A newly named presidential envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) departed for the Philippines on Sunday, the first leg of his tour of the region.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, tapped by President Moon Jae-in on Friday to be his special envoy to ASEAN, will travel to Indonesia and V
South Korean Foreign Minister-nominee Kang Kyung-wha is a career diplomat well-versed in the United Nations especially in the field of human rights.Kang, who is now a special policy advisor to U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres, joined the U.N. as the deputy high commissioner for human rights i
President Moon Jae-in on Sunday announced his picks for the new finance and foreign ministers, while appointing his new chief security advisor.Kim Dong-yeon, president of Ajou University, has been tapped as the new finance minister, who doubles as a vice prime minister, the president said at a press
Former President Park Geun-hye will attend the opening hearing of her corruption trial along with her accomplice and long-time friend Choi Soon-sil this week, court sources said Sunday.The Seoul Central District Court scheduled the hearing for Tuesday. Park was accused of receiving or demanding 59.2
A new public park converted from a superannuated elevated roadway near Seoul Station in the center of the capital was opened to the public on Saturday after years of construction.The construction project for the Seoul Station elevated park began in 2014, when Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon declared a Seo
South Korea and Japan have agreed to resolve a row over a 2015 deal on Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women in a future-oriented manner, President Moon Jae-in's special envoy said Saturday.Moon Hee-sang relayed that Japan said that it understood South Koreans' negative sent
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has named Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as his special envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.Park will head to the Philippines, the current rotating chair of the ASEAN, as soon as arrangements for
President Moon Jae-in on Friday reaffirmed his campaign pledge to complete a constitutional revision by June next year, an opposition leader said, amid continuing calls to address the current concentration of power in a single state leader, a situation long blamed for corruption and political polari
South Korea's acting justice minister offered to resign Friday, one day after the ministry and state prosecutors launched internal corruption investigations into their own officials, who are suspected of intentional negligence to afford leniency toward a former presidential secretary."I did my
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that he hopes to get the ties with South Korea back on normal track, emphasizing the importance of the bilateral relations between the Asian neighbors.Xi made the remarks during his meeting with Lee Hae-chan, who was in Beijing as a special envoy that South K
Nearly 90 percent of adult South Korean citizens have a positive outlook on President Moon Jae-in's handling of state affairs, a survey showed Friday, reflecting high public support for the new liberal leader.In the survey conducted from Tuesday through Thursday by local pollster Gallup
The United States wants North Korea to trust its promise of no hostility and conduct no more nuclear or missile tests before Washington can consider opening talks with the communist nation, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was quoted as saying Thursday. The remarks, made in a meeting with So
A senior Chinese official said Friday that relations between China and South Korea are "very important," underlining the need for the Asian neighbors to keep communicating with each other on issues of mutual concern.Chinese State Councilor for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi made the remarks in a meet
A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a series of meetings with U.S. congressional leaders on Thursday as he forged ahead with his mission to reaffirm and further strengthen the alliance between the two countries under the new government in Seoul.Special envoy Hong Seok-hyun arr
A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in China on Thursday for discussions on a summit between the countries' heads of state and ways to contain North Korea.Also high on the agenda for the special envoy, Lee Hae-chan, was a prolonged row between Seoul and Beijing over the
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that South Korea is the "most important" country that shares strategic interests, adding he will move toward building future-oriented ties between the Asian neighbors.Abe made the remarks during a meeting with Moon Hee-sang, a special envoy of South
President Moon Jae-in on Thursday hinted at reinvestigating the military's bloody crackdown of a pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju in 1980.The new liberal leader attended an annual ceremony marking the citizens' armed resistence against then coup leaders in the city, located 350 kilometers s
A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in embarked on his trip to China on Thursday for discussions on a summit between the countries' heads of state and ways to contain North Korea.Also high on the agenda for the special envoy, Lee Hae-chan, was a prolonged row between Seoul and Bei
President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday tapped a well-known critic of large conglomerates as the new chief of the corporate watchdog Fair Trade Commission (FTC).Kim Sang-jo, a economics professor from Seoul's Hansung University, has been nominated as the new head of the FTC, according to the presiden