National flags flutter at the border dividing the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea tensions

South Korea calls out North's silence on Yoon's unification vision

Seoul has offered working-level talks as part of potential new dialogue channel

22 August 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to closely watch the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. (Source photos by Yonhap and Kyodo)
North Korea tensions

South and North Korea brace for Harris or Trump as next U.S. leader

Yoon and Kim deepen their own alliances while keeping door open to dialogue

20 August 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a photo op on the day of trilateral engagement during the G7 Summit at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023.
International relations

South Korea, Japan, U.S. leaders renew ties on regional challenges

Yoon's office issues joint statement a year after trilateral summit at Camp David

18 August 2024
A policeman stands guard in front of  the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo. The LDP will select a new leader next month.
Japan’s leadership race

Japan's ruling LDP to vote on Kishida successor: 5 things to know

With prime minister stepping down, how will party select his replacement?

15 August 2024
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the South Korean government's Liberation Day ceremony in Seoul on Aug. 15. 
Politics

South Korea's Yoon offers new dialogue channel with North Korea

President calls for 'unification through freedom' of divided peninsula

15 August 2024
Amid surging labor demand in an AI boom, Vietnam aims to train at least 50,000 chip engineers and designers by 2030 as industry giants look to offset severe staff shortages in their home markets. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
The Big Story

Vietnam turns chip sector magnet with affordable, quality talent pool

US, Taiwan, South Korean players beat path to Vietnam though boom strains resources

14 August 2024
Around 1,500 people from the Korean Peninsula worked at the Sado mines during World War II, according to the exhibit. (Photo by Junnosuke Kobara)
Japan-South Korea ties

Japan sheds light on Korean wartime labor at World Heritage Sado mines

New exhibit details brutal conditions but stops short of saying workers were 'forced'

13 August 2024
U.S. Korea Forces spokesperson Col. Ryan Donald, right, and Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, attend a press briefing on the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises in Seoul. 
Defense

U.S. and South Korea start joint military exercises next week

Seoul also will conduct first-ever civil defense drill for nuclear attack

13 August 2024
A rescuer stands by trucks equipped with cranes conveyed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Kyiv region of northern Ukraine, on April 25, 2023.
Opinion

Japan and South Korea must put 'Asia First' over Ukraine support

Focusing on aid to Kyiv risks compromising the two nations' regional security needs

8 August 2024
North Korea held a ceremony Aug. 4 to mark the handover of missile launchers to forces stationed near the South Korean border. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korea tensions

North Korea sends 250 missile launchers to border with South

Kim claims improved effectiveness of tactical nuclear weapons as tensions rise

6 August 2024
JD Vance speaks at a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S. on July 27.
Opinion

Childless cat ladies of the world must unite against JD Vance's misogyny

Remarks by Trump's running mate reverberate through Japan and South Korea

1 August 2024
The nomination of Kim Moon-soo as South Korea's labor minister comes with the country experiencing high-profile strikes. (Source photos by Reuters and EPA/Jiji)
Economy

South Korea's Yoon nominates trade union opponent as labor minister

Kim Moon-soo has shed his student activist past to become staunchly conservative

1 August 2024
IPEF nations have established a network that will take action whenever supply chains are disrupted.
Supply Chain

South Korea, Japan to help crisis-proof Indo-Pacific supply chain

14 IPEF members to share chips and medical supplies in emergencies

31 July 2024
From left, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara attend a press conference in Tokyo on July 28.
Defense

Japan, U.S. unveil 'most significant' defense upgrade amid 'global threats'

U.S. to 'reconstitute' Japan-based forces to enhance contingency coordination

28 July 2024
South Korean athletes during the floating parade on the Seine during the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris on July 26. 
Sports

Olympics: IOC apologizes to South Korea over North Korea gaffe

Seoul's delegation introduced as from rival during opening ceremony

28 July 2024
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, left, with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol in Vientiane on July 26. (Japan's Foreign Ministry)
Society

South Korea says listing Japan's Sado mine as World Heritage Site likely

Seoul had raised concerns over listing due to site's links to wartime forced labor

27 July 2024
Han Dong-hoon speaks after being elected leader of the ruling People Power Party in Goyang, South Korea on July 23. (Photo by Junnosuke Kobara)
Politics

South Korea's ruling PPP picks ex-justice minister as new leader

President Yoon Suk Yeol's party tries to reboot after April's electoral drubbing

23 July 2024
Moscow and Kyiv have reached out for support to faraway Pyongyang and Seoul and upgraded military ties. 
Asia Insight

Korean tensions flare as Seoul, Pyongyang take opposing sides on Ukraine

Russia-North Korea military upgrade triggers deeper U.S.-South Korea nuclear alliance

23 July 2024
Japanese trading house Itochu provides free breakfast for employees daily from 6:30 am. (Photo by Takuya Fujisawa)
Politics

South Korea seeks role for companies in helping raise birthrate

Former industry minister looks to Japan's Itochu for ideas on family-friendly measures

20 July 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden greets South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David near Washington on Aug. 18, 2023. 
Comment

Japan, U.S., South Korea must face lingering issues from Camp David

Historic 2023 summit left several key military and other matters unresolved

19 July 2024
Donald Trump looks on during Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16.
Opinion

Trump shooting shows hyperpartisanship putting democracy in crisis

Polarization stokes incendiary rhetoric despite risk of breeding extremism and violence

19 July 2024
Admiral Kim Myung Soo, General Yoshihide Yoshida and General Charles Brown attended the meeting.  (Photo by Shinnosuke Nagatomi)
South China Sea

Japan, U.S., South Korea top officers vow to boost cooperation

North Korean weapon programs, Beijing's assertiveness in South China Sea among topics discussed

18 July 2024
Sue Mi Terry speaks at the Asia Society in New York on June 19, 2017.  
International relations

Former CIA official charged with being agent for South Korea

Justice Department accuses Sue Mi Terry of serving Seoul's intelligence service

17 July 2024
A North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea in November in a blow to leader Kim Jong Un.
International relations

North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea in November

Defection occurred before Havana and Seoul established ties in blow to Pyongyang

16 July 2024