If South Korea and Japan sign a military logistics support agreement, their ties with the US would deepen as they act in concert to deter China and North Korea, analysts said. However, they noted that several “hurdles” must be cleared before the deal could be sealed, including domestic opposition in South Korea to expanding security ties with Japan due to concerns it could sour relations with China, as well as unease stemming from Tokyo’s wartime history. During the Shangri-La Dialogue in...
South Korea and the United States are heading into talks in Seoul next week with different priorities over the implementation of last year’s summit agreement, with President Lee Jae Myung pushing for the supply of nuclear-powered submarines and Washington seeking progress on a major investment pledge by the Lee administration. US approval on the use of nuclear fuel for South Korea’s submarines is a key goal for Lee, while Washington wants Seoul’s US$350 billion investment promise it previously...
South Korea’s plans to build nuclear-powered submarines by the mid-2030s will spur a US-allied network of advanced underwater capabilities near the first island chain, strengthening deterrence against potential adversaries such as China and North Korea, analysts say. The South Korean defence ministry this week announced its basic plans to build the country’s first nuclear-powered submarine, giving its first detailed outline of the programme since US President Donald Trump granted initial...
China has criticised the commander of the US Forces Korea (USFK) who has described South Korea as a “dagger” and Japan as a “shield” in countering China’s growing regional influence. It comes as Washington seeks to expand the scope of its South Korea-based command for a greater presence across the Indo-Pacific in what Beijing views as an effort to contain it. During a podcast interview hosted by the US Army War College on May 22, USFK Commander Xavier Brunson said that when looking from the east...
Rajnath Singh was joined by the Republic of Korea’s Minister of Patriots & Veterans Affairs in unveiling the war memorial at the Imjingak Park in Seoul
A North Korean women's football team played in South Korea marking the first time athletes from the North have crossed the border in nearly 8 years.
When South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met on Tuesday, they had energy security atop the agenda – and something harder to name top of mind. It was their fourth meeting in six months, a pace of leaders’ encounters that analysts say reveals much about the uncertainty the two US allies are united in feeling, despite their historical grievances. The formal pretext of their latest summit was energy security. Japan and South Korea, heavily export-driven...
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held their fourth meeting in about six months on Tuesday, underscoring the need for greater cooperation between the historical Asian rivals amid global challenges, including the Iran war. Lee hosted Takaichi in his hometown of Andong, a southeastern South Korean city famous for its centuries-old traditional folk village, a Unesco World Heritage site. In January, the two met in Takaichi’s hometown of Nara, an ancient...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump leaves China after much pomp and pageantry, but little to show for it 2. Trump and his CEOs want China’s business – but has Asia moved on? 3. What do travellers need to know when Hong Kong airport’s Terminal 2 opens? 4. Reality deficit: how South Korea lost the plot on AI 5. Have Chinese...
Statues erected by South Korean civic groups on the other side of the world honouring the tens of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by imperial Japanese forces during World War II have once again succeeded in making Tokyo’s elites deeply uncomfortable. The decisions by local governments in Germany’s capital and New Zealand’s largest city to rescind or decline to renew permits for “comfort women” memorials have been pounced on by conservatives within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic...
South Korea was reviewing a phased contribution to efforts to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said on Wednesday, signalling support steps short of military participation. Ahn told a press conference with South Korean reporters in Washington that he had conveyed Seoul’s position at a meeting with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Monday. “We said at about this level that, fundamentally, we will participate as a responsible member of the...