The Korea Herald

Senior Irish ministers talk public sector reform in Seoul

Brendan Howlin (center), minster for public expenditure and reform, and Irish Ambassador to South Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue (second from right) pose for a photo with officials from the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul on Wednesday. (Irish Embassy)Two senior Irish government ministers were in South Korea to discuss enhancing two-way ties on finance and trade with their counterparts here and also to talk about public sector reform and participate in a conference on the top

June 29, 2014

Senior Irish ministers talk public sector reform in Seoul

Korea, U.S. celebrate friendship in annual fete

The Korea America Friendship Society celebrated United States servicemen and women during its annual “Friendship Night,” at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul on Thursday. As part of the annual fete, four U.S. soldiers and one U.S. Department of Defense civilian received Korea America Friendship Society awards. The awards recognize them for teaching English on a volunteer basis; holding cultural exchanges, athletic events and festivals for young Korean students; and leading other projects that promo

June 29, 2014

Korea, U.S. celebrate friendship in annual fete

Azerbaijan celebrates 96th Armed Forces Day

Commander Elchin Jafarov (center), the Azerbaijani Embassy’s military attache, poses for a group photo with other defense attaches during a reception celebrating his country’s 96th Armed Forces Day in Seoul on Wednesday. (Azerbaijani Embassy)The Azerbaijani Embassy here celebrated the 96th anniversary of the establishment of the country’s armed forces during a reception in Seoul on Wednesday.The event was attended by members of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, members of the Azerbaijani military

June 29, 2014

Azerbaijan celebrates 96th Armed Forces Day

Envoy celebrates Egypt’s presidential election

The Egyptian ambassador here celebrated the presidential election that took place in his country this month during a reception for Egypt’s 62nd National Day at his residence in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, on Monday.Ambassador Hany Selim said that the recent presidential election in his country marks the beginning of “a new Egypt,” as he hosted Choi Sung-joo, ambassador for international security affairs; members of the foreign diplomatic community; and other VIPs at his residence in Seoul.“Apart from

June 29, 2014

Japan completes draft bill for collective self-defense

In a move that has triggered a backlash at home and from neighboring countries, the Shinzo Abe administration has come up with a final draft of a reinterpretation of its pacifist Constitution to make it possible to exercise its right to collective self-defense, Japanese media said Friday. The decision will mark a major shift in Tokyo’s exclusively defensive postwar security policy by allowing it to use force to defend its allies under attack. Article 9 of the constitution bans the country from w

June 27, 2014

Xi to visit Seoul next week

The leaders of South Korea and China, Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping, will hold talks in Seoul next week to discuss ways to improve bilateral relations and to deal with North Korea’s nuclear program, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.Xi will arrive in Seoul on Thursday on a two-day visit. It will be the first time a Chinese leader makes an official visit to South Korea before traveling to North Korea. Xi visited Pyongyang in 2008 when he was the vice president.“South Korea expects Xi’s trip to

June 27, 2014

Korea, U.S. discuss Japan’s review of Kono Statement

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― South Korea and the United States had high-level consultations here Tuesday on a broad range of issues, including Seoul-Tokyo stand-offs over their shared history, officials said.In the so-called strategic dialogue with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong reiterated Seoul’s strong concern over the recent review by the conservative Japanese administration of a landmark 1993 apology for wartime sex slavery, known as th

June 25, 2014

Sexual slavery victim protests Tokyo’s review of 1993 apology

A South Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese army during World War II visited Japan’s embassy in Seoul on Wednesday to protest Tokyo’s review of its 1993 landmark apology admitting to such atrocities.Kim Bok-dong, 88, visited the Japanese Embassy to lodge a strong complaint against Japan’s recent review of the Kono Statement, which acknowledged and apologized for Japan’s coercion of women into sexual slavery for its frontline troops.A panel of experts appointed by Jap

June 25, 2014

Korea ends Afghan mission

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan ― A sense of pride and accomplishment took hold and gestures of gratitude were traded as Korea marked the official closure of its regional reconstruction task in Afghanistan on Monday. Some 200 government and military officials of Korea, Afghanistan and NATO’s U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force took part in a ceremony at the Bagram Airfield to commemorate four years of work by the Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team in the central province of Parwan a

June 24, 2014

[Newsmaker] Korean troops bid adieu to Afghanistan

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan ― Full of vigor yet penniless, Faisal Safi appeared doomed to live a life without a future when he joined a Korean vocational training center in his home province of Parwan in 2010 at age 20. One year of electrician training there “completely changed” his life, he said, enabling him to not only support his family but also open up opportunities. Now at 24, the soft-spoken man nurtures pupils at the academy located in the largest U.S. military base Afghanistan. “I real

June 24, 2014

[Newsmaker] Korean troops bid adieu to Afghanistan

Seoul protests Kono statement review

The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned the Japanese ambassador as the first step in its response to Japan’s review of the 1993 Kono Statement. As part of its multifaceted response to Japan’s review, which Korea sees as an attempt at undermining its significance, Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koro Bessho was summoned to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Monday. Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koro Bessho“Only the Abe administration’s credibility and international reputation will be damag

June 23, 2014

(Photo News) Ukraine peace efforts

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin lays flowers during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941 near memorials by the Kremlin walls in Moscow on Sunday. He publicly expressed support for Ukraine’s declaration of a cease-fire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and called on both sides to negotiate a compromise. (AP-Yonhap)

June 23, 2014

China urges wider perspective to resume N. Korea nuke talks

BEIJING (Yonhap) ― Nations involved in the long-stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program must bear in mind a “larger picture” for its resumption, China’s top diplomat said Saturday, as diplomatic efforts to bring new life into the talks have made little headway. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, whose rank is higher than the country’s foreign minister, also vowed to spare no efforts to resume the six-party talks ahead of an upcoming state visit by Chine

June 22, 2014

Sex slavery victims angry over Japan’s 1993 apology review

A Seoul civic group representing Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II slammed the Japanese government Saturday for its attempt to undermine the credibility of its 1993 apology, adding the move is clearly a “regression of history.”“(Japan) has undermined (the Kono statement) by saying that it was written upon the request from the South Korean government,” the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery said.“The move is a provocation against the gl

June 22, 2014

[Herald Interview] UNDP eyes Korea’s expertise in environment, fighting corruption

This is the ninth installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.The U.N. Development Program is looking to deepen its partnership with Korea to help others in need by harnessing the country’s green technologies and know-how in tackling corruption, chief of its Seoul office said. As the Seoul Policy Center is crafting its new three-year work plan, the two areas have emerged as potential catalysts for development in which the UNDP and Korea can join for

June 22, 2014

[Herald Interview] UNDP eyes Korea’s expertise in environment, fighting corruption

Oman guest of honor at 2014 Seoul International Book Fair

Oman was the guest of honor at this year’s Seoul International Book Fair at the Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul from June 18-22.A number of receptions and performances were organized last week, including an Omani Pavilion at the book fair. Designed to resemble a medieval Omani castle, the pavilion had subsections for cultural, literary, economic and tourist publications. Visitors got to see traditional Omani outfits and jewelry and have henna ink designs drawn on them by professionals.

June 22, 2014

Oman guest of honor at 2014 Seoul International Book Fair

ECCK offers ‘foosies’ chance at World Cup glory

Foosball, also sometimes called “table soccer,” might have seen its halcyon days in American and British bars in the 1970s before the arcade game craze of the early 1980s ― there is even a 1981 B-movie, “Longshot,” about it ― but now “foosies” will get a chance to play the “beautiful game” again courtesy of the European Chamber of Commerce Korea. The ECCK is inviting volunteers to participate in a table soccer contest, the “ECCK Table Soccer Championship 2014,” as a way to celebrate the 2014 Wor

June 22, 2014

ECCK offers ‘foosies’ chance at World Cup glory

Trade pitch sign of Korean-Caribbean interest

The Dominican Republic is usually thought of as a tropical holiday getaway, replete with white sand beaches and crystal blue Caribbean waters. Less known is that this Caribbean paradise is fast becoming a manufacturing platform and launching pad for exports to the United States.Although the island nation is famous for rum and cigars, it is now the second-largest supplier of circuit breakers in the U.S. and the fifth-largest supplier of medical devices in Latin America.Though China began its aggr

June 22, 2014

Trade pitch sign of Korean-Caribbean interest

ASEAN-Korea Center starts lecture series

This year’s ASEAN-Korea Center Southeast Asian Lecture Series starts at ASEAN Hall of the ASEAN-Korea Center on the 8th floor of the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul June 26. Co-organized with the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies at Busan University of Foreign Studies, the subject on the first week of the five-week program is titled, “The ASEAN Community and Acculturation in Southeast Asia” and will be delivered in Korean by professor professor Park Sa-myung.The lectures are free and op

June 22, 2014

S. Korea, Turkmenistan agree on flagship economic projects

ASHGABAT (Yonhap) – South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov agreed Friday on a pair of flagship economic projects expected to propel bilateral relations forward.The joint projects are for the construction of a $2 billion gas-chemical plant in the Seydi District of Lebap Province in northeastern Turkmenistan, and a refinery of natural gas to liquid fuels such as kerosene and diesel, officials said. The gas-to-liquids project is worth $3 billion.O

June 20, 2014