Korean embassy to open in Georgia in 2015

With a Korean embassy scheduled to open in Georgia this year, the two countries will benefit from enhanced support for diplomacy and business, Georgia’s top envoy to Korea told The Korea Herald last week.“Since diplomatic relations were established in 1992, bilateral relations have reached a point where it’s not just a matter of desirability but necessity to open embassies in both countries,” Georgian Ambassador to Korea Nikoloz Apkhazava said.“The new embassy in Tbilisi will give new energy to

Feb. 22, 2015

Korea pledges various contributions to curbing violent extremism

South Korea pledged Thursday to make various contributions to international efforts to curb violent extremism as a top diplomat of the country attended an international conference hosted by the White House to move such efforts forward.Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said no country is immune from violent extremism, citing the case of a South Korean teenager who is believed to have crossed the border from Turkey into Syria voluntarily to join the militant group Islamic State, the ministr

Feb. 20, 2015

Russia adds to geopolitical complexity

With its courting of North Korea, Russia is adding to complexity in the dynamics on the Korean Peninsula as Seoul seeks to improve its relations with both Cold War foes without creating a rift with Washington. Moscow has been reaching out to Pyongyang in recent months in an apparent effort to increase its influence in inter-Korean affairs and secure investment from the South in major trilateral economic projects, such as a joint industrial district, railway, gas pipeline and power grid. With the

Feb. 17, 2015

[Newsmaker] Would-be China envoy to face daunting task

Former top presidential security adviser Kim Jang-soo faces the daunting task of addressing lingering political distrust between South Korea and China, after he was tapped last week as Seoul’s new ambassador to Beijing. President Park Geun-hye’s decision to field the former defense minister illustrates her desire to cement her country’s strategic partnership with China, which has recently suffered a setback due to the possibility that Washington will deploy an advanced missile defense system to

Feb. 16, 2015

Canadian trade minister hopeful of CKFTA

Canada’s trade minister led a mission to Korea last week to link businesses after a bilateral free trade agreement went into force this year. “The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement will open the Asia-Pacific market to Canadian businesses and the North American market to Korean businesses,” International Trade Minister Ed Fast told The Korea Herald in an interview. “As we move toward complete tariff elimination, our companies will gain international competitiveness through barrier-free, preferent

Feb. 15, 2015

Colombia, Korea partner in trade, defense, education

“When Korean people think about Colombia, I want them to think about our Juan Valdez coffee, beautiful men and women and a land of opportunities,” Colombian Ambassador Tito Saul Pinilla told The Korea Herald in an interview last week. “Korea’s perception of my country had been dominated by drug and violence, a thing of the past.”Bolstered by Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin’s visit to Korea in January, the ambassador said both countries could cooperate in a broad range of areas ―

Feb. 15, 2015

Seoul Literary Society hosts novelist Ha Il-ji

Literature-loving foreign diplomats had the opportunity to hobnob with a distinguished Korean author at a gathering in Seoul last week.The Seoul Literary Society hosted Ha Il-ji, a novelist renowned for breaking boundaries and setting trends in the literature scene. “I wanted to be a writer as a child and have walked the path of literature all my life,” said the 60-year-old author at the Swedish ambassador’s residence in Seoul on Tuesday.“As a yokelish boy from the countryside, I was shocked aft

Feb. 15, 2015

Palestine seeks diplomatic mission in Seoul

South Korea and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to begin consultations for the launch of a diplomatic mission here as the two sides explore ways to crank up political, economic and cultural exchanges, the Palestinian foreign minister said Friday. Though Seoul is yet to recognize the state of Palestine and maintains close ties with Israel its longtime foe across the border, Riad Malki was upbeat about relations with South Korea, raising hopes for a boost especially in economic and developme

Feb. 13, 2015

Korea-Japan tension grows over Dokdo, historical discord

Japan’s foreign minister renewed the country’s claim to South Korean islets of Dokdo on Thursday, triggering criticism from Seoul and exacerbating ongoing territorial and historical tension between the two countries.In a parliamentary address in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to continue to “clearly convey the claim and persistently respond” to the issue, calling the islets “Japan’s indigenous territory.” He used the expression for the first time last year at the annual e

Feb. 12, 2015

THAAD targets N.K., no decision yet on deployment: U.S. official

Washington’s advanced missile defense asset is designed to stave off persistent threats from North Korea, though no decision has been made on its possible deployment to the peninsula, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Monday. The U.S. has displayed its desire to install here the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, a key part of its missile defense scheme, to better counter North Korean threats. This poses a pressing dilemma for Seoul due to China’s opposition that the system appe

Feb. 9, 2015