Most Popular
-
1
Torrential rainfall forces 1,500 to evacuate, causes widespread damage to homes, roads
-
2
[KH Explains] Can smart chargers ease tensions over EV fires?
-
3
1 in 5 households to have breadwinner over 80 in 30 years
-
4
[Online Predators] Online reviews of sex tourism in Southeast Asia proliferate
-
5
Assembly to review disputed appointment of national soccer team coach
-
6
New Fifty Fifty off to strong start
-
7
Arrival of fall calls for more outdoor festivals
-
8
Evicted guest burns down inn; 3 killed
-
9
[Herald Interview] US election may unleash growth for Korea: Laffer
-
10
[Herald Review] 'Culinary Class Wars': fresh, creative survival show minus the drama
-
Court rejects Japan’s demand to hand over Chinese activist
A Seoul court on Thursday rejected Japan’s request to hand over a Chinese attacker of Japanese facilities in Seoul and Tokyo. Liu Qiang, 39, was immediately released and is expected to return to his homeland.He was sentenced to 10 months in jail for hurling four Molotov cocktails at the Japanese Embassy building in Seoul in January 2011. His term ended in November but remained in custody pending the court’s review of Japan’s request to repatriate him. He confessed to an arson attack in December
Jan. 3, 2013
-
S. Korean diplomat in Saudi Arabia dies in apparent car accident
A South Korean diplomat in Saudi Arabia died earlier this week in an apparent car accident, a senior official at Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday. The body of the consular official, who was only identified by his surname Kim, was found inside his car on Wednesday on a motorway in Riyadh, the Seoul official said on the condition of anonymity. "Local police are investigating into the exact cause of the apparent car accident," the official said. The consular official was working at the South
Jan. 3, 2013
-
Kim’s address raises cautious optimism in Seoul
Seoul officials are cautiously optimistic after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signaled his willingness to prioritize economic revival and defuse tension with the South. Kim on Tuesday made the first verbal New Year’s address by a North Korean leader in 19 years.With economic recovery being the biggest task at hand, the Swiss-educated leader may try to mend ties with the incoming Park Geun-hye government for industrial cooperation and food handouts, analysts said.Seoul’s Unification Minister Yu
Jan. 2, 2013
-
[Newsmaker] N.K. leader’s speech lacks fresh vision
The shadow of his grandfather loomed large when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave a much-trumpeted New Year’s speech on Tuesday, calling for economic growth and the defusing of tensions with the South. It was the first verbal New Year’s address made by a North Korean leader in 19 years. Kim made his maiden live speech on April 15 when Pyongyang held a massive celebration for the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder and his grandfather Kim Il-sung. The late Kim delivered his own
Jan. 1, 2013
-
Korea to spend W6b on public diplomacy
The Foreign Ministry plans to spend 6 billion won ($5.7 million) on public diplomacy efforts this year as it seeks to improve Korea’s image abroad and better protect national interests in growing diplomatic feuds with Japan.The 2013 budget approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday includes public diplomacy as a separate item in the government expenses for the first time. The ministry was allocated slightly less than 2 trillion won in the budget, up about 3.2 percent from last year.The newly a
Jan. 1, 2013
-
S. Korea to join U.N. Security Council amid deadlock over N.K. rocket
NEW YORK/SEOUL (Yonhap News) ― South Korea could take a more active role in getting the United Nations Security Council to punish North Korea for its recent long-range rocket launch, diplomatic sources said Friday.South Korea is set to serve as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Council for two years, beginning Jan. 1. The Council is the U.N.’s top decision-making body that can tighten sanctions on North Korea.Seoul, Washington and other nations condemned North Korea’s Dec. 12 rocket launch
Dec. 30, 2012
-
S. Korea ranks third in visitor arrivals to ASEAN countries
South Korea ranked third in the number of outside visitors to Southeast Asian countries in 2011, tourism data showed Sunday, proving its clout in the region’s tourism sector.South Korean visitors to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations totaled 3,862,009 last year, accounting for 4.7 percent of the total, data obtained from the Seoul-based ASEAN-Korea Center said.South Korea ranked behind only China and Australia, which sent 7.32 million and 3.93 million visitors,
Dec. 30, 2012
-
Park faces tough diplomatic challenges
From the intensifying threat from North Korea to a festering feud with Japan, President-elect Park Geun-hye faces a string of foreign policy challenges which will put her much-touted doctrine of “trustpolitik” to an early test.The conservative politician will take office on Feb. 25 for a five-year term, inheriting a bleak diplomatic and security landscape bequeathed by incumbent Lee Myung-bak.Inter-Korean relations spiraled downward over the past five years due to Pyongyang’s arms buildup and Se
Dec. 30, 2012
-
Korea, India celebrate 40 years of ties in New Year
The Indian Culture Centre in Seoul celebrated the first anniversary of its establishment in April this year, and Korea and India will mark their 40th year of diplomatic ties in 2013. The following is a Q&A with Indian Ambassador to Korea Vishnu Prakash:Korea Herald: It’s been over a year since the Indian Cultural Centre opened in Seoul. What was the idea behind starting it? How can we compare the ICC in Korea to ICCs in other countries?Vishnu Prakash: Our cultural ties go back two millennia to t
Dec. 30, 2012
-
Swedish envoys work to free American held in N.K.
The last thing a European diplomat might expect from a foreign posting is to represent the United States.But that is exactly what Swedish envoys in North Korea do as part of their official duties. Now they are working around the clock to free an American citizen that North Korea finally confirmed on Dec. 21 it had detained.But Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old Korean-American tour operator, is not likely to be released anytime soon, said Swedish Ambassador to South Korea Lars Danielsson. Danielsson sai
Dec. 30, 2012
-
Georgia proffers signature wines
The Georgian Embassy here hosted an event featuring the country’s wine and brandy for prospective Korean importers and the foreign diplomatic community in response to a growing demand here for quaffs from the Caucasus.Georgian Ambassador to Korea Nikoloz Apkhazava also underscored the importance of his country’s wine to Georgian national identity during a tasting Thursday.“It is difficult to describe the importance of wine to Georgians. It is so tied up with our national identity,” Apkhazava sai
Dec. 30, 2012
-
Singaporean Embassy donates W3m to local orphange
The Singaporean Embassy and Singapore Club Seoul donated 3 million won ($2,790) to a local orphanage during a year-end reception, Dec. 13. Singaporean Ambassador to Korea Peter Tan and wife Siew Eng visited the orphanage in a day of games, activities and gift-giving.Now in its fourth year, the Singapore Embassy’s annual charity event at the Hye Sim Won Orphanage in the Huam-dong neighborhood of Seoul has become an annual attraction for Singaporean diplomats and the city-state’s growing expatriat
Dec. 30, 2012
-
S. Korea to join U.N. Security Council amid deadlock over N.K. rocket
With South Korea set to join the United Nations Security Council in four days, the country could soon take a more active role in getting the international body to punish North Korea for its recent long-range rocket launch, diplomatic sources said Friday.Starting Jan. 1, South Korea will serve as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation council for two years. The council is the U.N.'s top decision-making body, tasked with maintaining world peace.Following North Korea's Dec. 12 rocket launch, Seoul
Dec. 29, 2012
-
N.K. suspected of purging two officials for April rocket failure
The list of North Korean scientists and officials named national heroes for contributing to the country’s successful launch of a long-range rocket earlier this month did not include key officials in charge of a botched April rocket launch, prompting speculation over their possible purge.According to recent North Korean media reports, the communist country declared 101 scientists, officials and others national heroes and gave them medals for contributing to its widely celebrated Dec. 12 launch of
Dec. 28, 2012
-
S. Korea urges Japan to resolve wartime sex slavery
Responding to Japan's renewed denial of forcing Korean women into sex slavery during World War II, South Korea once again urged Japan Thursday to seek "satisfactory" solutions for the victims.Tokyo's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated earlier in the day that the newly launched Japanese government led by Shinzo Abe may review a 1993 statement issued by its then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the matter, saying it is "desirable for experts and historians to study" the issue, a
Dec. 27, 2012
-
S. Korea submits formal claim on East China Sea shelf to U.N.
South Korea has submitted an official claim to extend a portion of continental shelf beyond the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the East China Sea to a United Nations body, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.The South Korean government presented the official document to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) located in New York a day earlier (Seoul time), claiming that the Korean Peninsula's natural prolongation of the continental shelf in the East China
Dec. 27, 2012
-
Korea files extended continental shelf claim
South Korea claimed an extended limit of its continental shelf in the East China Sea in a report to the United Nations on Wednesday, upping its ante in a heated race with Japan and China over fisheries and resources deposits. The Foreign Ministry submitted to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf its claim to the edge of the country’s seabed beyond its 200 nautical mile (370 kilometer) exclusive economic zone from the baselines of its territorial waters. The formal report ma
Dec. 26, 2012
-
Revised U.S. defense act urges tougher measures against N.K.
In the wake of North Korea’s rocket launch, U.S. Congress has passed a defense law modified for next year calling for tougher measures such as the possible construction of a new missile defense base and defense capability assessments. The National Defense Authorization Act contains a raft of policy and funding packages including budgets for military activities, related construction and research and development programs. Its 2013 version worth $633.3 billion requires the federal government to loo
Dec. 24, 2012
-
Japanese prefecture warned against Dokdo event
South Korea on Monday warned a Japanese prefecture against holding a controversial event claiming the South’s easternmost islets of Dokdo next February, denouncing the plan as “unacceptable.” Japan’s Shimane prefecture is scheduled to hold the event on Feb. 22, or three days before the inauguration of Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s new president, a move that could lead to a potential flash point between the two nations at a time when Park and Japan’s incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have signa
Dec. 24, 2012
-
Park shuns Abe’s early gesture to thaw relations
President-elect Park Geun-hye has turned down a visit by incoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s special envoy, heralding a rough ride in the relations between the next governments of the two nations. Shinzo Abe of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party planned to send his congratulatory letter last weekend via former Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga and three other senior members of the Japan-South Korea parliamentarians’ association. But Park’s side “respectfully” declined the meeting due to
Dec. 23, 2012