The Korea Herald

KOICA bolsters rural development in Senegal

BELLY NAMARY/THIES, Senegal ― Nariel Sow, a 10-year-old resident of Belly Namary in Senegal’s northwest, had to walk around 3 kilometers several times a day to fetch water for her 14-member family due to a lack of wells in her own village.The daily routine, an obligation for girls in her rural community, posed a major hurdle for developing her knack for French and math at school. With a water tower built by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, she is now able to focus on her study, dreami

April 5, 2015

KOICA bolsters rural development in Senegal

KOICA strives to empower women in Ivory Coast

SEGUELA/ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast ― Women chatter away in twos and threes as they lean over their bedsides at the neatly arranged patient rooms in a provincial hospital in Seguela, some 592 kilometers northwest of Abidjan. Months before, most of the 25 patients entered the clinic feeling disgraced by their disease, obstetric fistula, and the resulting cold shoulder given by their family and community. Some were deserted by their husbands, and though the illness is treatable with a brief surgery, many

April 5, 2015

KOICA strives to empower women in Ivory Coast

Romanian exhibition illuminates communist life

A group of Romanian artists is displaying work that delves into life during and after communism, revealing a complex world of creativity and resistance. The “Pocket Revolutions: Romanian Contemporary Art” exhibition at the Korea Foundation Gallery from April 3-18 in Seoul celebrates the silver jubilee of relations this year and pays tribute to the communist legacies of Romania. Photographs, films, sculptures, books and paintings by eight artists reveal a complex reality of the country’s turbulen

April 5, 2015

Romanian exhibition illuminates communist life

German firms glitter at Seoul Motor Show

The German Association of Automotive Industry (VDA) has showcased the latest technology and opened the doors for medium-sized suppliers at a pavilion at the 2015 Seoul Motor Show.With the import of foreign cars steadily rising in Korea, German cars, known for their world-class performance, design and safety, increased sales by 28 percent in 2014 with 143,300 vehicles. Imported car sales overall increased 14 percent in 2014. One in 7 cars sold in Korea last year were imported, with German brands

April 5, 2015

German firms glitter at Seoul Motor Show

Colombia, Korea boost cooperation for FTA

The Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism visited Korea last week to gain assistance from Korean agencies to boost the competitiveness of Colombian industries before a free trade agreement comes into effect, likely this year. Minister Cecilia Alvarez-Correa signed an offset agreement with Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea International Cooperation Agency and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which would provide technical assistance to Colombia’s automotive

April 5, 2015

Colombia, Korea boost cooperation for FTA

Envoys’ wives to hold charity bazaar for disabled

The Planting Love Charity organization will hold a bazaar Wednesday to mark its 25th anniversary and raise funds for people with disabilities.The event will be held at the Grand Hyatt Regency Room in Seoul from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, and funds will be used to lease a facility for vocational training and psychological treatment for disabled people in Korea. Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill and members of the Ambassador Spouses’ Association of Seoul will participate, selling the country’s traditional d

April 5, 2015

S. Korea, China to hold joint inspection on illegal fishing in Yellow Sea

South Korea and China will hold a joint inspection of fishing boats operating in their shared waters in the Yellow Sea this week, a move aimed at reducing the number of Chinese ships fishing illegally in South Korean waters, the Seoul government said Sunday.The week-long joint inspection will begin Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.The joint fishing area was set up under the countries' annual fisheries agreement signed in 2001 and is open to any ship from both countrie

April 5, 2015

Seoul opens interim embassy on warship due to conflicts in Yemen

South Korea said Sunday it has opened an interim diplomatic mission on a Navy destroyer in waters off the Gulf of Aden to help support the safety of Korean residents who opted to stay in conflict-hit Yemen.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that an ad hoc diplomatic office was set up Friday (local time) on the warship named Wang Geon to support the remaining 23 Korean residents in Yemen following Seoul's recent evacuation of its people.It marked the first time that a Korean diplomatic mission was se

April 5, 2015

S. Korea watches Japan's possible provocations over Dokdo

South Korea is closely watching Japan's plans to unveil its review of school textbooks and an annual diplomatic report as they are expected to contain Tokyo's repeated claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, officials said Sunday.Japan plans to unveil the results of an examination of textbooks for middle school students Monday and publish an annual report on its foreign policy and activities Tuesday, both of which are expected to contain Tokyo's territorial claim to Dokdo.Japan has l

April 5, 2015

U.S. says Iran deal has no bearing on N. Korean nuclear standoff

WASHINGTON--The breakthrough nuclear deal with Iran has nothing to do with North Korea and does not change the communist nation's obligations to abandon its nuclear program, the State Department said Friday. "These really are very different issues. What Iran chooses to do or not do doesn't have a lot of bearing on whether North Korea lives up to its international obligation," State Department acting spokeswoman Marie Harf said at a regular briefing. On Thursday, six world powers and Iran ann

April 4, 2015

Carter to reiterate strong U.S. security commitment to S. Korea

WASHINGTON--U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will reiterate Washington's strong security commitment to South Korea when he travels to the Asian ally next week, the Pentagon announced Friday. Carter is scheduled to visit South Korea on April 9-11 for his first face-to-face talks with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and other senior officials. He is expected to focus on how to strengthen joint defense capabilities against North Korea. South Korea is the second leg of a two-nation

April 4, 2015

Republic of Angola

The following article was contributed by the Embassy of the Republic of Angola. ― Ed.Angola is celebrating its 13th anniversary of a peace agreement that led the country to reconciliation on April 4, 2002. The Angolan people have overcome considerable barriers and external interference but through their perseverance and courage they achieved peace, having tremendous development nationwide since.Angola has a rich subsoil heritage, from diamonds, oil, gold and copper, as well as a rich abundance o

April 4, 2015

S. Korea, U.S. to hold talks on N. Korean threats

South Korea and the United States plan to hold high-level talks later this month to discuss ways to further boost coordination to deter and counter threats from North Korea, the defense ministry here said Friday. The allies "are scheduled to hold the seventh round of the senior-level Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue from April 14-15 in Washington," ministry vice spokesman Nah Seung-yong told reporters. The upcoming session will be followed by the Defense Trilateral Talks among South Kore

April 3, 2015

Top S. Korean official calls for greater energy cooperation with U.S.

The combination of South Korea's information-communication technology prowess and the United States' top-notch energy technologies would generate great synergy effects in developing future energy sources, a top South Korean energy official said Thursday. Second Vice Energy Minister Moon Jae-do made the remark during an energy conference in Washington, saying energy-rich countries in the future will have "an abundant variety of energy solutions," not merely an "abundance of fossil fuels." "From

April 3, 2015

U.S. defense chief to visit S. Korea for talks on N. Korea

The defense secretary of the United States will visit South Korea next week for talks on pending security issues including how to counter North Korea's threats, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday. During his three-day visit starting April 9, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter "is scheduled to meet with South Korea's Defense Minister Han Min-koo to discuss key security issues including how to strengthen joint deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missiles threat," the ministry said in a

April 3, 2015

Park meets U.S. House minority leader

President Park Geun-hye on Thursday met with the U.S. House minority leader to discuss ways to deepen cooperation in bilateral issues, officials said. With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scheduled to make a congressional address later this month, Seoul is forecast to focus chiefly on rallying U.S. lawmakers behind its efforts to extract a sincere atonement for Tokyo’s atrocities during World War II, such as sex slavery involving Korean and other women.Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was the first fem

April 2, 2015

Pelosi urges Abe to apologize over wartime sex slavery

Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House minority leader, called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Thursday to apologize for the sexual slavery of Korean and other Asian women during World War II."We have been clear about what we'd like to hear about comfort women," Pelosi told reporters when asked about her view on Abe's planned congressional speech in Washington later this month. "I hope that a statement will be made to free (Japanese) people from this burden of the issue of comfort women."She made th

April 2, 2015

Lippert says 'unbreakable bond' confirmed in alliance

Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, expressed his gratitude to South Koreans for their support and encouragement following the knife attack on him last month. The U.s. ambassador Mark Lippert toasts at the Korean Traditional Food Tasting Event on March 25.(Yonhap)He said he and his family will never forget South Koreans' warmth and help during his time of need."This incident has only strengthened our belief in the unbreakable bond that exists between the United States and the Repub

April 1, 2015

Lippert says 'unbreakable bond' confirmed in alliance

Seoul vows stern response to Japan's claim to Dokdo

South Korea vowed a stern response Wednesday to Japan's claim to Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo, as Japan will reportedly publish a diplomatic white paper containing the claim.Japan has long declared sovereignty over the Dokdo islets, which lie closer to South Korea than Japan in waters between the two countries, in one of the thorniest diplomatic issues between the two countries.Japan's foreign ministry once again made the claim in its draft for the 2015 white paper, according to Japan's K

April 1, 2015

Another 3 S. Koreans evacuated from Yemen by plane

Another three South Koreans were evacuated from Yemen by plane on Tuesday as security concerns have heightened following airstrikes against a militant rebel group there, Seoul's foreign ministry said.The foreign ministry said that the three Korean residents in Yemen's capital Sanaa departed for Ethiopia on a U.N. plane earlier in the day following the evacuation of 10 Koreans made on Saturday.Two diplomats will be re-located to an interim diplomatic mission to be placed on a South Korean Navy de

March 31, 2015