Most Popular
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Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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Industry experts predicts tough choices as NewJeans' ultimatum nears
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Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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Opposition chief acquitted of instigating perjury
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Job creation lowest on record among under-30s
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Fun, food and fund-raising at SIWA’s ‘Sunset Safari’
The Seoul International Women’s Association’s “Sunset Safari” charity gala this year kicked off with a splashy cocktail hour and, of course, all the fun, food and friendship that accompany the largest expatriate women’s organization’s annual charity event at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, on Saturday.The throng of glittery cocktail gowns and black bowties were all the more impressive in that every aspect of the event was made possible through volunteers, as well as the uncanny organizationa
April 13, 2014
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Russia celebrates life of singer Lyudmila Nam
The Russian embassy celebrated with a concert on Friday the life of a renowned Russian mezzo-soprano who, for many Koreans here, came to represent the lives of so-called Koryo-saram, ethnic Koreans mostly from Central Asia.Lyudmila Nam was born in Kazakhstan in 1947. She died in 2007 at age 60. At the peak of her career she performed as a soloist for the world-famous Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. She also contributed to South Korean-Russian diplomatic relations with her performance at the Sejong Ce
April 13, 2014
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Envoys post blog on Irish president’s historic U.K. visit
To celebrate a diplomatic achievement realized by their respective countries, the ambassadors of Britain and Ireland did something special: They shared blogging duties.After all, what better way, in the age of Twitter and Facebook, to celebrate the historic visit of Irish President Michael D. Higgins to the U.K., the first ever by an Irish president?Irish Ambassador to South Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue and British Ambassador to South Korea Scott Wightman posted a joint blog on the historic visit, w
April 13, 2014
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Korea, Japan to hold talks on sex slavery Wednesday
Seoul and Tokyo plan to hold director general-level talks on Wednesday on the long-festering issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, the Foreign Ministry here said Sunday. The consultations will mark an attempt by the two sides, with pressure from Washington, to mend fences eroded by a series of revisionist moves by Japanese officials and politicians ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s planned visit next week. The upcoming meeting, the first of its kind since
April 13, 2014
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Seoul criticizes Japanese minister‘s visit to Yasukuni shrine
South Korea criticized Japan’s internal affairs minister Saturday for visiting a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, calling it a “retrograde” action. Japan‘s minister for internal affairs, Yoshitaka Shindo, paid his respect at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during a local memorial ceremony there earlier in the day. Hours later, the South Korean foreign ministry issued a statement denouncing the visit. “The international community is jointly voicing criticism and worries about Japanese politician
April 13, 2014
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S. Korea, Japan to hold talks on wartime sex slavery
South Korea and Japan are likely to hold director general-level talks in Seoul next week to discuss the issue of Japan‘s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, Seoul government sources said Saturday. South Korea and Japan have been trying to set up a director-level meeting to try to resolve a series of pending issues arising from their shared history. Seoul reportedly wants the meeting, if held, to focus on the so-called “comfort women” issue while Japan insists that the topic should includ
April 13, 2014
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India offers visa on arrival for S. Korean tourists
India will offer visa-on-arrival (VOA) to South Korean tourists at its major airports for their convenience starting from next week, its embassy in Seoul said Thursday.The decision was made during South Korean President Park Geun-hye's state visit to India in January to improve ties between the two nations, the Indian embassy said. Korean visitors will be able to apply for a single entry tourist visa available for one month on arrival at eight airports for a fee of US$60 or the equivalent amount
April 10, 2014
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Korea’s overseas aid increases 9.2% in 2013
Korea doled out more than $1.74 billion in official development assistance in 2013, up about 9.2 percent from a year before, as the world’s 16th largest donor country, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said Wednesday. Seoul spent $1.3 billion in bilateral aid, consisting of $800 million in grants and $500 million in low-interest loans, and $450 million in multilateral projects run by international organizations. Despite the increase, the sum represents a paltry 0.13 percent of gross national inco
April 9, 2014
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Korea appoints 20 new ambassadors
The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday appointed new ambassadors to 20 countries including Spain, Indonesia, Austria, Denmark and Poland. Park Hee-kwon, ambassador to Peru and former deputy representative at the mission to the U.N., was named for Spain, while spokesman Cho Tai-young will be stationed in Indonesia. Song Young-wan, consul-general in Seattle who has expertise in disarmament and multilateral affairs, was picked as ambassador to Austria, home to the International Atomic Energy Agency and
April 9, 2014
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Japan adds foreign ministry Web page to step up Dokdo claim
Japan added a new Web page on the foreign ministry's official website to step up its sovereignty claim to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo, according to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.The new page was added to the ministry's website last Friday under the front-page tab titled "Japanese Territory," according to the embassy and the English-language version of the website.The new Web page is a compilation of previous ministry Web pages focused on Japan's territorial conflicts
April 8, 2014
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Matching Korean investors to developing-world needs
This is the fourth installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.With industrialization playing a key role in economic growth, the U.N. Industrial Development Organization has been striving to bridge Korean businesses and emerging markets through research, surveys and seminars since the launch of its Seoul office in 1987. The office is now gearing up to put its cause into action: After years of study, it will embark on its first-ever pilot program in
April 6, 2014
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Swedish ambassador hosts novelist Lee Kiho
Swedish Ambassador to South Korea Lars Danielsson hosted the 34th session of the Seoul Literary Society, which featured novelist Lee Ki-ho, at the ambassador’s home in the Seongbuk-dong neighborhood of Seoul on Thursday.Lee, who debuted with a short story in 1999, has been described as inventive for both his narrative form and his iconoclastic characters. One character is a small-time pimp who dropped out of high school after assaulting a teacher. Another is a third-rate actor addicted to sniffi
April 6, 2014
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Ambassadors’ spouses join Garden Club flower show
The Garden Club of Seoul, a perennial institution of the diplomatic community here, held an exhibition of flower arrangements at Raemian Gallery in Anguk-dong in Seoul on Thursday.Spouses of ambassadors have long participated in the Garden Club, and the club’s steward and flower muse, Im Hwa-kong, has been the very embodiment of floral design in the diplomatic community since the club’s founding more than five decades ago.“The show would not have been possible of course without the support and s
April 6, 2014
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Envoys of Europe, Korea highlight cooperation on science and technology
South Korean Ambassador to the EU Kim Chang-beom and European Union Ambassador to South Korea Tomasz Kozlowski kicked off a “promotion caravan” in Seoul on Wednesday to raise awareness about South Korea-EU ties, as well as cooperation in fields of science and technology.The two envoys highlighted upgraded cooperation in science and technology, which promises to see some 40 South Korean scientists and researchers work with their European counterparts for yearlong visits by the end of 2014.“The pa
April 6, 2014
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‘Korean tourists to Turkey to double’
The new Turkish Ambassador to South Korea vowed to double the number of annual tourists to his country from South Korea during his diplomatic posting here.“Turkey is becoming more interesting for Koreans nowadays,” said Turkish Ambassador to South Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal in an interview with The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul on March. He said he hoped to double the number of Korean visitors to Turkey by the end of his posting. “Sure, it is ambitious, but can I tell you one fact: Last year
April 6, 2014
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Rwanda recalls genocide in ‘Walk to Remember’
Rwandan Ambassador to South Korea Eugene Segore Kayihura is hosting a series of commemorative activities Monday to raise awareness about the horrendous loss of life that took place in his country 20 years ago, as well as the failure of the international community to respond to pleas for help.Various activities have been organized for the 20th Rwanda Genocide Commemoration, dubbed “KWIBUKA20,” to commemorate what the embassy described in a press statement as a “genocide that took away nearly a mi
April 6, 2014
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U.S. seeks to reassure Japan amid Ukraine crisis fallout
YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO (AFP) -- US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on Saturday vowed America would stand by its security commitments to Tokyo, after Russia's intervention in Ukraine raised concerns in a region plagued by its own territorial disputes.Hagel, on a two-day visit to Japan as part of a tour of Asia, said Russia's annexation of Crimea had sparked worries among allies in the Pacific and elsewhere.Japan is locked in a bitter dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea, and some a
April 5, 2014
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Kerry outdoes himself in new diplomatic frenzy
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) -- More than a week into what was supposed to be only a five-day trip to Europe and Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sat in a Paris hotel suite contemplating his next moves on multiple crisis fronts.It was Monday morning, and despite an emergency meeting with his Russian counterpart the night before, Moscow was still massing troops on Ukraine's border. And the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was teetering on the brink of collapse.Expected in Brussels on
April 5, 2014
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Seoul protests Japan’s fresh Dokdo claim
Seoul on Friday protested Japan’s introduction of newly updated schoolbooks and an annual diplomatic paper that carry reinforced claims to the Korean islets of Dokdo and distorted views on its wartime sexual slavery and other atrocities. Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong summoned Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koro Bessho and delivered a written complaint. “We strongly condemn the Japanese government’s approval of elementary schoolbooks that step up its provocations regarding Dokdo compared with
April 4, 2014
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Ex-tycoon vows to pay fines
A convicted property mogul under public criticism for receiving a court ruling widely seen as unjust pledged Friday to pay off the remainder of unpaid fines and made a public apology for “causing public concern.”Huh Jae-hoh, the former chairman of the now-defunct Daeju Group convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion, was allowed by a district court in 2010 to pay off his fines of 25.4 billion won ($23.66 million) through 50 days of manual labor at a prison facility.The court ruling caused a publ
April 4, 2014
