Foreign Ministry set for personnel shake-up

The Foreign Ministry is expected to undertake a major personnel shake-up in the coming few weeks including ambassadors to key partners such as the U.S., China and Japan, officials said Friday. The ministry recently instructed the heads of all 158 overseas missions to submit their resignation, they said. This is considered to be part of a customary post-presidential election process under which new President Park Geun-hye will decide whether to reappoint or replace them.In the past most incumbent

March 22, 2013

‘Korea Caucus’ begins activity for ongoing U.S. congressional session

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers keenly interested in Korean affairs launched a "Korea Caucus" Thursday for the 113th session of Congress.It is co-chaired by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA).Attending a ceremony at Capitol Hill, they noted the development of the South Korea-U.S. alliance since the 1950-53 Korean War."Many times it’s called the forgotten war, but it’s not forgotten for those of us who appreciate freedom," Roska

March 22, 2013

U.S. moves to offer more work visas to Koreans

The U.S. Congress plans to expand the annual quota for South Korean professionals who want to work in the United States. According to news reports, two U.S. congressmen jointly introduced a bill that would increase the number of E-3 visas issued annually to Korean professionals from the current 3,500 to 10,500.Eni Faleomavaega, who proposed the bill and is a member of the foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, said that “Korea is the seventh-largest trading partner and strategic a

March 21, 2013

Cyprus fails to win Russia's help amid banking chaos

MOSCOW, (AFP) -- Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris failed to reach progress after two rounds of talks in Moscow on assistance from Russia after his island's rejection of an EU bailout that slapped a painful levy on bank deposits.Sarris met his Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov before holding talks with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov about a possible new Moscow loan.Cyprus also hopes to ease the terms of a 2.5-billion-euro loan Moscow afforded Nicosia in 2011 that matures in 20

March 20, 2013

Senior editor of British newspaper charged over payoffs

LONDON (AP) -- Prosecutors say that The Sun newspaper's Deputy Editor Geoff Webster has been charged with authorizing thousands in illegal payoffs to government officials.The charges are among the most serious so-far leveled against journalists caught up in Britain's wide-ranging media ethics scandal, which has seen newspaper executives, senior journalists, and high-profile police figures get dragged before the courts.Rupert Murdoch's News International confirmed Wednesday that Webster is still

March 20, 2013

Obama in Israel for first trip as president

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  -- President Barack Obama is declaring common cause with Israel, highlighting the bonds between the United States and its Mideast ally. He says he has made Israel the first stop of the first trip of his second term to restate his commitment to Israel's security.Obama arrived Wednesday in Tel Aviv, joking to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he was "getting away from Congress."Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomed Obama, declaring that "A world without America's lead

March 20, 2013

Ex-Korean diplomat tapped deputy head of U.N. office

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Kang Kyung-wha, a former South Korean diplomat, as deputy head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ban's office announced Monday. Kang will replace Catherine Bragg of Canada as assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, it added.Kang has served as the deputy U.N. high commissioner for human rights since January 2007.Prior to joining the U.N., she worked as chief

March 19, 2013

Foreign Ministry to regain recruitment powers

The Foreign Ministry is expected to regain authority of some of its special recruitment programs that were taken away upon a nepotism scandal involving the daughter of a then-top diplomat in 2010.The Foreign Ministry will exclusively oversee the recruitment process for sixth- and seventh-grade diplomats starting this year, an official told Yonhap, citing improvement in its program operation capability and transparency. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security will continue to monitor t

March 17, 2013

Czech Embassy marks opening of Brno Conservatory in Seoul

The Czech Republic marked the expansion of cultural relations with Korea by opening a new music conservatory in southern Seoul on Wednesday. The Czech Embassy in Korea marked expanding cultural ties in the field of music during an opening ceremony for the Korean branch of the country’s Brno Conservatory in the Yeoksam-dong neighborhood of Seoul. “We are a cultural country and it is important that we establish the first branch of the Brno Conservatory in Korea. It will be an important tool for ex

March 17, 2013

Ireland celebrates St. Patrick’s by honoring its veterans

The Irish Embassy celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, the nation’s official National Day, with a reception at the Regency Room of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Thursday. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17. One focus in this year’s National Day celebration was a state visit by Irish Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar, who met with Park Sung-choon, the minister for patriots and veterans affairs, to discuss the coming inclusion of a group of Irish veterans of the Korean

March 17, 2013

ASEAN-Korea Center sends trade mission to Thailand

Southeast Asia and Korea promoted the local home furnishings sector by dispatching a trade mission to Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday and Thursday.Organized in cooperation with Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion and the ASEAN-Korea Center, the two-day trade mission aimed to strengthen trade and business networks between Korea and Thailand.The trade trip included representatives from major Korean furniture companies, hoping to drum up business opportunities by conducting market r

March 17, 2013

Japan PM hopes to meet China, S. Korea heads to ease ties

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday he hoped to meet the Chinese and South Korean leaders soon to improve relations strained by separate territorial rows.But his ruling party also pledged the same day to push for changes to Japan's pacifist constitution -- a move likely to stir unease in both the countries, which were among victims of Tokyo's 20th century militarism."I am in the same generation as the two new leaders," Abe told an annual convention of his Liberal Democra

March 17, 2013

Korea revs up campaign to join Arctic Council

South Korea will hold an international conference early next week to discuss policy issues for environment-friendly development of the Arctic, an official said Friday, as part of its latest push to join the Arctic Council. The Monday conference will bring together South Korean Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul; ambassadors from Sweden, Denmark and Norway; and experts, including David Hik, a professor at the University of Alberta, the foreign ministry official said. Entitled “Arctic Resear

March 15, 2013

Korea, China fault Japan on sex slavery at U.N.

GENEVA (AFP) ― South Korea and China on Thursday told the U.N.’s top human rights forum that Japan must face up to its World War II-era sexual enslavement of women from across occupied Asia, but Tokyo insisted it had already taken responsibility.“Japan must accept legal responsibility and take appropriate measures,” South Korea’s ambassador Choi Seok-young told the U.N. Human Rights Council.Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin also challenged Tokyo on the issue.“China urges Japan to apologize for the

March 15, 2013

John Kerry to visit Seoul next month

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to South Korea next month as part of his Northeast Asia tour, his department announced Thursday.It will mark his first trip to the region since he took office in February.  Following the G-8 meetings in London from April 10-11, Kerry plans to visit South Korea, Japan and China, according to department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland."The secretary will meet with counterparts and discuss the full range of bilateral, multilateral and regional issues as we

March 15, 2013

Atomic energy sticking point for Park, Obama

Differences between Korea and the U.S. over a decades-old nuclear energy pact are casting a shadow over the first talks between Presidents Park Geun-hye and Barack Obama scheduled for early May.Park plans to visit Washington in her first trip as president which is expected to focus on their joint response to a North Korea-fueled security crisis. The two leaders will also discuss how to share costs for 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here, the transfer of wartime operational control slated for 2015

March 14, 2013