The Korea Herald

Seoul voices deep regret over Abe's offering to war shrine

South Korea expressed "deep regret" Thursday over a ritual offering made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the controversial Yasukuni shrine, which is condemned here as a symbol of Japan's past imperialism."Our government cannot help but express deep concerns and regret over Prime Minister Abe's offering to the Yasukuni shrine that glorifies its past wars of aggression and honors war criminals," Foreign Minister Spokesman Cho Tai-young said in a briefing."I once again call on Japanese pol

Oct. 17, 2013

Yun holds talks with visiting ministers

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Thursday discussed ways to boost bilateral relations and cooperation in economic, regional and global issues with his counterparts from the U.K., Australia, Sweden, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The relay of bilateral talks took place on the sidelines of the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace, which runs for two days through Friday in Seoul. Yun’s meetings with British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop were overshadowed by the tw

Oct. 17, 2013

Japan’s P.M. makes third offering to war shrine, but again stays away

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made his third ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, but again he did not visit in person to avoid angering Asian victims of Japan‘s war-time aggression. South Korea‘s Foreign Ministry expressed “deep regret” Thursday. “Our government cannot help but express deep concerns and regret over Prime Minister Abe‘s offering to the Yasukuni shrine that glorifies its past wars of aggression and honors war criminals,” ministry spokesman C

Oct. 17, 2013

Forum to discuss cyber challenges, collaboration

For a week from June 25, the anniversary of the Korean War, South Korea suffered from a wave of devastating cyber attacks on nearly 70 state agencies and news outlets. Websites and servers of the presidential office and other targets crashed in one of Korea’s largest ever cyber attacks. Seoul pinpointed North Korea as the likely mastermind, but Pyongyang flatly denied responsibility. Verbal accusations and warnings were all that South Koreans could do, as there are no international binding norms

Oct. 16, 2013

Forum to discuss cyber challenges, collaboration

Poland's president to make state visit to S. Korea next week

Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski will make a four-day state visit to South Korea next week for a summit with President Park Geun-hye about economic and security cooperation, the presidential spokeswoman said Monday.The Oct. 21-24 visit is Komorowski's first trip to South Korea since he took office in 2010. He will also be the first European head of state to make a state visit to the country under the Park administration, presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing said.Komorowski is scheduled to h

Oct. 14, 2013

New TCS chief envisions greater East Asia initiative

Despite growing tension among Korea, China and Japan, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat could be the cornerstone of an East Asia community that will nurture greater political, economic and cultural exchanges, its new chief Shigeo Iwatani told The Korea Herald. The Seoul-based organization was launched in May 2011 to promote three-way dialogue, cooperative projects and joint researchs.But its role is seen confined this year in the face of territorial and historical tension. Neither a summit

Oct. 13, 2013

New TCS chief envisions greater East Asia initiative

Russian Far East to top agenda of Park-Putin summit talks

The Arctic Sea and multiple railways crisscrossing Siberia and the Russian Far East might become alternative routes to the Suez Canal. With Seoul as a potentially important investor, an ambitious program of Arctic shipping and trans-Siberian railway expansion opens up the prospect of new trade routes between South Korea and Europe.“This topic will be among the biggest to be discussed by our two presidents,” said Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin V. Vnukov in an interview with The Kore

Oct. 13, 2013

Russian Far East to top agenda of Park-Putin summit talks

Agreement on visa-free travel to be signed at Park-Putin summit

When President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Park Geun-hye meet in Seoul next month, the two nations will ink a visa-free travel agreement that permits travel for business and tourism for up to 60 days. Putin is expected for a one-day visit after Park returns from a state visit to the United Kingdom on Nov. 5-7. Park met with Putin once before on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg last month. Putin’s trip here next month marks his third visit to South Korea. He came to Ko

Oct. 13, 2013

German Unity Day disrupted by typhoon

The most anticipated event of the year in the foreign diplomatic community was interrupted Tuesday by the threat of Tropical Storm Danas.The German Embassy’s celebration of “The Day of German Unity” was moved from the charming tiered garden at the German ambassador’s residence to the grand ballroom of the Millennium Seoul Hilton hotel as a precaution against possible rain. Danas did not hit Seoul on the night. It was the first time the Unity Day celebration in South Korea was moved from the resi

Oct. 13, 2013

Top Iranian diplomat meets with 1st vice minister in Seoul

In the wake of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s election in June and warming ties between Iran and the United States, South Korean and Iranian diplomats met in Seoul, Tuesday to discuss ways to boost bilateral relations. A group of senior Foreign Ministry officials, including First Vice Minister Kim Kyou-hyun, met with the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Rasoul Mohajer to exchange views on ways to bolster cooperation between the two nations, an off

Oct. 13, 2013

New Kuwaiti ambassador arrives in Seoul

Muteb Saleh Al-Mutoteh, who served as the Kuwaiti Ambassador to South Korea, was replaced by Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi last week as the incoming Kuwaiti ambassador.Al-Mutoteh served as his nation’s top diplomatic representative here from March 2009.Al-Mototeh represented the oil-rich state during a time of generally expanding South Korean ties with Gulf states, as the third largest economy in East Asia sought to reduce its reliance on Iranian crude oil imports. Over the past five years, South Kore

Oct. 13, 2013

Canada beef office shutters over market access

Canada’s office responsible for promoting beef in South Korea has closed, according to a press release sent by the Canadian Embassy here Monday. The Canada Beef International Institute, the office charged with promoting Canadian beef products around the world, closed its office in southern Seoul on Oct. 4.The CBII said it stopped its work here “due in large part by the increasingly preferential access given to beef producers in the United States through the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which

Oct. 13, 2013

S. Korea, Indonesia agree to conclude CEPA by year’s end

JAKARTA -- South Korea and Indonesia on Saturday agreed to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement by the end of this year to prop up their shared vision for mutual growth and prosperity.During their summit, President Park Geun-hye and her Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made the agreement that capped her eight-day “sales diplomacy” efforts to cement ties with geostrategically crucial, resource-rich Southeast Asian nations.“Sharing the view that the CEPA would he

Oct. 12, 2013

S. Korea, Indonesia agree to conclude CEPA by year’s end

Free trade likely to top agenda for Park's summit with Indonesia

South Korean President Park Geun-hye was to hold a summit with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday that is expected to center on buttressing the fast-expanding economic cooperation between the two countries with a free trade deal.South Korea and Indonesia launched negotiations to forge a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) last year and have since conducted five rounds of talks. A CEPA is the equivalent of a free trade pact designed to tear down or lower bar

Oct. 12, 2013

Free trade likely to top agenda for Park's summit with Indonesia

NGO accuses Korean vessel of ‘pirate’ fishing in West Africa

An international environmental group accused a Korean trawler of illegal fishing in waters off West Africa. The Environmental Justice Foundation, a London-headquartered nongovernmental organization, told The Korea Herald that the Kum Woong 101 ship has sent to Busan its catch from illegal, unreported and unregulated operations within Sierra Leone’s Inshore Exclusion Zone on Sept. 18-19.It cited satellite images and its positioning system.Busan-based Kum Woong Fisheries Co., the owner of the ship

Oct. 10, 2013

Defense chief calls 2015 transfer ‘inappropriate’

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin on Tuesday expressed his reservations about taking over wartime operational control in 2015 from the United States as scheduled, citing growing North Korean threats. Kim made the remark while briefing lawmakers on last week’s bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in Seoul, which was dominated by discussions of the politically sensitive issue in South Korea, as the two Koreas are still technically at war. “North Korea is different from the past

Oct. 8, 2013

Seoul complains to China over injury of Coast Guard officers

South Korea on Tuesday complained to China over four Coast Guard officers who sustained serious injuries while trying to crack down on Chinese fisherman illegally fishing in its exclusive economic zone in the Yellow Sea.The officers were seriously wounded on Monday while attempting to arrest 14 Chinese fishermen who brandished knives and metal pipes. Of the Chinese fishermen, two were also injured in the struggle and are receiving medical attention. A source at the Foreign Ministry said Seoul’s

Oct. 8, 2013

Park speaks briefly with Abe: official

President Park Geun-hye spoke briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the second time the two leaders have held such an encounter amid frayed relations between their countries.The dialogue took place when Park and Abe attended a gala dinner Monday, along with other Pacific Rim leaders after the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Indonesia's resort island of Bali, an aide to Park said Tuesday.The official declined to provide any specifics.It was the second

Oct. 8, 2013

Tokyo archive unveils evidence of WWII sex slavery

A Tokyo national archive has disclosed a new batch of official documents that could be evidence that Japanese troops mobilized foreign women to provide sex during World War II, according to a news report. The records describe how the Japanese military hauled off about 35 Dutch women from an Indonesian concentration camp for forcible sex services, Kyodo News reported late Sunday.The some 530 pages of documents were known to have been among the proof that prompted a 1993 statement by then Chief Ca

Oct. 7, 2013

Afghan envoy grateful for Korean aid

One might typically expect a foreign diplomatic mission to be a calm and formal affair, but the first impression upon entering the chancery of the Afghan Embassy is a sense of urgency and a palpable atmosphere of enthusiasm. The local staffers and Afghan diplomats were hard at work organizing visiting delegations from Kabul, meetings between Korean and Afghan officials, and special events in honor of the Central Asian nation’s 94th Independence Day and the 40th anniversary on Wednesday of the es

Oct. 6, 2013