Most Popular
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Torrential rainfall forces 1,500 to evacuate, causes widespread damage to homes, roads
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[KH Explains] Can smart chargers ease tensions over EV fires?
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1 in 5 households to have breadwinner over 80 in 30 years
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[Online Predators] Online reviews of sex tourism in Southeast Asia proliferate
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Middle East’s big AI push lures Korean tech firms
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[Herald Review] 'Culinary Class Wars': fresh, creative survival show minus the drama
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Arrival of fall calls for more outdoor festivals
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New Fifty Fifty off to strong start
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Assembly to review disputed appointment of national soccer team coach
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Pikki Pikki dance: Korean cheerleader dance routine takes social media by storm
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Qatar National Day takes off in Seoul
Diplomats and business people gathered to mark the Qatar National day in Seoul last week. Ali Hamad Mubarak Al Marri, the ambassador of the State of Qatar in Korea, held the special reception on Dec. 19. The event marked the anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani, who founded Qatar. In 1878, he unified the peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia and surrounded by the Persian Gulf. Qatari citizens in Seoul wore their national dress and enjoyed traditional food from the Mid
Dec. 25, 2011
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Danes sought to talk to robots
Danish people in Seoul are being sought to communicate with Korean robots designed to help exercise older people’s brains. The Danish Embassy has published a plea from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology for native Danish speakers to come forward to help test its hi-tech prototypes. Native-speaking Danes who are also able to communicate in English are sought to help out for 3-4 days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from now until Jan. 13. The KIST center for intelligent robotics wishes t
Dec. 25, 2011
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Santa visits Angel’s Haven via Finland
Santa Claus has delivered gifts to children at a Seoul welfare center, with the help of the Finnish ambassador. The Northern European country’s ambassador to Korea, Pekka Wuoristo, and Mr. Claus made the trip to Angel’s Haven in northeast Seoul to give a donation and presents to 60 children just before Christmas. “The visit to Angel’s Haven was focused on the visit of Santa Claus, who is as we all know, a Finnish citizen,” Wuoristo said. “This is a long-running joke in the Scandinavian countries
Dec. 25, 2011
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Diplomats seek parade, pact for migrants
Envoys pledge to support foreign workers’ rights in KoreaDiplomats in Seoul have called on the South Korean government to sign an international pact to protect foreigners working here, and are planning a large-scale migrant workers’ rally for next year. A group of diplomats met at an event organized by the International Conference on Foreigners Welfare in Seoul to mark the international day for migrant workers on Dec. 18. They pledged to mark next year’s International Migrant’s Day on a large sc
Dec. 25, 2011
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S. Korea, China to discuss N.K. next week
Seoul hopes for coordination with Beijing on post-Kim Jong-il N. KoreaSouth Korea and China will hold their annual high-level talks in Seoul next week, which Seoul officials hope to use as a chance to seek coordination on the post-Kim Jong-il North Korea. The meeting will likely be led by Korean First Vice Minister Park Suk-hwan and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun and could take place on Tuesday, an official at the Korean Foreign Ministry said.“The meeting is aimed at sharing views o
Dec. 23, 2011
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S. Korea to add Japan‘s wartime sex slavery to high school textbooks
The education ministry is set to approve a set of revised guidelines for high school history textbooks that will mention Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japan’s World War II soldiers, an official said Wednesday.The move comes as South Korea has pressed Japan to resolve long-running grievances over Tokyo‘s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, euphemistically called “comfort women.” Japan has adamantly rejected South Korea’s calls to hold talks to discuss the issue of c
Dec. 21, 2011
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Business normal for diplomats in Seoul
Seoul’s diplomatic community remained unruffled following Monday’s announcement of Kim Jong-il’s death, with many envoys departing on planned Christmas vacations despite South Korean institutions’ “high alert” status. Branches of the South’s government and military held emergency meetings following the announcement that left uncertainty over the North’s leadership and fears of turmoil in the communist regime. Irish Ambassador to Seoul Eamonn McKee contacted the Irish community in Korea Tuesday t
Dec. 20, 2011
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Jambo for jamhuri at Kenyan national day
Celebrations to mark Kenya’s Jamhuri Day in Korea were held at Seoul’s Lotte Hotel on Thursday. The anniversary of the country’s 48th year of independence was on Dec. 12. Jamhuri ― the Swahili word for “republic” ― marks Kenya’s establishment as a republic in 1963 and subsequent independence from the U.K. in 1964 and is the East African country’s most important holiday.Kenyan Ambassador to Korea Ngovi Kitau proposed a toast to cries of “jambo” as well as giving Kenyans attending the event an eco
Dec. 18, 2011
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Tastings, films and tango flavor of Argentine week
The cultural bounty of Buenos Aires is being shared this week thanks to a host of events in Korea.A photo exhibition of modern images snapped in the Argentine capital by renowned photographer Miguel Molinari kicked off the Latin American country’s events at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center in Seoul last week. “The show brings another aspect of Argentina and allows us to get closer to Korea,” said Argentine Ambassador to Seoul Carlos Arganaraz, at the opening on Wednesday. “These kinds of pho
Dec. 18, 2011
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German diplomacy exhibited through art
Monumental German art is being displayed in the Korean capital thanks to a new installation at a diplomat’s house. Two sculptures from contemporary artist Dietrich Klinge are being displayed at the German Ambassador’s residence on a hill overlooking Seoul. The sculptures are being shown in the grounds of Hans-Ulrich Seidt’s Seongbuk-dong home in order to give Koreans and international guests an impression of Germany’s expressive contemporary art scene. Klinge, who was born in 1954 in what was th
Dec. 18, 2011
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Sweden sparks kids’ imagination
Swedish stories and inventions are set to awaken Korean kids’ imagination thanks to an exhibition in Seoul. Stories of innovations from the zipper to dynamite are being told at the newly-opened “Hello? Sweden” exhibition at the National Library of Children and Young Adults. Even the iconic Coca-Cola bottle is revealed as a Swedish design at the exhibition in Gangnam, which will run until Feb. 15.Other inventions of Swedish origin including the pacemaker, safety matches, adjustable wrench, three-
Dec. 18, 2011
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New Dominican envoy learning from Korea
Only Caribbean embassy in Seoul seeks green future, greater tradeEven before it fortified relations with Korea 49 years ago, the Dominican Republic sent material aid to support the country during the Korean War.Both countries have experienced a progressive consolidation of ties ever since.“However the true turning point in the enhancement of our ties was the official visit carried out in 2006 by President Leonel Fernandez,” said recently-arrived Dominican Republic Ambassador Grecia Fordalicia Pi
Dec. 18, 2011
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Ministry caught using ‘Sea of Japan’
The Foreign Ministry came under fire on Friday for failing to change the name “Sea of Japan” to “East Sea” in diplomatic cables and online archives despite years of promoting the latter.Typing “Sea of Japan” in Korean into the search box of the ministry’s website produces a slew of recent overseas media reports translated by the ministry into Korean.Also, the website of the Korean Embassy in Tokyo features documents only using the name “Sea of Japan.” The website of the Korean consulate general
Dec. 16, 2011
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Foreign ministry under fire for gaffes in identifying East Sea
South Korea's foreign ministry came under fire on Friday after it was found that some of its diplomatic cables and online publications failed to use "East Sea" to identify the waters separating the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The gaffes come as South Korea is calling for the international community
Dec. 16, 2011
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‘U.S. to keep deterrence against N.K.’
Sung Kim, Washington’s newly appointed ambassador to Seoul, said the U.S. will maintain a strong deterrence against Pyongyang, regardless of predictions that North Korea might ratchet up military provocations next year.His comments came as North Korea plans to declare 2012 as the year of becoming a “power state,” fanning concerns that it might attempt additional provocations while major regional powers have leadership elections.“It’s very difficult to predict. What we should be doing, regardless
Dec. 15, 2011
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S. Korean embassy in China apparently hit by air gun round
The South Korean Embassy in Beijing was apparently hit by an air gun shot earlier this week amid growing tensions over the killing of a South Korean Coast Guard officer by a Chinese fisherman, sources said Wednesday.Chinese authorities launched an investigation soon after the incident took place on
Dec. 14, 2011
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China expresses ‘regret’
China’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the death of a South Korean coast guard officer fatally stabbed by the captain of a Chinese fishing boat when he tried to arrest him for illegal fishing in Korean waters.“The Chinese side regrets that the relevant incident caused the death of an ROK (Republic of Korea) coast guard officer, which is an unfortunate event,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters in Beijing.Liu added that Chinese and South Korean officials are in close com
Dec. 13, 2011
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U.S. briefs 3 Korean firms on new sanctions against Iran
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul has briefed three South Korean firms involved in business with Iran on Washington‘s new set of sanctions against the Islamic state, officials said Tuesday.The U.S. is concurrently seeking support from its allies for sanctions targeting Iran’s financial, petrochemical and energy sectors. The U.S. and several other nations tightened punitive measures against the Islamic state last month following a United Nations report accusing Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons.Embassy of
Dec. 13, 2011
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Nuke summit to discuss everyday radioactivity
The upcoming 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit’s agenda will include how to ensure the safety and security of radioactive materials widely used in people’s daily lives, a government official said Tuesday.Korea will host the summit on March 26-27 as a continuation from the first nuclear security summit in April 2010, led by U.S. President Barack Obama, to prevent nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists.“Terrorism using nuclear materials such as highly enriched uranium and plutoniu
Dec. 13, 2011
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U.S. briefs Korean firms on sanctions against Iran
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul has briefed three South Korean firms involved in business with Iran on Washington’s new set of sanctions against the Islamic state, officials said Tuesday.The U.S. is concurrently seeking support from its allies for sanctions targeting Iran’s financial, petrochemical and energy sectors. The U.S. and several other nations tightened punitive measures against the Islamic state last month following a United Nations report accusing Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons.Embassy of
Dec. 13, 2011