Japan diplomat’s ‘paid prostitutes’ claim draws ire

A senior Japanese diplomat was found Tuesday to have portrayed the victims of wartime sexual slavery as “paid prostitutes,” drawing the ire of South Korea and adding to perennial historical tension between the countries. Takashi Shinozuka, the Japanese consul-general in Atlanta, made the comment during an interview with a local newspaper last week as he criticized the Brookhaven City Council’s plan to raise a statue in commemoration of the “comfort women.” The Atlanta Comfort Women Memorial Task

June 27, 2017

Korean man shot to death, another seriously injured by armed robbers in Guatemala

MEXICO CITY -- A group of armed robbers shot to death the chief of a South Korean company's factory and seriously injured another worker on Sunday after storming their lodgings in the city of Villa Nueva, south of Guatemala City, the South Korean Embassy in Guatemala City said Monday.The embassy said the three armed men broke into the house where the two South Korean workers lived around 11:40 a.m. (Captured from Google map)According to embassy officials, police believe that they hit the worker,

June 27, 2017

Japanese diplomat under fire for calling sexual slavery victims 'paid prostitutes'

WASHINGTON -- A Japanese diplomat has come under fire after he portrayed the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery as "paid prostitutes."The Japanese consul general in Atlanta, Takashi Shinozuka, made the remark in an interview last week with the Reporter Newspapers, urging the Brookhaven City Council to reverse its decision to accept a memorial honoring sexual slavery victims, also known as "comfort women." The Japanese consul general in Atlanta, Takashi Shinozuka. (Captured from the websit

June 27, 2017

‘Kazakhstan, Korea kindred spirits in sustainable development’

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- According to Korean Ambassador to Kazakhstan Kim Dae-sik, the fact that Korea has the largest pavilion at the Astana International Exposition site is no coincidence. “The sheer size of the Korean pavilion at 1,800 square meters demonstrates the close friendship and trust between our two countries,” he told The Korea Herald in an exclusive interview at the venue on June 9. The expo, designed to spotlight Kazakhstan’s vision and plans for future energy and sustainable develop

June 26, 2017

US, Korea affirm steadfast alliance

Amid concerns and uncertainties over the bilateral alliance, the Korea America Friendship Society dispelled the skepticism and vindicated the two nation’s time-tested resolve to deter North Korea’s military threat at an annual reception on Wednesday. The Korea America Friendship Night at Grand Hyatt Seoul gathered some 600 military servicepersons, diplomats, university presidents, business leaders, journalists and their spouses.“Tonight, we organized this event to comfort and encourage all the e

June 26, 2017

High-spirited school tour draws young minds to ASEAN

Middle schooler Park Ah-reum has renewed her passion for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations through the ASEAN School Tour Program in mid-June.As a first grader in Ansan, a growing multicultural city in Gyeonggi Province, she comes from a multicultural family, her mother being an ethnic Philippine and father a Korean.“I learned about various countries of ASEAN and now really want to go Vietnam to try original ‘pho’ rice noodles and Indonesia to wear the traditional national dress,” the 13

June 26, 2017

Embassies endorse Spanish education

The embassies of Spanish-speaking countries hosted a Spanish Day celebration Saturday to promote their language and cultures in Korea. Sixteen diplomatic missions helped organize the event with Cervantes Institute and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. The participating embassies were Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominica Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Venezuela. “In a world where more than 6,000

June 26, 2017

Moon seeks advice from former ambassadors ahead of meeting with Trump

President Moon Jae-in was set to hold a rare meeting Monday with the country's former top diplomats to the United States, in an apparent move to seek advice on important topics and the best ways to deal with his US counterpart Donald Trump.The meeting comes two days before the president is set to head to Washington, where he is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with the new US head of state. (Yonhap)The meeting, to be held from 10:30 a.m., was set to involve seven former ambassadors to the Unite

June 26, 2017

S. Korea-US alliance stands at 'critical juncture' amid threats from NK

South Korea and the United States stand at a "critical juncture" in their alliance in the face of the rapidly growing threats from North Korea but they will surely achieve their "common goal" to successfully address the problem, Seoul's top diplomat said Sunday.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha made the remarks in her speech to troops of the US 2nd Infantry Division stationed north of Seoul. She visited the ground unit to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. South Ko

June 25, 2017

Seoul mayor to visit Russia, Uzbekistan

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon will visit the major cities of Russia and Uzbekistan this week to share city development ideas and expand cooperation with them, a Seoul city official said Sunday. "Mayor Park will visit Russia's Moscow, Ullyanovsk and Saint Petersburg and Uzbekistan's Tashkent for a nine-day run from Monday to stage practical city diplomacy and contribute to the development of South Korea's relations with the nations," the official said.  Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (Yonhap)In Moscow, th

June 25, 2017

[Herald Interview] ‘THAAD controversy won't mar alliance’

This is the first installment of a five-part series of interviews with prominent US scholars on an upcoming South Korea-US summit and the alliance. -- Ed.Despite persistent controversy, South Korea’s halt of the deployment of a US anti-missile system will not undermine the decadesold alliance, and the sides may be able to forge a better deal on North Korea than expected during their upcoming summit, a renowned US security expert told The Korea Herald. Richard Betts, director of the Saltzman Inst

June 25, 2017

Upcoming summit to set tone of alliance under new Korean, US leaders

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump this week with the meeting expected to set the tone for the future of the alliance amid escalating North Korean threats and growing geopolitical uncertainties. The new South Korean president will hold the two-day talks in Washington on Thursday and Friday (US time). He will head for the United States on Wednesday for his first-ever summit with a foreign leader.  This composite image shows South Korean President Moo

June 25, 2017

N. Korean taekwondo officials, athletes arrive in SK for historic performance

A group of North Korean taekwondo officials and athletes arrived in South Korea on Friday for soon-to-be historic performances at the world championships.Amid much fanfare at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, the International Taekwondo Federation delegation of 36, led by its president Ri Yong-son, arrived south of the tense border via Beijing. Of those 36, 32 are North Koreans. Their flight was delayed by more than an hour due to inclement weather. Officials and athletes of the North Korea-

June 23, 2017

N. Korean IOC member keeps mum on Olympic co-hosting with S. Korea

The lone North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee on Friday kept mum on potential co-hosting of next year's Winter Olympics with South Korea.Chang Ung arrived in South Korea to attend the World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo Championships starting Saturday in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul. Chang traveled with officials and athletes from the North-led International Taekwondo Federation. The ITF practitioners will have a performance during the WTF event's opening cere

June 23, 2017