Korea condemns terror attack in Spain, supports efforts to root out terrorism

South Korea on Friday condemned a recent terror attack that killed more than 10 people in Spain, expressing its support for global efforts to root out terrorism. On Thursday (local time), a van rammed through a square in central Barcelona crowded with tourists, killing at least 13 people and injuring some 100 others. Two suspects have been arrested so far, with the IS claiming responsibility for it. (AP-Yonhap)"We cannot but express our shock and anger against the barbarian terror attack that ha

Aug. 18, 2017

Chinese ambassador urges back to basics for resolution to THAAD row

China's top envoy in South Korea on Friday called for the two neighbors to get back to the basics in diplomacy in order to resolve the current row that is overshadowing the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties next week.South Korea and China have been at odds over the deployment of a US missile shield called THAAD being installed in South Korea, which Beijing claims could harm its strategic interest. "Looking ahead, sticking to the basics, holding hands and going forward, I am sure that China-Sou

Aug. 18, 2017

Mexican diplomat accused of sexual abuse

A Mexican diplomat has been accused of sexually harassing a Korean-Paraguayan woman while working together at the Mexican Embassy in Seoul, Foreign Ministry officials here said Wednesday. The diplomat, known to be in his 50s, serves as a military attache here. The woman in her 30s filed a complaint to Seoul police late last month, claiming he groped her body on three occasions between June 2016 and January 2017. But the man, who has diplomatic immunity, failed to show up at the Jongno police sta

Aug. 16, 2017

Moon proposed trilateral talks with China, US on THAAD: sources

President Moon Jae-in proposed a trilateral discussion with the US during a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month in a bid to ease Beijing’s resistance to the deployment of a US missile shield here, Seoul officials said Wednesday. The two leaders held their first face-to-face talks ahead of the Group of 20 summit on July 6 in Berlin. Moon called for his counterpart to retract China’s economic retaliation over the stationing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, while X

Aug. 16, 2017

Seoul proposes three-way talks with China, US over THAAD deployment

South Korea has proposed holding three-way discussions with the United States and China over the deployment of the US missile shield THAAD here that is strongly opposed by Beijing, an informed source said Wednesday.The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the proposal was made at a bilateral summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, early last month.Xi did not offer any immedi

Aug. 16, 2017

Koreans in Egypt celebrate Liberation Day

CAIRO -- A group of South Korean residents on Tuesday gathered at a historic venue where a declaration calling for Korea's independence from Japan was issued, to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of Korea's liberation. The resident association, along with South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Yoon Soon-gu and other people from the South Korean Embassy, held a ceremony marking the anniversary at the Mena House Hotel in Giza just outside Cairo, where the Great Pyramid is located. A group of South Korean r

Aug. 16, 2017

Ecuadorian artist distills mystic beauty of homeland

Born on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuadorian artist Miguel Betancourt grew up seeing clear blue sky, colorful vegetation and trees and the spirited people of the Andean mountains. Over the next several decades, the powerful images imbued in his early consciousness would set him on a mission to distill the mystic beauty of Ecuador, a melting pot of antiquity and ecology at the northwestern edge of South America. From the untamed tropical jungle to timeworn colonial architecture, Betancourt has tapp

Aug. 15, 2017

‘Georgia seeks peaceful resolution of occupied territories’

Similar to Koreans living near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean Peninsula, Georgians know what it feels like to dwell precariously at the edge of fortified borders. But unlike here, where the off-limit zone has remained fixed over the last seven decades, Georgia’s territorial sovereignty encompassing what they see as occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is increasingly encroached upon and threatened by razor and barbed wire fences erected by Russian soldiers.According to Geor

Aug. 15, 2017

Forced labor victims sue govt. to seek money under 1965 Seoul-Tokyo deal on normalization

A group of forced labor victims and their families on Monday launched a damages suit against the government, seeking to get back funds that Japan provided to South Korea under a 1965 agreement on their diplomatic normalization.The association of forced labor victims and their bereaved families told a press conference that they filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court to demand the government give back a $300 million grant in the treaty, under which South Korea and Japan normalized th

Aug. 14, 2017

Mental illness hit Korean conscripts of Japanese army during WWII: clinical records

TOGANE, Japan -- Korean conscripts of the Japanese Imperial Army who were stricken with mental illness during World War II suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to copies of Japanese hospital-kept clinical records obtained Monday by Yonhap News Agency.Asai Hospital in the city of Togane, Japan's Chiba Prefecture, has kept clinical records on about 8,000 former soldiers who developed mental illness on Japan's battlefields in the Pacific War, including about 100 forme

Aug. 14, 2017

Sexual slavery victims to attend Liberation Day ceremony for first time next week

Two elderly South Korean victims of Japan's sexual slavery during World War II will attend an official government ceremony next week marking the country's liberation from the 1910-45 colonial rule, officials said Thursday.The Ministry of Interior and Safety said it will be the first time that the "comfort women" attend an official Liberation Day ceremony at the invitation of the government, though two victims attended a luncheon in 2010 after the main ceremony. (Yonhap)Liberation Day, which fall

Aug. 10, 2017

Japan reiterates 1965 deal settled individual compensation to forced labor victims

TOKYO -- Japan on Wednesday reiterated its stance that a 1965 Seoul-Tokyo deal settled all issues of individual compensation to victims of forced labor during its colonial rule of Korea, rejecting a South Korean court ruling in favor of the victims.South Korea's Gwangju District Court ruled the previous day that the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must pay 120 million won ($106,572) in compensation to Kim Young-ok, 85, and 3.25 million won ($2,892) to a family member of late victim Cho

Aug. 9, 2017

Japan extends claims to Dokdo in high-speed train poster

Japan's government was found to have put a poster laying claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo inside passenger cabins of the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed rail line, a South Korean activist said Wednesday.The office of the Chief Cabinet Secretary made the poster claiming that Dokdo is Japan's native territory illegally occupied by South Korea, according to Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Seoul's Sungshin Women's University. (Yonhap)The poster titled "Do you know?" also claimed Japan'

Aug. 9, 2017

Canadian special envoy visits N. Korea

A special envoy of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in North Korea on Tuesday, the North's state-run news agency said.Daniel Jean, national security advisor to the prime minister of Canada, and his party arrived in Pyongyang, the Korean Central News Agency said, without elaborating further. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Yonhap)The visit drew speculation that the envoy was to discuss the issue of Korean-Canadian pastor Lim Hyeon-soo detained in the reclusive regime.Lim has

Aug. 9, 2017

Korea denounces Japan's renewed claim to Dokdo

South Korea on Tuesday protested Japan's repeated sovereignty claim to the Dokdo islets in the East Sea in its annual defense white paper."The government strongly protests Japan's illegitimate territorial claim to Dokdo in its defense white paper and calls for an immediate withdrawal," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement."The Japanese government should be aware clearly that the repeat of the claim does not help with the development of a forward-looking and mature partnership betw

Aug. 8, 2017

UK launches ambitious vehicle battery investment

The United Kingdom government launched the first phase of its multimillion-dollar investment in battery technology, paving the way for the country’s lead in designing, developing and manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries, according to the British Embassy in Seoul. The $320 million investment, known as the Faraday Challenge, comes as the UK tries to secure a strategic position in the global renewable energy market and fight against global warming. “The launch of the Faraday Challenge is a p

Aug. 7, 2017

Indonesian Embassy launches mobile consular service

In an effort to streamline the consular process in Korea, the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul has instituted an immigration attache tasked with providing up-to-date services for its 40,000 nationals here. At the inauguration ceremony at the diplomatic mission in Seoul on July 31, newly appointed Indonesian Ambassador Umar Hadi highlighted the importance of protecting citizens and offering efficient assistance using an accurate database. “It was necessary to establish an appropriate system of service

Aug. 7, 2017

Morocco marks 18th anniversary of king’s accession to throne

The Moroccan Embassy marked the 18th anniversary of the accession to the throne of King Mohammed VI last week.The event also celebrated thriving ties between Morocco and Korea, now 55 years in the making diplomatically and expanding into all-inclusive realms.“The Throne Day is a symbol of love, loyalty, sacrifice, faithfulness and strong ties between the king and his people, based on a firm pledge of allegiance and obligations,” said Moroccan Ambassador to Korea Chafik Rachadi in a speech at a r

Aug. 7, 2017

[Herald Interview] ‘Philippines stands shoulder to shoulder on security with Korea’

As Seoul shores up its diplomacy with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines is fully committed to the Korean peninsula’s denuclearization efforts as the chair of ASEAN this year, said the country’s top envoy here, also highlighting flourishing defense and law enforcement cooperation between the two countries.During the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila on Saturday, the top diplomats of the 10-member bloc expressed their “grave concerns” over the escalating tension

Aug. 7, 2017