A private sector forum to be held during an international gathering on foreign aid in Busan will be an opportunity for a better partnership between the public and private sectors in expanding international development, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.The Forth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness will be held at BEXCO Convention Center from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. The forum will attract about 2,000 delegates including ministers, government representatives, lawmakers, civic groups and private sect

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Tuesday welcomed South Korea’s ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and vowed close cooperation to put it into effect at an early date.“The United States welcomes the Korean National Assembly’s approval of the KORUS FTA,” he said in a brief statement. “This is a win-win agreement that will provide significant economic and strategic benefits to both countries. We look forward to working closely with the government of

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, which came under fire in September for its officials’ suspected lack of ability to communicate in English, is considering scrapping its in-house English test grades, the ministry said Tuesday.“Foreign Ministry’s assessment on diplomats’ English proficiency has had a stricter standard. For example, a person who gets 800 in the (Test of English Proficiency) is rated TEPS 2 in general, but rated at the lowest fifth level at the ministry,” Foreign Ministry

North Korea should stop its uranium enrichment program and implement denuclearization measures if it wants to resume the stalled six-party talks, a senior U.S. diplomat said Tuesday.“I think that both the Republic of Korea, the United States and our other partners have been very clear on what North Korea must do to be able to have a resumption of the six-party talks,” U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman told reporters in Seoul after meeting with South Korean foreign

Wendy R. Sherman, a top U.S. State Department official, arrived in Seoul on Monday evening for talks with South Korean officials to discuss alliance issues.Sherman’s visit to Seoul is her first since being appointed undersecretary of state for political affairs in July.It is part of her three-day trip to Asia ― Tokyo on Sunday, Seoul on Monday and Tuesday and Beijing later on Tuesday.“Ambassador Sherman travels to Seoul on Nov. 21. On Nov. 22, she will meet with a range of senior officials to ex

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- Teenage South Korean students are expected to enjoy visa-free travel to China for short-term school trips beginning early next year, an official at Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.Seoul and Beijing have been in talks to grant visa-waiver status to South Korean element

A delegation of Libyan government officials and executives will visit Korea this week to discuss ways to cooperate in the sectors of communications, electricity and others, Seoul officials said Sunday.The Libyan delegation is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday for a five-day visit that will be the first official visit to Korea since Libya’s nine-month civil war ended last month with the capture and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, who had ruled there for more than four decades.The areas of coope

As part of ongoing efforts to improve security, the Swedish Embassy announced that the design of passports and identification cards will change for next year.Already issued passports will still be valid for as long as is stated in the passport.Due to the change, the passport system at the embassy will be unavailable between Dec. 26 until Jan. 12. During this period, no applications for ordinary passports or Swedish identification cards will be accepted.The new regulations that came into force tw

It has been a little over a year since the Danish Embassy launched their in-house program to improve energy efficiency at the chancery.As a result, the embassy spent 43 percent less energy than a year earlier.“In fact, the result of our efforts during this past year has by far exceeded our expectations as our initial goal was to reduce our energy consumption by 10 percent,” said Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen.The reduced energy consumption is a result of the green code of conduct encoura

Filipino citizens who intend to vote in South Korea for the Philippines senatorial and party-list elections in May 2013 can now register as overseas absentee voters at the embassy.“Although the registration period is for one year, I encourage everyone to register early and not wait until the last minute to have their names included in the roster of those eligible to vote in 2013,” said Philippines Ambassador Luis T. Cruz.Registration will continue until Oct. 31, 2012 and is available from Monday

The German community and embassy are holding a traditional Christmas market at the German International School.The event will take place on Nov. 26 from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the German International School in Hannam-dong.Among other products, there will be Christmas dishes for sale, wine and crafts for children.All proceeds will go to the charity organization Shoulder to Shoulder.More information located at the Germany Embassy’s site at www.seoul.diplo.de.