalize cooperation and insulate it from potential disruptions caused by leadership changes in any of the three countries. They decided to make for formal announcement of the launch of the secretariat at a summit planned before the year’s end. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minist

Foreign Affairs Sept. 24, 2024

Seoul and Washington issued concurrent statements condemning North Korea’s unlawful detention of six South Korean nationals and demanding their immediate, unconditional release, timed to mark missionary Kim Jung-wook's 4,000th day in captivity. South Korea released the statement from Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Friday, while the US simultaneously issued the press statement Thursday from State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. In his statement, Kim decried, "North Korea

North Korea Sept. 20, 2024

While North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, primarily targeting international audiences, reported missile test launches under Kim Jong-un's supervision on Thursday, the country's primary domestic newspaper unusually omitted the coverage. Kim supervised the tests of tactical ballistic missiles fitted with "super-large" warheads and modified cruise missiles on Wednesday, according to the KCNA. But the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s most widely circulated

North Korea Sept. 19, 2024

North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles Wednesday in its latest show of force, just days after an unprecedented public release of photos showing its uranium enrichment facilities capable of producing nuclear weapons material. The missile launches came on the heels of last week's launches which marked the end of a more than two-month pause in Pyongyang's missile provocations. The South Korean military detected North Korea launching several short-range ballistic missiles northea

North Korea Sept. 18, 2024

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea from the Pyongyang area Thursday morning, the South Korean military said, marking its first missile launch since July 1 and breaking a more than two-month lull in missile provocations. The timing -- coinciding with weeklong Russia-China military exercises, just one day after the US presidential debate, and as North Korea shifts its focus from flood recovery back to weapons development -- signals what analysts view as a c

North Korea Sept. 12, 2024

US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump traded sharp barbs on Tuesday, spotlighting their sharply contrasting views on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, treaty alliances and a host of pivotal foreign policy issues. The televised presidential debate, the first between these two candidates, continued past the original 90-minutes scheduled, notably sidestepping North Korea and rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, including Pyongyang's illicit nuclear buildup and it

Foreign Affairs Sept. 11, 2024