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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Foreign ministry to create bureau to deal with China

By Lee Min-hyungSeen above is the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul. YonhapThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs will create a new bureau that will exclusively deal with China-related affairs under an organizational restructuring plan.It will also set up a new bureau to handle 10 countries from the ASEAN bloc, and a division to handle the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC)sanctions on North Korea.The reorganization plan reflects changing diplomatic needs, the ministry said.The foreign ministry also said it decided to enlarge a team-level unit, handling works on North Korea sanctions, into a division in reflection of its growing workloads. The team has so far been in charge of informing the UNCS of any violation of the sanctions detected here.The foreign authority also plans to increase the workforce to engage in tasks related to North Korea’s nuclear affairs and protocol.The Asia-Pacific bureau which will take charge of works on Japan and the Asia-Pacific regions. Affairs on Southeast Asia will be handled by the ASEAN division.“We ex

Apr 16, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
Foreign ministry to create bureau to deal with China

North Korea may have declined offer for special envoy

By Lee Min-hyungPresident Moon Jae-inSpeculation is growing that North Korea may have refused an offer from President Moon Jae-in to send a special envoy to prepare for a possible summit.This comes after President Moon Jae-in offered Monday to hold an inter-Korean summit without commenting on plans to send a delegation to arrange topics and schedule for what could be Moon’s fourth meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.This was somewhat different from the summits last year, as Cheong Wa Dae at the time unveiled its plans to dispatch special envoys to the North before announcing that Moon would hold a summit with Kim.The two Koreas held three summits last year, and the first and the third ones took place after the South dispatched special delegations to the North.“It is high time we make preparations and carry out an inter-Korean summit,” President Moon said in a meeting with presidential aides, Monday. He did not make any detailed comments on any plans to send a  pre-summit delegation.Last year, Moon made public that he would hold a summit with Kim only a

Apr 16, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
North Korea may have declined offer for special envoy
  • No rush to resume talks with North Korea: Trump

LKP members under fire for defamatory remarks against Sewol victims

Rep. Chung Jin-suk of the main opposition Liberty Korea PartyBy Park Ji-wonAn incumbent and a former lawmaker of the largest conservative party, the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), came under fire, Tuesday, for making defamatory remarks against victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster and those who lost loved ones. Political parties, even their own party, condemned the two for disparaging the 304 dead.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) called for the immediate expulsion of incumbent Rep. Chung Jin-suk of the LKP and Cha Myung-jin, a former LKP lawmaker who is currently heading a regional office of the party.“Chung and Cha continued to make defamatory remarks against the victims and bereaved families. It is tragic for the party to make an official comment on these subjects,” Rep. Lee Jae-jung, spokeswoman of the DPK, said Tuesday.Citing the remarks of LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn and LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won, who expressed regrets over Chung and Cha’s remarks, Lee added, “If the two were sincere about what they said, the LKP should expel Chung from t

Apr 16, 2019By Park Ji-won
LKP members under fire for defamatory remarks against Sewol victims
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No rush to resume talks with North Korea: Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump waves to members of the media as he walks on the South Lawn after arriving at the White House in Washington, Monday, following a visit to Minnesota. AP-YonhapBy Park Ji-wonPresident Donald Trump responded cautiously to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's demand for the U.S. to change its attitude by the end of the year in order to hold a third summit. Trump said denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang were moving along “just perfectly” after the breakdown of their summit in Hanoi in February. “I don't want it to move fast,” Trump was quoted as saying during a roundtable on the economy and tax reform in Burnsville, Minnesota. “It doesn't have to move fast. Right now it's moving along just perfectly and we have a good relationship.”His remarks came after Kim said a third summit with Trump would be possible but only if the U.S. makes a courageous decision regarding nuclear negotiations by the year's end during a session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held last week. This was taken to mean that the North

Apr 16, 2019By Park Ji-won
No rush to resume talks with North Korea: Trump
  • 'Russia preparing summit with Pyongyang'
  • North Korea may have declined offer for special envoy

Conservatives blast Moon over Kim's speech

Rep. Na Kyung-won, second from right, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geunBy Park Ji-wonThe opposition parties have accused the Moon Jae-in government of diplomatic failure after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's speech urging Moon to stop playing a “facilitator” role in denuclearization talks. The parties called on the presidential office to replace its diplomatic line-up.Citing Kim's speech during the 14th Supreme People's Assembly last week that urged Moon to “stop playing a nosy mediator or facilitator and become the one who protects the nation's interest,” Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) criticized the government's North Korea policy.“North Korea is threatening and ignoring the South Korean government after the failure of the North -U.S. summit,” Na said. “A failed North Korea policy is hurting South Korean's pride.” Na asked Moon to replace key people in diplomatic a

Apr 15, 2019By Park Ji-won
Conservatives blast Moon over Kim's speech
  • 'Russia preparing summit with Pyongyang'

Political clash looms as Moon poised to appoint disputed Constitutional Court justice nominee

Lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party enter the Supreme Prosecutors Office in Seoul, Monday, to file complaints against the disputed Constitutional Court Justice nominee Lee Mi-sun and her husband for allegedly making lucrative stock transactions using insider information. From left are Reps. Song Eon-seog, Lee Man-hee, Choi Gyo-il and Lee Yang-soo. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonLiberal and conservative parties are on a collision course over President Moon Jae-in's possible appointment of disputed nominee Lee Mi-sun as a Constitutional Court judge.The liberal President is expected to appoint Lee despite strong protest from conservative parties and negative public sentiment against her before leaving for a trip to three Central Asian countries, Tuesday.Moon will ask the National Assembly to adopt a report on the outcome of Lee's confirmation hearing held last week which is a de facto procedural step for appointing the nominee. The deadline of the adoption was Monday. Assembly approval is not mandatory for the appointment of presidential nominees.Moon embarks on an eight-day tri

Apr 15, 2019By Park Ji-won
Political clash looms as Moon poised to appoint disputed Constitutional Court justice nominee

'Kim Jong-un exposed weakness in recent speech'

By Lee Min-hyung Thae Yong-ho North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a strategic mistake by indirectly acknowledging in his recent speech his regime is vulnerable to tough economic sanctions, Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South, said.The analysis came in response to Kim's administrative policy speech last week when he expressed discontent over the failed summit with United States President Donald Trump in Hanoi. Kim said the regime would no longer stick to dialogue with the U.S. for sanctions relief.“Kim acknowledged that the North made the tactical blunder in that it exposed weakness by strongly demanding sanctions relief in Hanoi,” Thae said on his blog, Sunday.The North's young dictator will hold a summit with Trump or South Korean President Moon Jae-in only when Kim can recognize their shifted stance in denuclearization negotiations, according to Thae.During the speech, however, Kim also left open the possibility of holding the thi

Apr 15, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
'Kim Jong-un exposed weakness in recent speech'

North Korea wants to buy Russian civil aircraft, report says

North Korea's Air Koryo freight plane parked at Noi Bai International Airport in Vietnam's capital of Hanoi, on Feb. 24. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungNorth Korea wants to buy new Russian passenger planes to improve safety on air routes between Pyongyang and Vladivostok, according to reports in Russia.Sergei Neverov, who recently led a Russian parliamentary delegation to Pyongyang, said the North's foreign ministry had shown interest in buying the Russian planes, Russian news agency TASS reported Sunday.“At a meeting at the North Korean foreign ministry, we touched upon the issue of civil aviation and flight safety,” the agency quoted the deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house as saying.“We maintain air service between Pyongyang and Vladivostok and, naturally, we would like to see more advanced and safer planes serving this route.”He also underlined the need for Russia to continue holding talks with the North.“We believe that such dialogue must be maintained because civil aviation is beyond the United Nations Security Council's actions o

Apr 15, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
North Korea wants to buy Russian civil aircraft, report says
  • Kim Jong-un to meet Putin in Russia: KCNA

Moon offers to meet with Kim Jong-un

President Moon Jae-in speaks at the start of a weekly meeting with senior presidential secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Moon's right is National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in offered Monday to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “at any time and any place,” and if this is accepted, he is expected to send a special envoy to Pyongyang to discuss the agenda for what would be their fourth meeting.The offer came after Moon's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. last week, in an effort to find a breakthrough in the stalled nuclear talks between the North and the United States. “I believe the time has come to push for an inter-Korean summit,” Moon said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae. “I want to discuss with Kim ways to make progress beyond the two previous North Korea-U.S. summits without restrictions on time and venue.” Moon also suggested a three-way meeting with Kim and Trump, saying the U.S. leader reacted positively to the idea.The North Korean leader

Apr 15, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
Moon offers to meet with Kim Jong-un
  • Kim Jong-un may meet Putin next week: Yonhap
  • 'Russia preparing summit with Pyongyang'

Ruling DPK welcomes Moon-Trump summit

President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump walk to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., Thursday local time. AP-YonhapBy Park Ji-wonMost political parties welcomed the outcome of President Moon Jae-in's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in terms of reaffirming the U.S.-South Korea alliance in tackling the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues of mutual interest.But the main opposition denounced the summit for ending without any substantial diplomatic achievements.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said the Washington summit made “great progress” in terms of reaffirming the joint goal of the North's denuclearization, promising full cooperation for Moon to become a “top negotiator” in the peace-making process.“The two leaders reaffirmed they are in the same position over the final goal of the denuclearization of the North,” DPK spokesman Lee Hae-sik said in a statement, Friday.“We consider that Moon was able to sympathize with Trump by suggesting a comprehensive agreement and step-by-step imple

Apr 15, 2019By Park Ji-won
Ruling DPK welcomes Moon-Trump summit
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