The United States and its allies stand ready to defend themselves even on Christmas day, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday, as officials remained on alert for a threatened "Christmas gift" from North Korea.The "gift" was widely expected to be an intercontinental ballistic missile launch after

South Korea's finance ministry said Tuesday that about 71 percent of next year's budget has been allocated for implementation during the first half of the year, as the government aims to boost recovery momentum for Asia's fourth-largest economy.According to the ministry, 71.4 percent of

South Korea and the United States were set to hold the last day of defense cost-sharing talks on Wednesday, but chances of a deal appear to be low as the two sides remain far apart over how much more Seoul should pay.Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea's chief negotiator, and his U.S. counterpart, James D

The Japanese government has authorized a second shipment of an industrial material under its export restrictions to South Korea, informed sources said Monday.According to industry and government sources here, Tokyo has recently approved a request from a local manufacturer to export photoresist to So

President Moon Jae-in called on North Korea and the United States on Monday to seize the current chance to achieve denuclearization and lasting peace, as Seoul and Washington are wrapping up their combined military drills.The allies kicked off the "command-post" exercise on Aug. 5. In response, No

President Moon Jae-in made some nice words about Japan on the Liberation Day of Korea from Japan on Aug. 15, 2019. This was sheer surprise to many Koreans, if not all of them, because most had Koreans had anticipated some scathing criticisms against Japan as Prime Minister Shintaro Abe had continued

Chairperson Tanzila Narbayeva of the Senate of Oliy Majlis (parliament) in Uzbekistan paid a first visit to the Republic of Korea on August 6, 2019, and met with President Ban Ki-moon of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) at the Lotte Hotel Seoul. Ban is also well known as the former Secretary

A joint discussion on a roadmap of Preferential Trade Arrangement (PTA) was held between Pakistan and South Korea to beef up bilateral trade, investment and bilateral economic relations.Minister Abdul Razak Dawood of Pakistan for Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production and Investment visited Korea

The government has been under fire following revelations that the military failed to detect the small wooden boat carrying four North Koreans until it traveled all the way to the port of Samcheok, about 130 kilometers away from the eastern sea border, and a civilian alerted police about it on June 1

A body found in a river south of Budapest was confirmed to be a South Korean missing from last month's deadly sinking of a tour boat that left 26 Koreans dead or missing, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.That brought the total number of Koreans killed in the May 29 sinking to 23, and t

Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, died Monday at the age of 96, aides said.Lee had been hospitalized at a Seoul hospital while battling liver cancer."First lady Lee passed today at 11:37 p.m.," an official at the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center said.Lee served as chair of the Kim D

The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan are expected to hold a brief meeting while standing, rather than formal talks, on the sidelines of an international conference in Singapore early next month, a Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday.The neighboring countries have been pushing to hold the m

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday vowed to greatly enhance his country's cooperation and exchanges with Latin American countries, stressing the need for the countries to work together to address various regional and global issues, such as climate change and the fourth-industrial rev

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that North Korea will be met with "fire and fury" if it continues to threaten his country, issuing a strong rebuke against a country that has reportedly succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear weapons."North Korea best not make any more threats to the United

The government plans to increase policy loans to further help low-income people buy homes, despite recent measures aimed at cooling down the real estate market, officials said Friday.The plan is designed to step up support for low-income earners who seek to buy a home they will live in, although the

President Moon Jae-in was set to meet with the country's top business leaders Thursday for beer and frank discussions that may help fine-tune his economic policies, officials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with what the officials called a 20-minute

Choo Mi-ae, the leader of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), apologized Monday over the temporary lack of a quorum last week that led to a disconcerting delay in a parliamentary vote on an extra budget bill.On Saturday, the long-awaited vote on the 11.03 trillion-won (US$9.8 billion) extra budget bil

South Korea's defense ministry has been making a push to adjust the functions of its cyber security and anti-espionage units, each criticized for getting involved in politics and undue monitoring of individual soldiers, a military source said Sunday."Since Defense Minister Song Young-moo took o

President Moon Jae-in welcomed five new foreign envoys to Seoul at a ceremony held at Cheong Wa Dae on July 18, 2017.The President was presented with the credentials of each of the foreign diplomats. They were Uzbekistani Ambassador Vitaly Fen, Mexican Ambassador Bruno Figueroa Fischer, Indonesian A

South Korea and the United States have the same goal of denuclearizing North Korea, the State Department said Tuesday amid speculation the allies disagree on inter-Korean talks proposed by Seoul.South Korea wants to hold military talks with the North on Friday to discuss ways to ease tensions on the