The Korea Herald

Irish Ambassador McKee completes Korea posting

Irish Ambassador to South Korea Eamonn McKee finished his four-year posting here, departing on Thursday to his next assignment as his country’s top diplomatic representative in Israel. He arrived here in 2009.“Adjusting to operating in a country with so little exposure to Ireland and with such a different culture, in sharp contrast to my previous postings in the U.S., was a tremendous learning experience,” he said in a statement on Wednesday about his experience here in South Korea. “Making an i

Aug. 11, 2013

Irish Ambassador McKee completes Korea posting

Afghan minister recounts Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist statues

The international community did not make a sincere effort to stop the Taliban from destroying 7th-century Bamiyan Buddhist statues in 2001, Afghanistan’s minister of culture said during a four-day visit here on Wednesday.Overcoming initial difficulty, the Taliban eventually toppled the 120-feet and 170-feet tall statues ― some of the tallest in the world ― with anti-aircraft canons, tanks and dynamite in March 2001.The statues were hewn out of the side of a mountain in Bamiyan, about 100 miles w

Aug. 11, 2013

Afghan minister recounts Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist statues

Egypt, Korea seek close nuclear ties

While international mediators warn political stalemate risks more bloodshed and the interim government says diplomacy is over, Egypt’s top diplomat in South Korea defended the military’s decision to oust Mohammed Morsi as president describing it as a necessary move to prevent “civil war.”“The polarization in the country before June 30 was such that Egypt was really in danger of civil war. People were so pitted against each other that it could have been a civil war. So, the army had to intervene,

Aug. 11, 2013

Lawmaker stresses Korea-Japan ties

A visiting Japanese ruling-party lawmaker stressed Friday the importance of keeping friendly ties with South Korea as the two neighbors have been facing unusually icy relations over historical issues.“Close neighbors are more important than distant relatives,” Yoshitada Kounoike from the Japan‘s Liberal Democratic Party cited a Japanese proverb in a lunch meeting with South Korean lawmakers held in the local parliament building in Yeouido, western Seoul.The proverb was picked as Kounoike emphasi

Aug. 9, 2013

Civic group to seek injunction against Japan’s claim over Dokdo

A local civic group said Friday it will seek a court injunction to stop Japan’s recurring territorial claim over Dokdo, the easternmost South Korean islets.The Dokdo promotion movement solidarity based in the east coastal city of Sokcho, 213 kilometers east of Seoul, said it plans to file for the injunction with a Japanese court on Feb. 22 next year. If fulfilled as planned, the injunction application will mark the first legal suit filed in a Japanese court by a South Korean civic group. The loc

Aug. 9, 2013

Civic group to seek injunction against Japan’s claim over Dokdo

Visiting Japan lawmaker stresses importance of S. Korea-Japan ties

A visiting Japanese ruling-party lawmaker stressed Friday the importance of keeping friendly ties with South Korea as the two neighbors have been facing unusually icy relations over historical issues. "Close neighbors are more important than distant relatives,"Yoshitada Kounoike from the Japan's Liberal Democratic Party cited a Japanese proverb in a lunch meeting with South Korean lawmakers held in the local parliament building in Yeouido, western Seoul. The proverb was picked as Kounoike em

Aug. 9, 2013

Korea-Japan tension rises over history

Tension between Korea and Japan is quickly escalating as they gear up to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the end of World War II. Seoul and Beijing are heaping pressure on Tokyo officials not to worship on Aug. 15 at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japanese war dead including colonial leaders in charge of massacres, sex slavery and forced labor. That same day in 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies after nearly six years of war. For Korea, the day marks its long-awaited libe

Aug. 7, 2013

Korea, U.S. to boost ties to combat transnational crimes

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korea and the United States signed an agreement Tuesday to strengthen cooperation between their major law-enforcement authorities in fighting transnational crimes.Top officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s Homeland Security Investigations and the Korean National Police Agency signed a six-page memorandum of understanding aimed at supporting the exchange of law-enforcement information, the sharing of relevant techniques and cooperative inves

Aug. 7, 2013

Over 90% of Chinese, Japanese have negative views of each other

More than 90 percent of Chinese and Japanese people have unfavorable feelings toward each other, a poll showed. China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese nonprofit think tank, unveiled their joint survey of 1,000 Japanese and 1,540 Chinese conducted between June and July, Yonhap News reported. According to the annual poll, 92.8 percent of those surveyed in China replied that they harbor unfavorable opinions of Japan, an increase of 28.3 percentage points from last year. Among Japanese respondents,

Aug. 6, 2013

Korea warns Japan against visiting war shrine on Aug. 15

South Korea warned Japanese politicians Monday against paying homage to their war dead at the Yasukuni shrine next week in response to Japanese leaders‘ reported plans to visit the major symbol of an imperialistic Japan’s wartime atrocities.Japanese media reported Sunday that ruling Liberal Democratic Party‘s policy chief Sanae Takaichi will join other politicians in paying respect at the Shinto shrine on Aug. 15, the 68th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.South Korea celebrates i

Aug. 5, 2013

Amid tension, TCS soars as key platform for regional cooperation

Driven by a growing need for collaboration, Korea, China and Japan joined forces in 2011 in launching a permanent office here to support their summits and other key three-way dialogues, map out joint projects and conduct related research. Despite skepticism about its feasibility due to territorial and historical tension, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat has emerged as a core platform for networking and teamwork. The three countries agreed to beef up the secretariat’s budget and their equal

Aug. 4, 2013

Amid tension, TCS soars as key platform for regional cooperation

FTA talks with New Zealand no sure thing, says government

Claims made by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key that he secured a commitment from South Korea to resume talks in October on a free trade agreement were exaggerated, according to multiple sources here close to those long-stalled talks.The government did not promise to restart formal talks in October at all, contrary to claims made by the prime minister, but it did agree to an informal sit down between chief negotiators of the New Zealand and South Korean sides, according to three different sou

Aug. 4, 2013

FTA talks with New Zealand no sure thing, says government

ASEAN envoys, LG seek ways to expand business partnership

The ASEAN-Korea Centre, through its ASEAN Committee in Seoul, facilitated a meeting between ambassadors of 10 Southeast Asian nations and top executives of LG Electronics at LG’s Seocho R&D campus in southern Seoul on Tuesday.The meeting was organized to look for ways Korean global brands like LG can further penetrate the Southeast Asian market and, for the countries there, increase technology and know-how sharing and receive foreign direct investment.The foreign envoys were briefed by Kim Ki-wa

Aug. 4, 2013

ASEAN envoys, LG seek ways to expand business partnership

Peru celebrates 10 years of growth on Independence Day

Peru’s Ambassador to Korea Jaime Pomareda underscored a slew of economic benchmarks his country had achieved over the last 10 years during a reception Monday to celebrate 192 years of Peruvian independence. Peru has been flush with a decade of economic growth, with eight years of growth averaging 7 percent a year ― a stronger expansion than anywhere else in Latin America. Pomareda rattled off a number of statistics illustrating the benefits of such economic success during a speech at the recepti

Aug. 4, 2013

Kenya’s Safari Cats mark coffee house opening

The Kenyan Embassy in Korea showcased traditional cuisine and the country’s signature cabaret and acrobatic team the Safari Cats Dancers at the opening of a gourmet coffee house and pizzeria, Two Point, in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday.Ties between South Korea and Kenya have surged since Kenyan opened its chancery in Seoul in 2007. Proof of it was offered by Kenyan Ambassador to Korea Ngovi Kitau: Kenyan imports to Korea are up 126 percent and Korean investment in Kenya, up over 3,000 p

Aug. 4, 2013

Kenya’s Safari Cats mark coffee house opening

Budding envoys feel pressure under new exam regime

Seoul National University graduate Park Seol-hee (not her real name) was so nervous her hand quivered as she struggled to describe on Thursday her preparation for the second round of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ intensive new exam for selecting prospective diplomats. Some 450 Koreans mostly in their late 20s took the two-day test over the weekend, less than half of the 900-odd hopefuls that took the first round in April. Many of the hopefuls spend years preparing for South Korea’s Foreign Se

Aug. 4, 2013

S. Korea protests Japan over Dokdo opinion poll

South Korea issued a formal protest to Japan on Friday over Tokyo’s first opinion poll on Seoul’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, calling on the neighboring country to stop such provocative actions. The protest came one day after Japan’s Cabinet Office released the results of the public survey showing that six out of 10 Japanese view Dokdo as Japanese territory in terms of history and international law. “Our government sternly protests Japan’s renewed provocative actions taken under the mask of a p

Aug. 2, 2013

Seoul OKs Hyundai Asan group’s visit to Mount Geumgangsan

South Korea gave the nod Thursday for a group of business people to visit the Mount Geumgangsan resort on North Korea’s east coast to hold a memorial service for late Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-hun.The Ministry of Unification said it authorized the visit of Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, Chung’s widow, and 38 other company executives who will cross over the demilitarized zone at 10:40 a.m. Sunday. The group will hold a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Chung’s death and return

Aug. 1, 2013

Seoul OKs Hyundai Asan group’s visit to Mount Geumgangsan

Declassified documents to be available online from 2014

South Korea will start to allow online browsing of declassified diplomatic documents from next year as it tries to boost public accessibility to historic records, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.Currently, the foreign ministry annually releases major diplomatic documents for public browsing permitted only at the Diplomatic Archives in southern Seoul. Documents that are over 30 years old are subject to public viewing. From 2014, the ministry will provide abridged versions of the diplomatic dos

Aug. 1, 2013

Eco-groups urge halt to imports of Japanese fishery products

South Korean environmental and civic groups urged their government Thursday to stop importing fishery products from Japan until it can assure the public that the marine life is safe to eat.Last month, Tokyo Electric Power Co. acknowledged for the first time that its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is still leaking contaminated water into the ocean, a problem many experts had suspected.“The Japanese government and related organizations should make a public apology for lying about the radio

Aug. 1, 2013

Eco-groups urge halt to imports of Japanese fishery products