The neutral nations originally tasked with monitoring inter-Korean peace could play a role in building North-South trust, the Polish ambassador here said at a conference at the Polish chancery on Monday.The Polish Embassy organized the day-long conference, which focused on the role of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission on the Korean Peninsula, as part of events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement.“In my opinion, the NNSC could potentially play an importan

Oct. 6, 2013

In the past few years, the Slovakian Embassy here has been active in introducing the Korean public to an array of its unique national culture, such as Slovak music, dance, theater, photography and film.Now it has turned its chancery into an art gallery, exhibiting the paintings of artist Jana Jamborova.“I would like to introduce Slovakia as a land of colors, how it has been seen, felt and painted by this pastel painter,” Slovak Ambassador to South Korea Dusan Bella during an exhibition opening a

Oct. 6, 2013

Japan is to file a complaint to the World Trade Organization on Korea for placing a partial import ban on Japanese fishery products, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NKH on Saturday.The Japanese government is planning to share its disgruntlement during the WTO meeting as “Korea’s ban on fishery products from Fukushima and  neighboring prefectures is baseless and thus should be called off,” according to the broadcaster. The WTO general meeting is slated to be held in Geneva on Oct. 16-17.S

Oct. 5, 2013

Korea concerned about U.S. stance on Japan‘s military moveWASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- As it broadens its alliance with Japan, the United States should nonetheless consider the growing anxiety among neighboring nations over Tokyo’s apparent flexing of its military muscles, officials here said Thursday.Washington‘s push for strengthening bilateral and trilateral alliances with Seoul and Tokyo is no news. But unnerving South Korea and China is the conservative Japanese administration’s stated goal

Oct. 5, 2013

More than 35 experts from the Asia-Pacific region gathered in Japan this week to discuss ways to build resilience to natural disasters through improved data collection and dissemination. The participants from disaster management agencies, statistics offices, U.N. bodies and civic groups agreed Tuesday on the need to develop a set of “core data” on policymaking, planning, programming and monitoring of disaster risk management and climate change. The two-day meeting was held in Sendai, which was d

Oct. 2, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit South Korea in November to discuss closer bilateral ties and wider personnel and cultural exchanges, reports said Tuesday.Putin’s visit will be in response to President Park Geun-hye’s trip to St. Petersburg in September to attend the G20 summit. Putin will become the first head of state of the four major neighboring countries including the U.S., China and Japan to visit Seoul during the Park administration.Putin, currently in his third presidential te

Oct. 1, 2013

South Korea is likely to raise the issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of South Korean women during World War II, as part of diplomatic efforts to press the neighbor to come up with compensation measures, government sources said Monday.Seoul may broach the issue of Korean women coerced to serve at front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers at a meeting of the United Nations’ Third Committee, a subsidiary organ dealing with social, cultural and humanitarian matters, according to the sources.This w

Sept. 30, 2013

Ukraine’s top diplomat here underscored his country’s commitment to becoming a strong democracy that ensures the rights and freedoms for its people during a reception celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the Eastern European nation’s independence in Seoul on Wednesday. “Our young country passed a difficult path of development. There were achievements and losses but, most importantly, we clearly defined where and why we move. Our goal is a strong democratic state with an absolute ensuring of the r

Sept. 29, 2013

Amsterdam and Seoul signed a wide-ranging cooperation agreement that includes issues of water management, electric transport, cycling and e-governance, Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said in a press briefing with reporters in Seoul on Monday. Van der Laan signed the MOU with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Monday just before he met with reporters. He led a three-day trade mission in Seoul and departed for Beijing on Tuesday for the remainder of a weeklong East Asia trip that ended Saturday.

Sept. 29, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan has asked local authorities and state-run universities not to post Google maps on their websites because some of them use non-Japanese names for disputed islands, reports said Sunday.The disputed territory includes the South Korean-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, and the Japan-held Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, claimed by China as the Diaoyus, the Sports Nippon tabloid reported.The Russian-held isl

Sept. 29, 2013

South Korea and four other middle-power nations launched an informal consultation body in New York on Wednesday to boost their say on regional and global issues, the Foreign Ministry said.Dubbed MIKTA, the group also includes Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia. Foreign ministers from the five countries held the inaugural meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, presenting their respective issues of interest and discussing priority projects for the next several months. Korean F

Sept. 26, 2013

The foreign ministers of Korea and Japan plan to hold talks in the U.S. this week in an apparent attempt to restore the two countries’ relations soured by historical and territorial feuds. Yun Byung-se will meet with Fumio Kishida on Thursday in New York on the margins of the annual U.N. General Assembly slated for Sept. 17 to Oct. 1. This will be their second bilateral discussion since they were sworn in early this year.With some ranking Japanese officials continuing to deny wartime atrocities,

Sept. 23, 2013

Papua New Guinean Ambassador to South Korea Bill Veri underscored his nation’s commitment to making sure resource development projects in his country benefit not only foreign investors and the national government, but also traditional landowners, on Papua New Guinea’s 38th Independence Day.Veri said the island nation was committed to ensuring everyone benefits from the enormous potential that lies in developing Papua New Guinea’s vast mineral and energy wealth during an Independence Day receptio

Sept. 22, 2013