The Korea Herald

Seoul firm on North Korea sanctions

The Park Geun-hye administration is not yet considering lifting a set of tough sanctions on North Korea, an official said Monday, dismissing media reports of a possible shift in Seoul’s policy.“There is no change in the government’s basic position with regard to the May 24th Measures,” unification ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said at a press briefing.He was referring to economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang in 2010 by the then Lee Myung-bak government for the North’s deadly torpedo atta

Sept. 1, 2014

U.N. rights chief calls on Japan to come clean on sex slavery

GENEVA (Yonhap) ― Wrapping up her six years of work as U.N. human rights chief, Navi Pillay spared no words in demanding that Japan come clean on its wartime sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women.She urged Tokyo to take “immediate and effective legislative and administrative measures to ensure that every allegation of sexual slavery is investigated.”“As I near the end of my mandate, I am deeply saddened to see that little progress has been made and victims of this crime have been pa

Sept. 1, 2014

S. Korean ambassador visits landslides-hit Hiroshima

South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yoo Heung-soo on Sunday visited Hiroshima, a Japanese city devastated by rain-caused landslides earlier this month, to console local residents on behalf of South Korean people, according to his embassy.Yoo offered his condolences to victims and his sympathy to those who have suffered, as he visited a local elementary school where displaced residents are staying, it said."I sincerely hope that relations between South Korea and Japan will improve," he was quoted as

Aug. 31, 2014

Japan shirking legal responsibilities for sexual slavery

The following is the fifth in a series of articles on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the foundation of The Korea Herald on Aug. 15. ― Ed.From apologizing for its wartime sexual slavery to setting up a civilian atonement fund, Japan has sought to relieve itself of moral responsibilities for the atrocities. But these efforts have backfired as it has shirked its legal responsibilities for the human rights violations. Since the early 1990

Aug. 31, 2014

Japan shirking legal responsibilities for sexual slavery

Embassies take part in Seoul International Arts Festival

The diplomatic community here ― including about a dozen foreign ambassadors, many diplomatic spouses and a coterie of visiting foreign artists ― crowded into the Chosun Ilbo Art Museum in downtown Seoul on Wednesday for the opening reception of the 22nd Seoul International Arts Festival.Organized by the World Culture Artists Association, the festival exhibited works from nearly every region of the world. Many foreign diplomatic missions here arranged for artists from their countries to participa

Aug. 31, 2014

Embassies take part in Seoul International Arts Festival

Korea promotes investment in Myanmar

Officials from the public and private sector in South Korea and a delegation from Myanmar will discuss the investment potential of the Southeast Asian nation in Seoul on Tuesday.They are to meet organizers from the ASEAN-Korea Center and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the 2014 Investment and Business Environment Seminar on Myanmar.Myanmar began to open to international investment only after sanctions were lifted with the start of democratic reforms in 2010. U.S. Secretary of State

Aug. 31, 2014

Ukrainian chancery holds procession to laud sovereignty

For the Ukrainian Embassy, this year’s Independence Day could be its most meaningful ever.As Ukrainian national soldiers marched on parade in Kiev’s Independence Square, pro-Russian separatists have marched dozens of captured government troops through the city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.Embassy officials, Ukrainian expatriates and friends of Ukraine celebrated the country’s Independence Day with a special service at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Seoul and a procession from City Hall to Gye

Aug. 31, 2014

Ukrainian chancery holds procession to laud sovereignty

Ecuador celebrates independence with fine art

The Ecuadorean Embassy is running an exhibition of work by the artist Hernan Illescas, titled “Symbols of Dreams.” The chancery organized a number of events in August celebrating Ecuador’s independence, with its national day being Aug. 10. “On Aug. 10 Ecuador made a call not only to all the villages in the royal audience of Quito but also to all of the other villages in Latin America for independence,” said Jorge Alberto Icaza Gustinez, consul general and deputy head of mission and consular affa

Aug. 31, 2014

Ecuador celebrates independence with fine art

Business powwow in Seoul sign of closer ties with India

In a show of just how far bilateral ties have come in recent years, the Indian Embassy here hosted its biggest-ever business symposium in Seoul on Friday.Hundreds of executives, government officials, consultants and media representatives came out for the “India: New future in infrastructure and manufacturing” symposium to learn how to increase commercial and trade ties between South Korea and the third-largest economy in Asia and most populous democracy in the world. Anil Wadhwa, vice minister f

Aug. 31, 2014

Business powwow in Seoul sign of closer ties with India

Pakistan looks east to South Korea

There are essentially two Pakistans. One made familiar by gruesome suicide bombings, U.S. drone strikes and heavy political wrangling in headlines around the world.Another Pakistan ― unfortunately, perhaps less familiar to outside observers ― is focused on getting down to business, according to Zakaria Usman, president of the country’s chambers of commerce and industry, an umbrella organization encompassing more than 50 business groups.Usman led a delegation of Pakistani business and trade leade

Aug. 31, 2014

S. Korea hails U.N. statement on Yemen

The South Korean government said Saturday it welcomes the U.N. Security Council’s adoption of a statement calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Yemen.As a member of the group Friends of Yemen, South Korea supports stability, peaceful political transition, and the smooth implementation of economic reform, Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement.The group was formed in 2010 to assist the efforts of Yemen authorities to ensure stability, prosperity and peace. Nineteen member state

Aug. 30, 2014

Dutch king to visit South Korea in November

Dutch King Willem-Alexander will visit South Korea in November at the invitation of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Park's office said Friday.The monarch and his wife, Queen Maxima, will visit Seoul from Nov. 3-4, reciprocating Park's official visit to the Netherlands in March, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.Park, who traveled to the Netherlands to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, was the first South Korean president to officially visit the country.The king hosted a luncheon for

Aug. 29, 2014

UNESCAP forecasts 4% growth for Korea

The Korean economy is forecast to expand 4 percent this year on the back of a recently unveiled stimulus package although downside risks persist such as sluggish consumer spending and construction investment, a U.N. survey showed Thursday. The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific launched the Korean edition of its annual economic and social survey for the region on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Economic Forum it hosted in partnership with the Korea Institute for Int

Aug. 28, 2014

Seoul slams Abe for sending condolence to war criminal ceremony

South Korea on Thursday expressed "deep" concerns over Japan's repeated moves to deny its wartime atrocities as Tokyo's prime minister reportedly sent a message earlier this year to a ceremony to honor its war criminals.In April, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a condolence message to a memorial service held in a temple in western Japan to commemorate Japanese wartime leaders, including convicted class-A war criminals, according to Japanese media.Seoul's foreign ministry said a series of

Aug. 28, 2014

Seoul, Tokyo likely to hold strategic dialogue

South Korea and Japan are seeking to hold a strategic dialogue between their vice foreign ministers in the foreseeable future to discuss an array of bilateral issues, government sources said Wednesday.The two countries are in discussions to set the date and agenda for the talks amid frayed bilateral ties aggravated by Japan’s stance on historical grievances and its territorial claims to Seoul’s easternmost islands of Dokdo, the sources said.If held, it would mark the first Seoul-Tokyo strategic

Aug. 27, 2014

Documents show Japan’s wartime sex slavery

The following is the fourth in a series of articles on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the foundation of The Korea Herald on Aug. 15. ― Ed.Since former “comfort women” came forward in the early 1990s, the government, academics and activists have been building a treasure trove of documents, photos and other publications to substantiate Japan’s sex slavery during World War II. While the victims’ testimonies serve as the most vivid and im

Aug. 27, 2014

Documents show Japan’s wartime sex slavery

KOICA helps Senegal’s agricultural reform

Senegal President Macky Sall has laid out his vision to build competitive, diversified and sustainable agriculture. This vision, driven by the Plan Senegal Emergent, targets the economic emergence of our country by focusing on agriculture capable of: feeding its population better and sustainably on an endogenous basis; reaping the benefits of international trade; securing and increasing rural incomes; and obtaining agricultural and nonagricultural jobs. The Accelerated Program for Agriculture in

Aug. 27, 2014

KOICA helps Senegal’s agricultural reform

Regional solutions to global challenges

Since the financial crisis in 2008, we have been witnessing marked changes to the global economic landscape. One such change, within Asia and the Pacific, is the recognition of the need to find new growth engines beyond the strategy of exporting to developed markets. As this year’s Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific highlights, the solution to invigorating the region’s growth lays in enhancing regional cooperation and connectivity, by allowing ease of access to a greater pool of

Aug. 27, 2014

S. Korea, Mongolia vow to strengthen strategic partnership

The foreign ministers from South Korea and Mongolia agreed Tuesday to set up a government channel to discuss trade, economic and other bilateral issues as part of efforts to strengthen their countries' strategic partnership, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se was on a three-day visit to Mongolia starting on Monday. On Tuesday, he held talks with his Mongolian counterpart Luvsanvandan Bold, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a news release.The two top diplomats agr

Aug. 26, 2014

KOICA provides Saemaul training

Twenty top policymakers from 10 developing countries gathered Monday to explore ways to improve their rural revamp and regional development strategies based on Korea’s experience. The Korea International Cooperation Agency, in charge of the country’s grant aid, is hosting the weeklong training session to share its know-how from the Saemaul Movement, an agricultural and community reform campaign in the 1970-80s. Korea International Cooperation Agency President Kim Young-mok (fifth from left, fron

Aug. 25, 2014