The alleged involvement of the South Korean spy agency in a fumbled industrial espionage job is the dominating debate in the diplomatic community here.At the center of the controversy is the bidding for a contract to supply trainer jets, tanks and missiles to Indonesia. South Korea’s T-50 supersonic planes are competing with Russia’s Y-130 trainer jets for the deal.Some high-ranking diplomats expr

Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi again emphasized the need for the resumption soon of the stalled multinational talks on North Korea’s denuclearization, indicating the lingering opinion gap with Seoul over how to deal with the North’s ongoing nuclear ambitions. The two-day visit by Yang Jiechi comes as regional powers share escalating concerns over Pyongyang’s ongoing nuclear threat a

Emergency services search the rumble for survivors of the collapsed CTV building in Christchurch's business district, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011. Search teams using dogs, heavy cranes and earth movers worked through dawn Wednesday in one of New Zealand's largest cities, trying frantically to find survivors amid the crumbled concrete, twisted metal and huge mounds of brick left by a powerful earthquake

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was due in Seoul on Wednesday for talks on North Korea and bilateral relations as the two countries differ over how to cope with Pyongyang's new nuclear program based on enriched uranium.Yang's two-day visit coincides with a U.N. Security Council meeting, set for Wednesday in New York, which is expected to debate over whether to adopt an experts' report that th

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said on Monday an intrusion into a hotel room where Indonesian officials were staying during an recent official visit in Seoul, South Korea, was a misunderstanding. Hatta, who headed a delegation consisting of 50 officials to Seoul between Feb. 14 and 17, said the three apparent intruders were actually hotel guests who happened to enter the wrong

South Korea opened an annual conference of its diplomatic mission chiefs Monday, with hundreds of senior diplomats gathering in Seoul to discuss “business diplomacy” plus other topics prepared to familiarize them with the nation’s foreign policy objectives this year. Some 115 ambassadors and consuls-general will be attending the meeting running through Friday. The diplomats will be briefed on a va

President Lee Myung-bak and Honduran President Porfirio Lobo on Monday discussed how to extend bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure development during their summit talks in Seoul.The two leaders also agreed to seek ways to share South Korea’s experience in economic development and better protect South Korean citizens in Honduras, Lee’s office, Cheong Wa Dae, said. Presiden

President Lobo tells The Korea Herald of his hopes to learn from Korean development and education and to draw investment to his countryHonduran President Porfirio Lobo on Monday expressed hope to learn how Korea developed its islands in the west coast into model cities of development and trade.The Latin American country is passing an amendment to its constitution to designate a sizable piece of un

“The fact that Czech photojournalists are going to places like Sudan, Sri Lanka, Laos, North Korea, and so on says something about the interests of Czechs in far away countries.”As said by Czech Republic Ambassador Jaroslav Olsa Jr. during the opening of the Czech Press Photo exhibition in Hongdae.Czech Press Photo is an annual competition and exhibition rolled into one, presenting an independent

S. Korea issued an alert against travelling to Libya. (Yonhap News)South Korea on Sunday issued an alert against traveling to Libya, asking its nationals to defer nonessential trips to the northern African state currently engulfed in violent anti-government protests. Eastern parts of Libya have been issued with the strongest alert, while South Korean nationals are also asked to reconsider trips to