The Korea Herald

[Herald Interview] Expert calls for bottom-up approach to aid

As fragmentation and a lack of long-term vision continue to plague Korea’s aid system, the government should rethink its top-down approach and embrace different parts of society in its decision-making process, a leading scholar said. Sohn Hyuk-sang, a professor at Kyung Hee University’s Graduate School of Public Policy and Civic Engagement, stressed the need for across-the-board cooperation not only within government organizations, but also with businesses and civil society in carrying out a new

Nov. 1, 2015

[Herald Interview] Expert calls for bottom-up approach to aid

[Graphic News] Seoul, Beijing to collaborate on vision of transcontinental networks

South Korea and China on Saturday agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on their shared vision of building logistics, trade and infrastructure networks that connect Asia, Europe and Africa.Citing similarities between Seoul’s “Eurasia Initiative” and Beijing’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” the two sides said they would collaborate in a wide range of fields including policy formulation, infrastructure connectivity, investments and trade promotion, and financial cooperation. The agreement was si

Nov. 1, 2015

[Graphic News] Seoul, Beijing to collaborate on vision of transcontinental networks

S. Korea, China, Japan agree to bolster cooperation, dialogue

South Korea, China and Japan on Sunday agreed to further “institutionalize” their trilateral cooperation to enhance mutual trust and regional stability by holding their summit on a regular basis and bolstering the role of their cooperation secretariat.Korean President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang hold a joint press conference after their summit at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. (Yonhap)They also agreed to speed up their negotiations on a trila

Nov. 1, 2015

S. Korea, China, Japan agree to bolster cooperation, dialogue

Trilateral summit spurs cooperation momentum

The trilateral summit among South Korea, China and Japan on Sunday helped create the much-needed momentum for cooperation in defusing geopolitical tensions, bolstering trade and economic exchanges and deterring North Korea, analysts said Sunday. South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left)and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang hold hands together for a photo before their trilateral summit at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. (Yonhap)What was initiated as a regular summit in 20

Nov. 1, 2015

Trilateral summit spurs cooperation momentum

China's No. 2 man expresses will to recommend 'samgyetang'

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday he will recommend "samgyetang," or South Korea's ginseng chicken soup, to his people, a day after the neighbors agreed to draw up rules to pave the way for exporting the signature dish to China. "I will recommend samgyetang to China through this visit ...which will allow more (Chinese) people to enjoy this delicious food," Li said in his congratulatory remarks during the closing ceremony of the 2015 China Visit Year in Seoul.On Saturday, the two na

Nov. 1, 2015

Korea, Japan FMs discuss agenda of summit talks

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan on Sunday tried to narrow differences in the interpretation of shared history ahead of a summit between the leaders of the two sides.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se talked for 50 minutes with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in Seoul on the eve of the bilateral meeting between President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe."The main purpose (of the Yun-Kishida talks) was to prepare for the South Korea-Japan summit tomorrow," a South Korean

Nov. 1, 2015

Leaders of Korea, Japan and China hold talks in more than 3 years

The leaders of South Korea, Japan and China called Sunday for cooperation in the region long mired in historical and territorial disputes as they met for the first time in more than three years.The meeting represents the resumption of a trilateral summit, which had been suspended since 2012 due to a territorial dispute between China and Japan, as well as Japan's attempts to whitewash its wartime atrocities and colonial occupation.President Park Geun-hye said the three countries are deepening the

Nov. 1, 2015

Indonesia approves budget for joint development of Korean fighter jet

The Indonesian parliament has approved the first batch of funds for joint development of a new South Korean fighter jet with stealth capabilities, government officials said Saturday, amid mounting questions here over the possibility of the very project.According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Indonesian parliament approved a 1.07-trillion-Rupiah (US$78.6 million) budget Friday to be invested in South Korea's fighter jet development project, called KF-X.The money is th

Oct. 31, 2015

Park holds talks with Chinese PM

President Park Geun-hye began talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday ahead of a trilateral summit with Japan. Park and Li are expected to discuss ways to further boost bilateral relations and exchange opinions on issues of mutual interest, including North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to South Korean officials. Li arrived in Seoul earlier in the day in his first trip to South Korea since 2013 when he took office. Park and Li are set to meet with Japanese Prime Mini

Oct. 31, 2015

Korea set for first-ever gov't event with Macedonia

South Korea plans to hold its first-ever governmental event with Macedonia this week, as the two sides have no formal diplomatic relations, an official said Thursday.The 2015 Korean Culture Week is to open later in the day in the Balkan country's capital Skopje for a three-day run."It's the first culture event for our government to hold in cooperation with the government of Macedonia, with which South Korea has not established diplomatic relations," the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Noh Kwang-il

Oct. 30, 2015

Park hopes to resolve wartime sex slave issue this year

President Park Geun-hye expressed hope Friday that Seoul and Tokyo could resolve this year the issue of former South Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, in the latest pressure on Japan ahead of the crucial summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week."It is important for Japan to quickly offer measures to resolve the issue in a way that victims can accept and South Koreans can understand," Park said in a written interview with Japan's Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimb

Oct. 30, 2015

Korea, Japan should open talks to tackle sex slavery issue: ex-Japan PM

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should make a determination to embark on sincere negotiations with South Korea over the resolution of Tokyo's wartime sex enslavement of Korean women, a former Japanese premier said Thursday.Tomiichi Murayama made the remarks a few days before the leaders from South Korea and Japan will hold their first summit in more than three years next Monday amid diplomatic tension over Japan's sex slaves during World War II.Murayama said that Abe should lead Seoul and Tok

Oct. 29, 2015

Constructive Korea-Japan relations strategic priority for U.S.: State Department

Constructive relations between South Korea and Japan are a strategic priority for the United States, the State Department said Wednesday after the two American allies agreed to hold the first summit of their leaders in more than three years.The planned summit between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would mark the first bilateral summit between the two countries in about three and a half years and could serve as a turning point in their long-frayed rela

Oct. 29, 2015

Sweeping partnerships key to post-2015 development era

With a new development agenda taking off over the next 15 years, traditional and emerging donors should join forces alongside the private sector, civil society and other non-state actors to beef up financial sources and leverage inclusive growth, leading international policymakers said Tuesday. The Korea Herald brought together four officials from around the world to explore ways to better implement the Sustainable Development Goals set forward early this year by 193 countries at the U.N. They a

Oct. 28, 2015

Sweeping partnerships key to post-2015 development era

Seoul calls for peaceful resolution of disputed sea

Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday urged for a peaceful resolution to escalating tensions between the U.S. and China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.“South Korea has been strongly calling for restraint of any action that affects peace and stability in the region through various channels including global forums,” a senior official at the presidential office told reporters. “Disputes should be resolved in accordance with international norms.”The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Lass

Oct. 28, 2015

Seoul calls for peaceful resolution of disputed sea

Expectations low for first Park-Abe summit

The leaders of South Korea and Japan will hold their first-ever bilateral summit Monday in Seoul, paving the way for improved ties that remained strained for years over historic and territorial disputes. (Yonhap)The summit will take place a day after trilateral talks among the two countries and China, Kim Kyoo-hyun, senior presidential secretary on foreign affairs said at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday. The leaders will have an in-depth talk on a wide range of issues including sex slaves, but they w

Oct. 28, 2015

Expectations low for first Park-Abe summit

Park to hold talks with Abe next week

President Park Geun-hye will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, in the first bilateral summit between leaders of the two neighbors in more than three years.Park has so far shunned a bilateral meeting with Abe due to territorial and other historical disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.Park is set to meet with Abe next Monday, Kim Kyou-hyun, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs, told reporters.

Oct. 28, 2015

Regional powers gather to discuss peace, cooperation

Senior government officials from South Korea, the United States and other regional powers gathered in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss ways to promote peace and cooperation in a region fraught with historical and territorial disputes.President Park Geun-hye launched the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative in 2013 with the aim of building regional peace by first cooperating on soft issues, such as nuclear safety, disaster management and the environment.The second government-level meeting

Oct. 28, 2015

China to expand memorial hall honoring anti-Japanese Korean independence hero

China plans to double the size of a memorial hall honoring a revered Korean independence hero who assassinated a prominent Japanese colonial leader more than a century ago in China, the memorial hall's officials said Wednesday. Chinese railway authorities opened the memorial hall earlier last year honoring the Korean independence hero Ahn Jung-geun, who assassinated the Korean Peninsula's first Japanese governor-general, Hirobumi Ito, at a railway station in the northeastern Chinese city of Harb

Oct. 28, 2015

Japan scholars urge Abe to address 'comfort women' issue during summit

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should address the thorny issue of wartime sex slavery when he holds summit talks with President Park Geun-hye next week, Japanese scholars said Wednesday.South Korea has proposed the two leaders hold a separate bilateral meeting in Seoul next Monday following a trilateral summit with China.Park and Abe have yet to meet one-on-one as bilateral ties have frayed over various historical and territorial disputes. If they meet next week, a key focus of public attent

Oct. 28, 2015