CHEVENING ALUMNI RECEPTION -- British Ambassador Charles Hay (second from left) speaks at a Chevening alumni reception at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul on Friday. The Chevening scholarship is offered by the British government to high-achieving individuals from around the world. Students study at U.K. universities for a year. The alumni annually host knowledge-sharing events, charities, field trips and networking venues with fellow alumni in Asia. (Joel Lee/The Korea Herald)

Jan. 31, 2016

The Chinese Embassy organized a series of events last week to promote the Lunar New Year, known as “Chunjie” in Chinese. As the largest annual holiday across Confucian communities worldwide, including in Korea, where it is called “Seollal,” the festivities lasts over a week in China, bringing together relatives from far and wide. In an effort to strengthen cultural ties with Korea, the embassy has hosted the celebrations here since 2010, which have grown in leaps and bounds. Traditional Chinese

Jan. 31, 2016

Ahead of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Korea, Sri Lanka is enhancing its partnership with Korea and promoting itself as an attractive investment destination in the Indian Ocean. The island country has registered annual growth of 6 percent over the last 10 years, and presents itself as a logistics hub linking East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. As the nation aims to shore up foreign investment, boost international trade and switch to a

Jan. 31, 2016

The ASEAN-Korea Center and the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation held a training camp for the youths of Southeast Asia and Korea in late January. The event at Taekwondowon in Muju, North Jeolla Province, from Jan. 25-30 gathered 55 students from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who partnered with Korean young people. Sponsored by the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund, the venue aimed at fostering friendship and education. Participants learned the martial art’s basic postures, stretching techn

Jan. 31, 2016

Korea’s prospective membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership would go beyond eliminating tariffs, closely linking its economy with Japan and shoring up its competitiveness within an interconnected global value chain, an influential economist has said. As a “platinum standard” agreement instantly abolishing 87.4 percent of tariffs on items and 81.3 percent on export volume, the accord was reached on Oct. 5 last year between 12 Pacific Rim countries ― the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico,

Jan. 31, 2016

A traditional market in Busan is crowded with shoppers Sunday ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.    (Yonhap)

Jan. 31, 2016

Despite a much-touted deal with Seoul and an apology to the “comfort women,” Tokyo was found Sunday to have once again denied the forcible nature of its mobilization of sex slaves during World War II in a formal U.N. document. The Japanese government on Jan. 29 submitted a response to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a group of 23 independent experts which has posed a list of questions on its handling of women’s rights issues including the conscription of sex sla

Jan. 31, 2016

President Park Geun-hye unveiled a set of birthday presents from Chinese fans via Facebook on Saturday, expressing gratitude for their support. The package from GH-League was to celebrate her Feb. 2 birthday and included a picture calendar and 64-page photo book also containing a letter, poem and caricatures of her, Cheong Wa Dae said.Launched in July 2013 and with some 23,000 members, the group sent similar items last year. “I sincerely appreciate that many Chinese have been conveying much inte

Jan. 31, 2016

The next U.S. government may shift from its North Korea policy called “strategic patience,” which has so far failed to curb the communist regime’s nuclear program and lacked a grand vision, said a U.S. scholar.John Ikenberry, a political scientist at Princeton University, also noted that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan need to move forward with tougher sanctions against North Korea despite China’s apparent reluctance. John Ikenberry (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)“Now that we (U.S.) will have a new

Jan. 31, 2016

President Park Geun-hye (second from left)                                                    YonhapPresident Park Geun-hye is considering visiting Iran amid growing concerns that South Korea is lagging behind its neighbors and other countries in courting the Islamic republic for economic cooperation after international sanctions were scrapped earlier this month.“I understand that President Park is considering a visit to Iran,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Jeong Yeon-guk told reporters. “I will gi

Jan. 27, 2016

President Park Geun-hye is considering visiting Iran amid growing concerns that South Korea is lagging behind its neighbors and other countries in courting the Islamic republic for economic cooperation after international sanctions were scrapped earlier this month.“I understand that President Park is considering a visit to Iran,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Jeong Yeon-guk told reporters. “I will give you details (about her potential visit) when everything is finalized.”Should Park decide to go to

Jan. 27, 2016

A photographic exhibition featuring the cultural idiosyncrasies and vibrant lifestyles of Budapest and Seoul is running at the Korea Foundation Gallery in Seoul until Feb. 20. The venue ― “A Tale of Two Cities: Budapest and Seoul” ― is a collaboration between Hungarian photographer Gergely Szatmari and Korean photographer Kim Jin-seok. They traveled to each other’s capital in spring last year for over a month, from which they produced and selected 100 photographs for the exhibition. In trying to

Jan. 24, 2016

On the back of the European Union-Korea free trade agreement that entered into full force last year, the two sides are deepening engagement as important parties in regional and global issues, the EU Ambassador to Korea said last week. The bilateral accord has gradually come into effect since July 1, 2011, and fully entered into force on Dec. 13. It eliminates 99 percent of duties on both sides within five years and covers non-tariff barriers. More than 35 bilateral consultation channels run thro

Jan. 24, 2016

AUSTRALIAN CHERRIES -- Fresh Australian cherries imported from Tasmania are available in Korea until early February. The cherries are grown organically free from pesticides, and have a rich flavor from its long harvest. Imports of Australian cherries have surged sharply from 9 tons in 2013 to 232 tons last year, after the Korea-Australia free trade agreement entered into force in December 2014. In the picture (from left to right) are Australian Senior Trade Commissioner Brett Cooper, Australian

Jan. 24, 2016

Twenty-two ambassadors and diplomats of the European Union based in Seoul spoke with the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee last week to discuss the ongoing North Korean nuclear threats, inter-Korean relations and foreign policy. In a luncheon meeting Thursday organized by Rep. Na Kyung-won, chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, the envoys stressed the EU’s united stance in condemning Pyongyang for its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, and its commitment to pressu

Jan. 24, 2016

The Azerbaijani Embassy held a memorial last week to commemorate the massacre that eventually sparked the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.Known as Black January, the event annually marks the martyrdom of 137 Azeri citizens, who were killed by Soviet troops from Jan. 20-21, 1990. Armed with rifles and tanks, some 26,000 soldiers stormed the capital Baku to murder, torture and imprison demonstrators who demanded national freedom.The bloody crackdown, enforced under a martial law decre

Jan. 24, 2016