Amid rising terror threats, Korea remains vulnerable

In January 2015, an 18-year-old who went missing in Turkey shook South Korean society after being found to have illegally crossed the border to Syria to join the Islamic State extremist group. The boy, identified by his surname Kim, had deliberately planned his trip and vanished with the help of a Turkish man he met online, Seoul authorities said. The police retrieved more than 50 images from his computer of IS jihadists, IS flags and Muslim women, on top of a flurry of related Web search eviden

June 26, 2016

PM leaves for China to discuss N. Korean issues with Beijing leadership

South Korea's prime minister is set to leave for China on Sunday to discuss North Korean issues with the Chinese leadership and touch on other bilateral matters, his office said.Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will fly to Tianjin to participate in the Summer Davos Forum 2016, where he plans to introduce South Korea's flagship creative economy policy, which aims to generate new business opportunities through merging different industries and fostering startups.During his two-day stay in the industria

June 26, 2016

Seoul to review Brexit’s impact on FTA

In the wake of the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Friday that he will examine its impact on free trade and other existing pacts and take steps to minimize any fallout. “Though some experts see that its impact (on Korea) will be limited given our relatively low trade and finance ties with the U.K. such as compared with the U.S., Brexit will significantly affect the global economy and we’re not free from that,” Yun said at a meeting of the parliamentary

June 24, 2016

Korea will not punish local fishermen who seized Chinese boats

South Korean authorities said Tuesday they have decided not to punish the local fishermen who sailed beyond their designated fishing area to seize two Chinese boats that were illegally catching fish near the inter-Korean border earlier this month.A group of South Korean crewmen from 19 fishing boats seized the Chinese boats just south of the Northern Limit Line and dragged the boats and crew to Yeonpyeong Island on June 5.Though the seizure of the boats occurred without incident and the Chinese

June 21, 2016

Young Chinese public officials visit Korea for exchanges with municipalities

A delegation of young Chinese public officials is visiting South Korea at the invitation of the Korea Foundation to seek exchanges with South Korean municipal governments, the foundation said Tuesday.The 177-member delegation, led by Wang Yunzhe, vice chief of the China-South Korea Friendship Association, arrived the previous day on an eight-day trip that will take them to the South Korean cities of Gwangmyeong and Daejeon.The arrival of the group, comprising young public officials in Beijing an

June 21, 2016

[HERALD INTERVIEW] Generous state investment buoys Norwegian literature

When Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder set out to work on what would become the international classic “Sophie’s World” in the early 1990s, he had no other option but to write it quickly. As a well-versed but cash-strapped teacher, time was not on his side. In a matter of weeks, Gaarder authored the philosophical tome, making thrifty use of a government scholarship for writers. “Sophie’s World” -- a surreal fantasy about a teenage girl in Norway who is tutored on philosophical thinking and the his

June 20, 2016

Sri Lanka beckons with tourism jewels

Sri Lanka -- an island nation in South Asia -- has emerged from decades of national conflict to reveal its mystic beauties.Known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean,” the lush tropical isle is famous for its golden beaches with palm trees, Buddhist temples of glittering relics as well as exotic wildlife and sundry vegetation. Its fledgling tourism industry has registered a 230 percent growth over the last five years, and more than 1.8 million travelers visited last year, including 14,000 Koreans.

June 20, 2016

Azerbaijan, Korea to cooperate on infrastructure, energy

Azerbaijan and Korea on June 14 held the first round of a joint commission on economic cooperation aimed at bolstering partnerships in infrastructure, industrial plants and trade and investment. The meeting in Seoul was led by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Azeri Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, and produced a protocol agreement on economic cooperation covering technology transfer, renewable energy, information communications technology and other areas. S

June 19, 2016

Uzbekistan glitters with Silk Road wonders

For those that long for the ancient Silk Road splendors from Central Asia, Uzbekistan serves snippets of those former glories, arranged with modern conveniences. The doubly landlocked country in the heart of Eurasia offers a peculiar mishmash of cultural relics: luminous minarets, voluptuous domes and tortuous mosaics, often next to classical Russian architectures and ideological socialist sculptures. Coming out of seven decades of soviet rule through independence in 1991, Uzbekistan has steadil

June 19, 2016

Korean record store attacked in Istanbul

A record shop run by a South Korean in Istanbul was attacked by some Turkish citizens who harbored resentment against it for serving alcohol during the Ramadan fast period, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. The incident took place at around 9 p.m. on Friday, Istanbul time, as fans of British rock band Radiohead gathered at the Velvet Indieground store to celebrate the band’s new album. “During the event, an unidentified number of Turkish people spotted patrons drinking alcohol inside, broke

June 19, 2016

[NEWS FOCUS] Seoul wary of diplomatic spillover from crackdown on illegal Chinese fishing

South Korea’s clampdown on Chinese boats illegally fishing in neutral waters is seen as a move to protect local fishermen and quell increasingly sour public sentiment, but the diplomatic predicament faced by Seoul remains unchanged, if not more intense.Besides its impact on security and maritime affairs, diplomats also perceive the inevitable impact on diplomacy of the ongoing, unprecedented operation involving military and police officers and U.N. Command monitors. The vessels’ rampant poaching

June 19, 2016

Korea to open embassy in Madagascar

South Korea will open an embassy in Madagascar early next month, government sources said Sunday, amid its stepped-up efforts to strengthen diplomacy with the resource-rich continent.The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1962, but Seoul has not opened any mission in Antananarivo, the capital of the southeastern African state. After a government with close ties to North Korea took power in the African state in the 1970s, the bilateral relations remained chilled for nearly two decades. P

June 19, 2016

KOICA helps Myanmar cope with effects of climate change

BAGAN, Myanmar -- Endless rows of yellow-green, tender young trees soughed in the breeze, churning out rustling sounds across a serene forest in Bagan, Myanmar. A 10-minute walk led to a more exuberant section where taller and lusher eucalyptuses, neems and acacias towered on the backdrop of a mountain. The once barren land is turning into a greener neighborhood for the agrarian residents thanks to assistance from the Korea International Cooperation Agency. A resident waters a tree on June 9 at

June 15, 2016

‘Korea's tech transfers key to Myanmar's reforms’

YANGON, Myanmar -- With Myanmar spurring political, economic and administrative reforms, technological assistance coupled with financial aid from Korea and other industrial powerhouses will help expedite the country’s ongoing transformation, according to a senior official at Myanmar’s ruling party. Hantha Myint, chief of the economic committee within the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, stressed the significance of technology transfers in the Southeast Asian nation’s agricu

June 14, 2016

Myanmar emulates Korea's rural development model

NAYPYIDAW -- More than a dozen villagers began to dig in the ground and make a stream in the small town of Kyauncone near the capital of Myanmar, as the signature song of the Saemaul Undong resonated, with the lyrics in Korean calling for diligence and cooperation in refurbishing the rural community. Their task was to open drainage ditches and pave the road that has long prohibited the passage of vehicles in rainy seasons. It was intended to take a page from the Saemaul Undong (New Village Movem

June 13, 2016