South Korea Tuesday proposed high-level talks with Pyongyang on January 9, after the North's leader Kim Jong-Un called for better relations and said his country might attend the Winter Olympics in the South.Kim used his annual New Year address to warn he has a "nuclear button" on his table, but sweetened his remarks by expressing an interest in dialogue and taking part in the Pyeongchang Games next month.South Korea's unification minister Cho Myoung-Gyon told a press confe

South Korean President Moon Jae-In will hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, seeking to repair a relationship strained over Seoul hosting a US missile system.Moon's office has said he hopes to "normalise" ties during the visit, after Beijing was angered by the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), installed earlier this year to protect South Korea against threats from the nuclear-armed North.Beijing, which sees the system as

A small economy that’s constantly battling risks beyond its control like typhoons and oil prices has been one of the most successful in managing inflation in Asia.The Philippine central bank, which has an annual inflation target that’s currently set at two percent to four percent, met its goal six times in the past eight years and the two times it failed were because prices were too low.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In will visit China next week for talks on North Korea and other issues, his office said Wednesday, amid tentative signs of diplomatic movement after months of high tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats.The announcement came as a high-level United Nations representative held talks with a senior North Korean official during a rare trip to Pyongyang.Jeffrey Feltman, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, arrived Tuesday to discuss w

The US and South Korea on Monday kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labelled an "all-out provocation", days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.The five-day Vigilant Ace drill – involving 230 aircrafts, including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and tens of thousands of troops – began Monday morning, Seoul's air force said.Pyongyang over the weekend blasted the drill, accusing US President Donal

I am delighted that my first meeting with the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comes at a historic moment: the 50th anniversary of ASEAN’s founding. During those 50 years, not only my country, the Republic of Korea, but almost all of Asia has been utterly transformed. ASEAN’s role in harnessing and spreading economic dynamism has been essential to the region’s success.For Korea, ASEAN has undoubtedly been a special and valued friend.

US President Donald Trump was forced to abandon a surprise visit to the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas on Wednesday due to bad weather, leaving him "pretty frustrated" according to the White House.South Korean leader Moon Jae-In, who had flown earlier before the weather closed in, was left waiting at the border which bristles with electric fences, minefields and anti-tank barriers.The US chief executive, who the White House had previously said would not go to the sym

North Korea's weapons programmes pose "an unprecedented and grave threat" to the United States, South Korea and Japan, defence ministers from the three countries warned Tuesday.US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and his Asian counterparts vowed to step up diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang while enhancing military cooperation as they held security talks in the Philippines.Tension has been high on the divided Korean peninsula for months with Pyongyang staging its sixth nuclear t

North Korea warned that a nuclear war “may break out any moment” as the US and South Korea began one of the largest joint naval drills off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula.Kim In Ryong, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that his nation had become a “full-fledged nuclear power which possesses the delivery means of various ranges” and warned that “the entire US mainland is within our firing range.” He also called North Korea “a responsible nucle

North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme.The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.The Donga Ilbo