President Park urges Japan to face up to history, take responsibility for wartime wrongdoing

South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye urged Japan on Friday to face up to history and be more responsible for its wartime wrongdoing, saying they are preconditions for the two neighbors to build genuine trust and cooperation. Park issued the appeal in an address marking Korea's 1919 nationwide uprising against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. The speech was watched closely as it came just days after her inauguration and could set the tone for relations between the two countries.The March 1st I

March 1, 2013

[Newsmaker] Pope's exit brings vain hopes for reform

Acknowledging the “rough seas” the Catholic Church has navigated in recent years, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday appeared in front of a crowd of more than 150,000 people at Vatican City to give the last public address of his papacy.“…There were moments, as there were throughout the history of the church, when the seas were rough and the wind blew against us and it seemed that the Lord was sleeping,” he told the crowd at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. As of Thursday evening, Joseph Ratzinger ceased

Feb. 28, 2013

Peru’s vice president dispels myths about women in politics

Visiting Korea to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Park Geun-hye, the vice-president of Peru had a simple three-word suggestion for what Korea’s first female head of state should do over the next five years ― “work, work, work.”The answer was hardly flippant coming from Peruvian First Vice President Marisol Espinoza. She knows something about hard work. She is not only her country’s first female vice president, but also the single mother of a teenage girl. “I had to dispel two power

Feb. 26, 2013

Korea, ASEAN leaders chart course for 2013

An international organization charged with invigorating ties between Korea and Southeast Asia held its 5th annual council meeting and a reception for the diplomatic community at a hotel in downtown Seoul, Thursday and Friday.The 5th Annual Council Meeting of the ASEAN-Korea Centre met Thursday afternoon to take stock of its activities and development in 2012 hosting a reception that evening at Lotte Hotel. It then charted its work programs on Friday for the coming year starting in March.The coun

Feb. 24, 2013

Serbia celebrates democracy and independence on National Day

The Serbian Embassy in Korea marked the country’s founding as a modern nation in a reception with foreign envoys, members of the Serbian community in Korea and government officials at Seoul Millennium Hilton Hotel on Feb. 18.“Following disintegration of the wider south Slavic state of Yugoslavia, in which Serbia had invested its previous statehood and for which it had given its great human and material sacrifices, independent Serbia was faced with a difficult task to choose a date for its Nation

Feb. 24, 2013

SIWA raises most money ever for charity, honors foreign embassies

Korea’s largest expatriate women’s association said it raised the most money for charity ever for its diplomatic and community bazaar, the group’s touchstone event of the year, during its monthly morning coffee meet up at Seoul Club, Wednesday. The Seoul International Women’s Association also recognized several foreign diplomatic missions in Korea for helping to raise the funds ― 128 million won for charity ― in its 34th Annual Diplomatic and Community Bazaar at the Seoul Metropolitan History Mu

Feb. 24, 2013

Could the next pope be from Asia?

Vatican watchers are abuzz about who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI when he officially steps down at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 28, including the very real possibility that a cardinal from outside Europe could lead the Roman Catholic Church for the first time ever.Cynics might sneer that such a prospect is an impossibility. But if there is one place where miracles are believed to be possible, it is the Catholic Church.Apostolic Nuncio to Korea Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, the Holy See’s chief diplomatic r

Feb. 24, 2013

Korea slams Japan for event claiming Dokdo

The South Korean government criticized Japan on Friday for holding an event to promote its territorial claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, and urged it to drop the “unjustifiable and meaningless” arguments. Conflicts have grown over Dokdo after Tokyo has renewed its territorial claims to the rocky outcroppings in the East Sea, or the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.Souring the relations even further, Japan’s Shimane Prefecture, which claims administrative so

Feb. 22, 2013

Herald inspires youth with essay contest

The Korea Herald, Seoul National University of Education and the British Embassy awarded 160 primary and secondary students first, second and third-place prizes for their performance in an English-language contest during an award ceremony honoring the hard-working young people and their families at the British Embassy on Tuesday.Some 160 young people prevailed out of more than 1,500 who submitted essays in November last year for the English-language essay contest organized to promote enthusiasm

Feb. 19, 2013

European Union brings love to Korea in film festival

Eight categories of love are explored in 55 short films from 44 countries in “Europe Will Love You, the European Short Film Festival” at Konkuk University’s KU Cinematheque movie theater through Feb. 21 and at Korea University’s KU Cinema Trap from Feb. 22-24.Organized by the European Union Delegation in Korea, the European Short Film Festival is Europe’s first official short film festival here, with its inaugural year opening Friday with the theme “love.” Each film explores what organizers said

Feb. 17, 2013

Kenya trains travel agents in new marketing program

The Kenyan Embassy and the Kenya Tourism Board organized a new weeklong training program in Seoul and Busan for about 80 tour operators from Feb. 3 to upgrade their skills on how to market Kenya as a tourist destination.The training program was organized as a follow-up to the recent introduction of direct flights in June by Korean Air between Incheon International Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi. The training session was conducted by travel i

Feb. 17, 2013

Pakistan vows solidarity on Kashmir Day

Pakistan’s Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed by the Pakistani Embassy in Seoul and Friends of Kashmir Association, a Korean support group that counts two former Korean ambassadors and a retired general as members, at a local restaurant on Feb. 5.Kashmir Solidarity Day has been observed annually since 1990 in Kashmir and around the world as a day of protest against Indian control over part of Kashmir.Pakistani Ambassador to Korea Shaukat Ali Mukadam said in a speech at the event that the day is

Feb. 17, 2013