SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang arrived Wednesday in South Korea for a two-day visit that is expected to focus on efforts to revive the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programs and expansion of the bilateral currency swap deal, officials said.Li, widely e

The top U.S. envoy on North Korea has reported some progress after the first day of talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear program, the second direct encounter between both sides in less than three months.Speaking to reporters and TV cameras Monday night as he re-entered his lakeside hotel after their first meeting at the United States’ U.N. mission in Geneva, Stephen Bosworth called himself “neither optimistic nor pessimistic.’’“We have had a good day of talks. I think we’re moving in a positive direct

No South Korean casualties have so far been reported in Turkey where a massive earthquake struck its southeastern region killing at least 100 people, the Foreign Ministry here said Monday. A 7.2-magnitude quake hit the Turkish province of Van on Sunday, killing some 140 people and injuring another 350, according to overseas news reports that quoted Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The death toll could reach 1,000, reports say. Two South Korean nationals, who reside in Van Province,

Enrollment in the upcoming New Zealand general elections and referendum are under way with the elections set for Nov. 26.Eligible New Zealanders overseas can vote in the lead-up to Election Day but must be enrolled first.To be eligible to vote, the person voting must be a New Zealand citizen and have visited New Zealand within the last three years, or a permanent resident of New Zealand and have visited New Zealand in the last 12 months.Once enrolled, voters can cast their ballot from Nov. 9.All

Gumi City and the Netherlands Embassy have teamed up for a special concert by the Gumi City Choir as part of celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic relations.This choral concert is part of a tour starting in Seoul on Nov. 1 before continuing to Breda, Rotterdam and Eindhoven in the Netherlands on Nov. 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The Seoul concert will be held at the Hyehwa Catholic Church from 8 p.m. The conductor of the choir will be Joseph Hwang, a graduate from the Brabant Conservatory in the N

This year’s Canada Education Fairs 2011will take place on Oct. 30 at COEX, southern Seoul.Organized by the Embassy of Canada, the event showcases 64 Canadian institutions including public school districts, private schools, colleges, universities and private language training institutions all ready to meet prospective students and parents with interests in studying in Canada.“The fair will be a good opportunity to find out more information on studying in Canada and Canada’s world-wide-recognized

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik met with his French counterpart Francois Fillon on Friday and agreed to support expanded cooperation between corporations, especially small- and medium-sized ones, from the two countries, Kim's office said.Fillon, the first French prime minister to visit Sou

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang will visit South Korea next week for talks on bilateral relations and Korean Peninsula issues, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.Li is the seventh-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and is expected to rise to premie

Japan is expected to return part of the Korean royal archives it took during its decades-long colonial rule during Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s visit to Seoul this week, according to officials here. Noda, who will arrive in Seoul on Tuesday, is expected to discuss the return of the ancient books,

North Korea and the United States will hold a second round of bilateral talks next week in Geneva to discuss the stalled six-nation talks on the North’s nuclear weapons programs, a diplomatic source in Seoul said Monday.“I have learned that a high-level dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. will