The Korea Herald

British Embassy, Seoul City lock horns over property

The Seoul city government and Junggu District Office have complained that the British Embassy is illegally blocking the entrance to an alley adjacent to Deoksugung Palace.The alley occupies a narrow kilometer-long sliver between a wall of the British Embassy and a wall of the northeast corner of the historic palace in the Jeong-dong neighborhood of downtown Seoul.The British Embassy here said that it has been leasing the area since the 1950s, and an embassy spokesperson expressed irritation that

Sept. 15, 2013

Brazil-Korea ties buoyed on Independence Day

The past five years have seen a quantitative leap forward in the relationship between South Korea and South America’s largest and most populous country, Brazil. The country’s top diplomatic representative here for more than four years, Ambassador Edmundo Fujita, oversaw much of that change.In fact, through the 2000s and over the course of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration, Brazilian exports jumped fourfold and its imports as many as eight times over. But it wa

Sept. 15, 2013

Brazil-Korea ties buoyed on Independence Day

S. Korea, U.S. not sending gov't officials to 6-way meeting in China

Effectively spurning one of China's initiatives aimed at reviving multilateral talks with North Korea, South Korea and the United States have decided not to send government officials to a six-nation meeting to be held later this month, diplomatic sources here said Thursday."Given North Korea's attitude and the current mood, we are not in a stage yet for a gathering of government officials from the parties involved in the six-way talks," a source said.China has offered an informal meeting of gove

Sept. 13, 2013

[Photo News] Nuclear envoys

Sept. 10, 2013

Syria crisis forcing Korea's top presidential aide to delay trip to U.S.

A top South Korean presidential aide handling national security affairs will have to adjust his plan to visit Washington in September, especially as the Barack Obama administration is preoccupied with the Syrian crisis, an informed source said Sunday.Kim Jang-soo, head of the national security office at Cheong Wa Dae, initially planned to travel to the U.S. this month, which would have been his first trip here since taking the post in February."Kim has been pushing for a trip to Washington for m

Sept. 9, 2013

Malaysian envoy bids farewell to Korea posting at National Day reception

Malaysian Ambassador to South Korea said farewell to friends and colleagues in the foreign diplomatic community during a reception celebrating the Southeast Asian nation’s 56th National Day at a hotel in Seoul on Tuesday. Dato’ Ramlan bin Ibrahim is ending a four-year posting here and said he would return to his home country later this month. He began his posting in March 2009. “I will be leaving Korea in less than two weeks to Kuala Lumpur to begin my new assignment at the Foreign Ministry,” R

Sept. 8, 2013

Malaysian envoy bids farewell to Korea posting at National Day reception

Canadian Embassy brings art to Sookmyung University

The Canadian Embassy here has organized an exhibition showcasing 31 works of art from the embassy‘s collection at Sookmyung Women’s University Museum through Nov. 29.In addition to the embassy’s “Colours of Canada Exhibition: Canadian Modern Art Exhibition,” which showcases contemporary Canadian artworks, it organized two solo exhibitions by Korean-Canadian artists Jinny Yu and Choi Young-man being held in conjunction with the main exhibition.The embassy organized the exhibition as part of its m

Sept. 8, 2013

Post-humanist future explored at French culture center

Downloading consciousness, fashioning physical bodies out of a variety of parts, neuro-implants and personality altering medicine ― in some sense, the future is now, according to Dominique Babin, a writer and post-human theorist invited by the French Embassy to Seoul for a writer-in-residence program. With the translation of her 2004 book “A User’s Guide and Service Manual of the Post-Human (Manuel d‘Usage et d’Entretien du Post-Humain)” into Korean by Kungree Publishing, Babin wrapped up her th

Sept. 8, 2013

‘Mexican FTA talks looking bright’

Talks for a long-stalled free trade agreement between Mexico and South Korea could resume by the end of the year, according to the incoming Mexican ambassador to South Korea. The talks, stalled since 2008, could restart with impetus from a face-to-face meet-up between the nations’ leaders on the sidelines of either of two multilateral summits in September and October, said Mexican Ambassador to South Korea Jose Luis Bernal. “We are waiting for the next meeting of our leaders,” Bernal said during

Sept. 8, 2013

Park arrives in Vietnam for state visit

HANOI, ST. PETERSBURG -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye kicked off her schedule in Vietnam Sunday by attending a joint fashion show and a meeting with business leaders of South Korea and Vietnam to discuss wider cooperation and investment on the second day of her state visit. Park arrived in Vietnam on Saturday for a five-day stay that she plans to use as the starting point for her “sales diplomacy” drive. The highlight of the trip is a summit with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang on M

Sept. 8, 2013

Park urges Japan to face up to history during summit with Germany

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Friday she hopes Japan will face up to history and work toward moving relations with Seoul in a "future-oriented manner," as she met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Park made the remark when the German leader asked Park about relations between Seoul and Tokyo. The discussion arose during a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies in Russia's port city of Saint Petersburg, senior presidential foreign affai

Sept. 6, 2013

Envoy warns against nuke testing

Karipbek Kuyukov was severely disfigured as a result of radioactive fallout from a nearby nuclear weapons testing site in Kazakhstan ― he was born without arms ― but that did not stop him from pursuing his dreams.He is now an artist, painting artworks with his mouth and feet, a key figure in the nation’s anti-proliferation efforts, leading an international movement against testing.Kuyukov was born in the late 1960s in the village of Yegyndybulak, a poor rural area on the Central Asian steppe abo

Sept. 1, 2013

British Embassy accepting scholarship applications

The British Embassy here announced that it was accepting applications for the Chevening Scholarship for the 2014-15 academic year.Some 600 people from 118 countries are expected to go to the United Kingdom on the prestigious scholarship. Awards are typically for a one-year master’s degree in any subject and at any of the U.K.’s leading universities. The scholarship aims to support U.K. foreign policy priorities by creating lasting positive relationships with future leaders, influencers and decis

Sept. 1, 2013

Latin American envoys join forces in bid for Korean investment

Envoys from countries belonging to the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc, pitched to some 150 Korean executives and entrepreneurs from manufacturing, energy and mining sectors on investment opportunities during a day-long seminar in Seoul on Thursday. Heads of diplomatic missions and commercial chiefs from Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Chile took turns proffering the advantages of investing in their countries, members of the Pacific Alliance, a new trade bloc that is fast becoming an im

Sept. 1, 2013

Latin American envoys join forces in bid for Korean investment

Turkish envoy announces retirement at Victory Day reception

Turkish Ambassador to South Korea Naci Saribas said farewell to colleagues, friends and the foreign diplomatic community during a reception celebrating his country’s 91st anniversary of Victory Day at a hotel in Seoul on Thursday. Turkey’s Victory Day is celebrated on Aug. 30 to commemorate the Turkish victory in the Battle of Dumlupinar, a decisive fight in August 1922 during the Turkish War for Independence.Anticipation within the diplomatic community for the Turkish ambassador’s farewell anno

Sept. 1, 2013

Turkish envoy announces retirement at Victory Day reception

Omani Embassy, other missions open doors to public

Five embassies here opened their chanceries to the public on Friday as part of the foreign diplomatic community’s participation in “2013 Seoul Open Night,” which took place over the weekend at several sites around the capital. The embassies of Oman, New Zealand, Poland, Turkey and Brazil opened their doors as part of the Seoul metropolitan government’s “Open House Seoul,” when more than 200 facilities opened to the public including the mayor’s official residence, large companies, museums and gal

Sept. 1, 2013

Omani Embassy, other missions open doors to public

[Photo News] Independence Day

Sept. 1, 2013

Seoul mulls asking Japan for talks over wartime sex slavery

South Korea is considering calling on Japan again for talks on the issue of compensating elderly local women forced to serve in front-line Japanese brothels during World War II, a Seoul official said Thursday.Up to 200,000 women, including many Koreans, were coerced into sex slavery for the Japanese army during the war, when the Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony, according to historians.The official said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is prepared to send an official letter to urge Japan to

Aug. 29, 2013

Park urges Japan to face up to colonial history

President Park Geun-hye urged Japan Wednesday to look squarely at history and resolve grievances stemming from the country’s colonial rule of Korea, saying “regressive” remarks and actions regarding history by some Japanese politicians keep feeding tensions between the two countries.“It is regrettable that the tense situation between South Korea and Japan continues because of regressive words and deeds on history by some Japanese politicians,” Park said during a meeting with members of Mindan, t

Aug. 28, 2013

Japanese envoy to head Korea-Japan-China body

Shigeo Iwatani, a former Japanese ambassador to Austria and Kenya, has been named the new secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat of Korea, China and Japan, the agency said Tuesday. The three countries set up the organization in May 2011 to facilitate and document their summits and other key tripartite dialogues, devise joint projects and conduct related research. Iwatani will begin his two-year term on Sept. 1, replacing Shin Bong-kil, the TCS’ inaugural chief and Korea’s fo

Aug. 27, 2013

Japanese envoy to head Korea-Japan-China body