Profile of Laos on the rise

Ties between Laos and South Korea have been riding on an unprecedented high ever since Laotian President Choummaly Sayasone’s historic visit to South Korea in November 2013 that generated a slew of bilateral agreements. Sayasone made a three-day trip to South Korea on Nov. 21, 2013, that included summit talks with President Park Geun-hye on Nov. 22 on ways to expand economic, political and cultural cooperation and exchanges. “A wide range of issues has been discussed including political affairs,

Feb. 23, 2014

Envoy describes Czech experience in N.K. in 1950s

Czech Ambassador to South Korea Jaroslav Olsa Jr. delivered a speech on Korean-Czech relations during a monthly lecture series, the first this year organized by the Asia Society Korea Center, at the ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul on Tuesday. Olsa focused his talk on Czechoslovak-North Korean ties during the 1950s.Czechoslovakia, as a member of the communist Warsaw Pact along with the Soviet Union and China, supported North Korea in the Korean War, which lasted for three years from 1950. Throughout

Feb. 23, 2014

ECCK elects new vice president

The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea elected a new vice president to its seven-member executive board at the group’s annual general meeting in Seoul on Thursday.The newly elected vice president is Steve Duckworth of the United Kingdom. He is the managing director of Environmental Resources Management Korea, a branch of a global provider of environmental, health, safety and risk consulting services. He has 27 years of professional experience in environment, health and safety, and is a charte

Feb. 23, 2014

Ambassador congratulates Mongolian students for 10 years of effective organizing

Mongolian Ambassador to South Korea Baasanjav Ganbold inaugurated a sports competition organized by a Mongolian student group, to celebrate its 10-year mark at Sahmyook University in Nowon-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 16.The Mongolian Student Association in Korea (CMOX) organized the competition as a way of thanking a slew of local organizations, including the Mongolian Embassy here, that have supported the group over the years.Some 60 Mongolian students celebrated the association’s 10th anniversary with

Feb. 23, 2014

Seoul urges Japan to stop attempts to whitewash wartime sexual slavery

South Korea called on Japan Friday to stop any attempts to whitewash its sexual enslavement of South Korean women during World War II after a Tokyo official suggested a plan to withdraw the country’s previous apology for the atrocity.Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated in a parliamentary meeting on Thursday a plan to reexamine South Korean victims’ previous testimony used to draw up the so-called Kono statement.The statement was issued in 1993 by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary

Feb. 21, 2014

Abu Dhabi crown prince to visit Korea next week

General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, will visit Korea next week to discuss issues of mutual concern, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.The crown prince’s visit to Seoul is a part of his official East Asia trip that will start in Japan on Feb. 25, according to the source.During his two-day visit to Korea, he is scheduled to meet with President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Chung Hong-won to discuss ways to b

Feb. 18, 2014

Al-Qaeda-linked group claims bomb attack: report

Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis reportedly claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a tourist bus on the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday that killed three Koreans and an Egyptian driver and injured 14 others. The explosion took place at about 9:20 p.m., Korean time, in a border town of Taba as 35 people including two Egyptian assistants were crossing into Israel.The attack came amid growing Islamist insurgency since the July ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.Army Radio and othe

Feb. 17, 2014

Africa museum exploitation not isolated case: diplomats

African diplomats here reacted with shock and disappointment to news of the appalling treatment of artists and performers working at the African Museum of Original Art, relating stories of their own with officials there.Eight performers from Burkina Faso and four sculptors from Zimbabwe met with museum officials on Thursday to negotiate wages and working conditions, just three days after it was exposed that, since they arrived in 2012, they had been receiving half the legal minimum wage, were li

Feb. 16, 2014

Southeast Asia, Korea discuss impact of regional bloc

Diplomats of South Korea and Southeast Asian nations, as well as a coterie of experts and researchers, convened in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss what a European Union-style ASEAN trade bloc will mean for South Korea when it officially comes into force in 2015. The day-long seminar on the ASEAN Economic Community from the perspective of South Korea opened with speeches by ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Chung Hae-moon and Malaysian Ambassador to South Korea Dato Rohana Ramli, who is chair of A

Feb. 16, 2014

Protesters descend on Cambodian Embassy over labor exploitation

When officials and local staff at the Cambodian Embassy in Hannam-dong, Seoul, arrived to work Monday, they were met by noisy protesters.It was the latest action related to the months-long labor disputes at scores of garment factories in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, which spiraled out of control on Jan. 3 when security forces opened fire with assault rifles. Five were killed and dozens more injured in the worst violence to hit the country in 15 years.The protestors, who are backed by the oppos

Feb. 16, 2014