FM to go on trip to Japan, US this week
Cho, who took office on July 21, will meet his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, on Tuesday. Cho is scheduled to attend a working dinner hosted by Iwaya. It will be the first in-person meeting of the two since Cho started his term.
The two held their first phone talks on Thursday and agreed that bilateral cooperation is key to addressing geopolitical challenges at both the global and regional levels.
South Korea's top diplomat is scheduled to depart Tokyo for Washington on Wednesday to hold talks with Marco Rubio, who doubles as the US secretary of state and the national security adviser for the White House.
Cho's meeting with Rubio is speculated to take place Thursday, but the Foreign Ministry did not disclose the exact date.
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Korea Herald
16 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Talks launched to set date for 1st Lee-Trump summit
Seoul and Washington have launched discussions to set a date for a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump, South Korea's Foreign Minister said Friday. The latest talks follow US President Donald Trump's remark that his first summit with Lee would take place in the White House 'within two weeks,' shared the previous day via Truth Social. "(The two sides) are coordinating to set a date (for the summit)," Cho said during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Washington. Cho added that the 'content' of the summit would be jointly discussed and planned between Seoul and Washington 'at the working level.' Ahead of his meeting with the press, Cho held his first talks with his counterpart, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The top diplomats discussed key issues, including the trade deal reached between Seoul and Washington, and the allies' security commitment to defend peace on the Korean Peninsula against North Korean threats, according to Cho and the US Department of State. On Thursday, the two countries reached a trade agreement in which the US will impose 15 percent tariffs on South Korean goods, down from the initially proposed 25 percent. In exchange, South Korea would invest $350 billion in several US economic sectors. A high-ranking Seoul official, requesting anonymity, told reporters that the discussions for the summit are still at an early stage. '(So far,) the discussions have addressed only the potential dates (for the summit) -- it is expected to take a little more time,' the official said. The official added that it would be difficult to confirm at the moment whether the summit would take place within the two-week timeframe mentioned by Trump. However, Seoul and Washington agree that the summit agenda should include ways to develop and steer the decadesold alliance towards a 'comprehensive' and 'future-oriented' partnership, the official said. As for Trump's possible attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit set to take place in the South Korean city of Gyeongju from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, Rubio told Cho that he is fully aware of the event and plans to actively review the matter, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said. The White House has not announced whether Trump will join. South Korea's presidential office last month sent out invitation letters to the leaders of the 21 APEC member economies, including the US, China, Russia and Japan. Cho also told reporters that he was able to deliver and explain the Lee administration's foreign policy stance to officials in Washington and that both sides agreed to work toward alleviating tensions on the peninsula. '(Seoul and Washington) will make comprehensive efforts to move in the direction of alleviating tensions on the Korean Peninsula,' Cho said. '(South Korea) plans to closely coordinate with the US in the process and pursue (that goal) with US support.' With the Lee administration seeking to improve inter-Korean relations, there have been discussions in Seoul in recent days about adjusting the annual South Korea-US joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield, scheduled for mid-August. Seoul's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told reporters on Monday he plans to suggest such adjustments to Lee, but the Defense Ministry said the following day that no changes have yet been made to the scheduled drills. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, recently denounced Lee by saying that he 'is no different from his predecessor in blindly adhering to the South Korea-US alliance' in a statement released through Pyongyang's state media. She denounced the South Korea-US joint military exercises as "aggressive," and claimed that the decadesold allies will attempt to blame the "deteriorating" security situation on Pyongyang. The North has routinely condemned the joint military drills as a provocation and a rehearsal for invasion.
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
Korea, Japan agree on reviving leader-level ‘shuttle diplomacy'
South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their intent to restart shuttle diplomacy, referring to reciprocal visits by their leaders, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Wednesday following his visit to Tokyo. Cho made a two-day trip to Tokyo — his first overseas visit since taking office -- before departing for Washington on Wednesday afternoon to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. During his stay, Cho also paid a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a day after holding foreign ministerial talks with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Hayashi Iwaya. Cho said "Prime Minister Ishiba himself mentioned it first before I brought up the idea of resuming shuttle diplomacy" between him and President Lee Jae-myung during a press briefing in Tokyo. Regarding the issue, a high-level Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the APEC summit hosted by the South Korean government on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 could serve as an opportunity to resume shuttle diplomacy. "Shuttle diplomacy isn't about fixing a date three months in advance, so there is nothing set yet, but a summit could be held at any time depending on the circumstances," the official said. Cho also said Seoul and Tokyo agreed to continue a one-month pilot program, which was conducted in June, to expedite entry procedures for each other's nationals through fast-track lanes at airports. The fast-track entry lanes operated at two airports in each country: Gimpo International Airport in Seoul and Gimhae International Airport in Busan, as well as Fukuoka Airport and Terminal 3 of Tokyo's Haneda Airport in Japan. "Since the results were very positive, we have reached a principled agreement to continue it," the unnamed high-ranking official further explained. "Since people felt the benefits, there was an agreement to extend it. We still need to finalize consultations with relevant ministries, but it doesn't seem there will be any major issues (to extend the program)." The official said Seoul and Tokyo also discussed Japan's planned official memorial ceremony to honor Korean victims of forced labor at the Sado Island gold mines during Japan's colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. The official said the two countries should not repeat the previous mistake last year. 'I asked (Japan) to notify us promptly this time,' the official said. 'The Japanese side, for their part, said they would make efforts in light of the positive atmosphere and good start to relations." South Korea boycotted Japan's memorial service last minute in November as Japan for failing to honor its pledge to hold a memorial ceremony to sincerely honor the sacrifices of Korean forced laborers at the Sado Gold Mine in return for South Korea's consent to inscribe the site to the UNESCO World Heritage list in July this year. Seoul's refusal to attend the ceremony was mainly because of the content of the memorial address, which was shared at the last minute with Seoul and fell far short of expectations in terms of addressing the nature of forced mobilization. Japan vowed to hold a memorial event for all the workers annually at the site during the 46th Session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in July, where the inscription of the Sado Island Gold Mines was discussed. Cho said his visit to Japan made a good start in bilateral ties. 'I've assessed that we have at least taken a good first step in improving ties between South Korea and Japan amid rapidly changing international dynamics,' Cho said. 'We also agreed on the need for trilateral cooperation among (South) Korea, the US and Japan and decided to work on fleshing out the details moving forward.'
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
Ex-spy chief acknowledges Yoon's outburst during questioning in Marine death probe
Former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong has acknowledged former President Yoon Suk Yeol flew into a rage when he was briefed on the results of an initial probe into the death of a Marine in 2023, reversing his yearslong denial, legal sources said Wednesday. Cho made the admission during questioning by special counsel Lee Myeong-hyeon's team Tuesday as a suspect over allegations of government interference in the Marine Corps' investigation into the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun in July 2023, according to the sources. Chae was swept away by an overflowing stream while on a search mission for torrential rain victims. Cho was one of the senior officials who attended a meeting that month when Yoon allegedly erupted in anger upon hearing the preliminary probe results that found a senior Marine commander responsible for Chae's death. The case centers on allegations the investigation results were later changed to clear the initial suspects of responsibility. Cho had previously claimed at the National Assembly in August 2023 that the meeting did not involve a briefing on Chae's death and denied that Yoon had become enraged. With Cho's admission, four of the seven people who attended the meeting have now acknowledged Yoon's alleged outrage during questioning. The special counsel team plans to question the meeting's three other participants soon. (Yonhap)
