'Comfort women' deal between S. Korea, Japan does not mean end to international discussions: envoy

The agreement between South Korea and Japan on resolving the issue of Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery brought an end to the matter bilaterally, but that does not mean all international discussions on the issue should end, Seoul's UN ambassador said Monday.Seoul's UN ambassador (Yonhap)In December, Seoul and Tokyo reached the landmark deal that centers on Japan's admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims. South Korea promised to end the dispute o

Oct. 4, 2016

Dutch Prime Minister beckons young Koreans to Netherlands

Addressing a crowd of Korean university students, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Wednesday that his country welcomes young global talents to study and work in the world’s leading innovation-driven economy. In a meeting at the Seoul Metropolitan Library, Rutte highlighted opportunities in the Netherlands, famous for its liberal society and innovative marketplace. “There is no hierarchy in the Netherlands,” he stressed in front of some 70 students at the bottom of the hall. Pointing up towar

Oct. 4, 2016

Georgian mineral water Borjomi comes to Korea

The Borjomi mineral water -- an iconic commercial brand from modern Georgia -- will be available in Korea from November across various distribution centers and online stores. Supplied by Korean company ANK PS, which has signed exclusive sales rights with IDS Borjomi Georgia, the website (www.borjomi-korea.co.kr) will sell 500-milliliter bottles of the carbonated water alongside physical retailers such as Hyundai Department Store. Other distribution channels are currently being discussed for wide

Oct. 4, 2016

Indian parliamentarian hopes for greater synergy with Korea

Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn into office in May 2014, New Delhi has actively engaged Seoul as part of its “Act East” foreign policy aimed at deepening integration with Asian countries to the east. As an inheritor of the “Look East” policy initiative announced two decades ago, the eastward internationalist stance of the Indian government has been based on a recognition that the center of gravity in global geopolitics and commerce has significantly shifted to Asia. To streng

Oct. 3, 2016

3 Philippine public hospitals renovated, reopened with help of Korean aid agency

Three public hospitals in the Philippines reopened in July after being expanded and renovated for 13 months, with financial support from South Korea's state-run aid agency.The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) said Sunday that the renovation is part of the agency's regional health improvement program that started in 2013 with a total budget of US$7 million.  Dignitaries from South Korea and the Philippines celebrate the reopening of Aleosan Hospital on Sept. 27.(Yonhap)The three hos

Oct. 2, 2016

Korea, Netherlands agree to launch working holiday program

South Korea and the Netherlands have signed a deal to launch a working holiday program this week to give their younger people a chance to work and travel in the other country for up to one year, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.The agreement was reached Tuesday between South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and the Netherlands' agriculture minister Martijn van Dam in Seoul, according to the ministry. (123RF)Under the deal, both will start a working holiday program on Saturday under which

Sept. 28, 2016

Victims, officials face off over sex slavery settlement

After a round of raucous debate, dozens of top diplomats, lawmakers and their aides bated their breath as Kim Bok-dong, a victim of Japan’s sex slavery during World War II, took the stand to tell about the most appalling chapter of her life of 90 years at a parliamentary audit Monday. At age 14, the daughter of a rural farmer was taken by the Japanese, who faced her family with the choice of sending her to a military uniform plant or property confiscation and eventual deportation. Days later, Ki

Sept. 26, 2016

Controversial nonprofit fund allegedly active before launch

Fresh allegations surfaced Monday about a nonprofit fund that is at the core of an influence-peddling scandal involving close confidants of President Park Geun-hye, claiming that the organization was orchestrating an overseas aid program even before its formal launch. During a regular parliamentary audit, Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup of the main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea argued that the Mir Foundation requested some professors of an academic-industrial team at Ewha Womans University last Novem

Sept. 26, 2016

[HERALD INTERVIEW] Nagasaki atom bomb survivor urges denuclearization of world

TOKYO -- More than 70 years later, Terumi Tanaka can still relive the havoc wrought on his hometown Nagasaki, which was flattened by a plutonium bomb unleashed from a United States Army Air Forces plane.At around 11 a.m. on Aug. 9, 1945, Tanaka was at his home some 3.2 kilometers away from the hypocenter of the atomic blast, when he heard a “loud bang” and immediately fell unconscious. “Everything was instantly blown away in a storm,” the 84-year-old Japanese man told The Korea Herald in Tokyo l

Sept. 25, 2016

Yun questions NK membership, urges stronger measures at UN

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Thursday that North Korea is "totally ridiculing" the authority of the United Nations by pursuing repeated military provocations in defiance of global condemnation, calling into question its qualification as a member of the world body.  South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. (AFP-Yonhap)In his keynote speech at the UN General Assemb

Sept. 23, 2016

Park vows ‘new, strong’ sanctions against Pyongyang

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Thursday vowed to focus on crafting “new and strong” international sanctions against Pyongyang, saying Seoul will do all it takes to end North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “maniacal” obsession with nuclear arms.　During a meeting with her senior secretaries, Park pointedly noted that past efforts to resolve the decades-old nuclear standoff with the communist state through dialogue and negotiations failed to stop the growth of its nuclear program. President P

Sept. 22, 2016

Korea and Mexico progress in strategic partnership

On Sept. 15-16, Mexico celebrated its 206th anniversary of independence, which coincided with Korea’s Chuseok holiday this year. While congratulating the Korean people and government, our country wants to take this auspicious moment to assess the progress we have made together in our bilateral cooperation and Strategic Partnership for Mutual Prosperity that was initiated in 2005. Ten years after our leaders agreed to elevate our relations to a higher plane, we confirm that collaboration has bloo

Sept. 18, 2016

Exhibition illuminates secret to happiness in Denmark

A photo exhibition featuring the happy lives of Danes will run on Namido, northeast of Seoul, until Nov. 6. Showing picturesque parts of Copenhagen and people enjoying their time with family, “Happy Danes” offers a glimpse of why the Nordic country regularly tops world happiness reports. Denmark came first in the United Nations’ World Happiness Report in 2013, 2014 and this year, and came in third last year.  Danish Ambassador Thomas Lehmann speaks at the opening ceremony of “Happy Danes” on Nam

Sept. 18, 2016

Forum ponders constructive path for Korea, Japan

Amid the prolonged rift between Japan and Korea, a group of experts from diverse fields met in early September to probe ways to narrow the fissures and plan a more constructive future. The event, titled the “4th Korea-Japan Future Dialogue,” gathered 30 opinion leaders from both countries representing academia, media, politics, law and public administration. It was jointly organized by the East Asia Institute, Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies and Genron NPO. Out of the disparate analyses, t

Sept. 18, 2016

In the eye of the storm: Global refugee crisis

In its latest report on worldwide displacement, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees puts the number of forcibly displaced persons in 2015 at an all-time high of 65.3 million. About 12.4 million people were newly displaced last year, which means that every minute, 24 people were forced to flee their homes. If the forcibly displaced were to constitute a country of their own, they would make up the world’s 21st biggest nation. It is not difficult to imagine the colossal human pain and grief behin

Sept. 18, 2016

'Korean thread from Peace Corps days is woven through my life'

Amid the escalation of the Cold War, David Lassiter, then a 22-year-old college student in international relations, landed at Gimpo airport in 1966 as part of the maiden batch of US Peace Corps volunteers tasked with aiding South Korea’s post-war reconstruction. A lover of Chinese food who had not traveled outside the US and who was largely ignorant of Korean society, he came directly into solitude, homesickness and “culture shock,” among other snags, as soon as he began teaching English at Euij

Sept. 13, 2016