US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he plans to meet with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Bangkok this week amid a simmering trade row between the two Asian nations. Pompeo told reporters flying with him to Thailand for a regional forum that he will meet separately and then trilaterally with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro ...

Japan is highly likely to pass a bill later this week to remove South Korea from its "whitelist" of trusted trade partners, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, in what would be an additional economic retaliatory measure in a row over wartime forced labor. "The bill is expected to be passed at a Cabinet meeting and undergo procedures ... before it comes into effect in late August," the ministry sa...

Japan called in South Korea's ambassador to the country and filed a protest on Friday after Seoul rejected its call for an arbitration panel on wartime forced labor, with the escalating row showing signs of spreading to the security realm. Thursday was the deadline Tokyo set for Seoul to respond to its June 19 request to form a panel consisting of three third-country members. Seoul rejected the ...

US officials have expressed concern that tensions between South Korea and Japan over Tokyo's export restrictions against Seoul are not conducive to trilateral cooperation between the three countries, Seoul's deputy national security adviser said Saturday. Kim Hyun-chong, deputy chief of Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office, made the remark to reporters as he wrapped up a four-day visit to Wa...

Japan on Tuesday rejected South Korea's call for negotiations to resolve a row over Tokyo's export restrictions against the South, saying it has no intention of lifting the curbs and the issue is not a matter of talks. Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko made the remark after a Cabinet meeting, a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Japan to retract the restrictions on exports of key mat...

Hundreds of protesters swarmed into Hong Kong's legislature Monday night, defacing portraits of lawmakers and spray-painting pro-democracy slogans in the chamber before vacating it as riot police cleared surrounding streets with tear gas and then moved inside. The three-hour occupation, which ended early Tuesday, came on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony's return to China, a city...

The United States remains committed to strengthening cooperation with South Korea and Japan to face common challenges, the State Department said Monday in response to escalating tensions between the Asian neighbors. This week Japan announced toughened controls on high-tech exports to South Korea amid an ongoing dispute over Korean court rulings against Japanese firms. The courts ordered Japanes...

Leaders of the Group of 20 opened a high-stakes summit in Japan's Osaka Friday that is expected to be one of the most fractious in years. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened the meeting, which will be dominated by contentious discussions on trade, geopolitical tensions, and climate change. But the mood appeared friendly in the opening minutes, with smiles on the faces of the arriving leade...

President Moon Jae-in is set to hold a summit with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to discuss ways to expand economic cooperation and bolster bilateral ties. Moon and Prince Mohammed plan to hold a summit and an expanded meeting involving their aides later in the day, followed by a ceremony to sign a set of tentative agreements on cooperation and an official luncheo...

BEIJING -- China said Monday it will not allow discussion on Hong Kong at the G20 this week even as US President Donald Trump plans to raise the city's mass protests during his meeting with President Xi Jinping. The semi-autonomous city has been shaken by huge demonstrations this month as throngs have demanded the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland. Trump...

A rainbow flag symbolizing sexual minorities has been taken down from the US Embassy building in Seoul amid a news report that the State Department has adopted a new policy to reject all requests to raise such flags. The eight-by-four-meter flag was hoisted on the front wall of the US mission in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on May 18. It was taken down on Sunday, according to the embassy. The em...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in instructed the government Thursday to use every possible means to rescue South Korean tourists, whose boat capsized in Budapest, Hungary, in cooperation with the local authorities, his office said. Moon received a briefing on the incident from Chung Eui-yong, head of the National Security Office, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson, Ko Min-jung. The presid...

South Korea's trade minister has urged Japan to accept the World Trade Organization's decision that upheld Seoul's import restrictions on Japanese seafood following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Seoul's trade ministry said Friday. During an informal trade ministerial gathering at the WTO held in France earlier this week, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said the final verdict fro...

Former US President George W. Bush arrived in South Korea on Wednesday to attend a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of former President Roh Moo-hyun's death. He arrived at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul on a special Korean Air flight, wearing a jacket and sneakers. He waved to reporters but did not answer a question about whether he has any message for South Koreans. Bush is ...

South Korea and France on Friday called for strengthening multilateral trade to safeguard free trade, South Korea's finance ministry said. The consensus was reached in a meeting between Lee Ho-seung, the first vice minister of economy and finance, and French Junior Minister for Economy and Finance Agnes Pannier-Runacher, in Seoul. They also shared the need of coping with uncertainties amid the ...