SEOUL/TOKYO -- A group of women's organizations in South and North Korea called for the revocation of the 2015 deal South Korea signed with Japan to settle the latter's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, the North's official news agency reported Monday.The Korean Central News Agency reported that the appeal was issued jointly by the Women Sub-Committee of the North Side Committee for Implementing June 15 Declaration and the Women Headquarters of the South Side Committee dedicated to the

South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed five new foreign envoys to Seoul in a meeting held at his presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, on Tuesday, the office said.The five new envoys included new Mexican Ambassador Bruno Figueroa Fischer and new Indonesia Ambassador Umar Hadi. South Korean President Moon Jae-in (C) and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (R) take a picture with Indonesia`s new ambassador to Seoul after a ceremony at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on July 18, 2017, where th

South Korea's foreign minister is pushing to meet with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of ASEAN-related conferences scheduled for early next month, officials said Tuesday.Kang Kyung-wha is to attend meetings of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be held in Manila, the Philippines, from Aug. 6-8. They include the ASEAN Regional Forum, which is known for being a rare international event annually joined by North Korea.This file photo taken on

South Korea's foreign ministry has launched an internal online "platform" where its workers can suggest diverse reform measures for its organization, a ministry official said Tuesday.The platform was launched Friday on its intranet through which the ministry will collect opinions from its employees on how to reform itself, the official told Yonhap. It will remain in place until late September with people sending opinions anonymously. The move came after the ministry formed a task force early las

One year after a failed coup attempt to topple the government, Turkey has restored social stability and economic vibrancy and is looking beyond its region to the larger Eurasian market, the country’s top envoy to Korea stressed in a media briefing.“A measure of order has returned to Turkey,” said Ambassador Arslan Hakan Okcal at the embassy in Seoul on Thursday. “Our economy has bounced back and is growing at 5 percent. People are going about their lives and businesses run as usual. Tourists hav

Iraq’s top envoy to Korea lauded the hard-won victory against the Islamic State group in Mosul last week, also expressing his appreciation for Seoul’s humanitarian assistance and diplomatic support.Mosul -- the second-largest city in Iraq -- was recaptured by the Iraqi and US-led coalition forces of 72 nations on July 10, putting an end to a 9-month military operation against IS.According to Iraqi officials, the IS, also known as Daesh, has been completely driven out of Mosul, which was the seat

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, Tomas Ojea Quintana, Monday to discuss policies on dealing with the abject human rights situation in the reclusive state. At the start of the meeting, Kang said that human rights in North Korea remains to be a "matter of great concern" to the South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in and the stance will remain in its discussion at the UN going forward.Quintana is

Marking the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, the Turkish Embassy helped organize an art exhibition featuring Turkey’s celebrated paintings and calligraphy at the Bank of Korea in Seoul. The exhibit, titled “Invisible Language,” is a collaboration of the diplomatic mission, the Central Bank of Turkey and the Bank of Korea. Works spanning two centuries were selected from the Central Bank of Turkey’s art collection by curator Ahmet Albayrak for the event, which runs through Sept.

Buoyed by nationwide reforms to raise its economic competitiveness, Indonesia is ripe for Korean business as the hub for the larger Southeast Asian market, according to the country’s industry minister. In an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald, Indonesian Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto said his country welcomes Korean investment in infrastructure, energy and manufacturing, noting the government has undertaken ambitious reforms targeting these sectors. “One of our key reforms is to

South Korea has prodded Japan to acknowledge the country's forced mobilization of Koreans at several UNESCO-listed world heritage sites in Japan, including Hashima Island, in the latest session of the United Nations body for culture and education, the foreign ministry said Thursday.In the 41st session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee held in Krakow, Poland from July 2-12, South Korea's Amb. to UNESCO Lee Byong-hyun issued a call on Japan to implement its pledge that the country made before U

South Korea's senior diplomat will depart for Europe this week to discuss closer cooperation with Sweden, Britain and the European Union, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will arrive in Sweden on the first leg of the week-long trip that will begin on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.Lim will hold policy consultations with Swedish Deputy Foreign Minister Annika Soder there on Friday to discuss collaboration on Korean Peninsula issues and other

The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it has launched a probe into an allegation that a diplomat raped a young female contract worker while working with her at its embassy in Ethiopia. The woman was assaulted Saturday after becoming intoxicated during dinner with the diplomat and driven to his home in Addis Ababa, officials said. (Yonhap)Based on preliminary fact-finding questioning, a ministry official said the diplomat invited her to the dinner to “express gratitude” for her help at work and the

South Korea's unification minister on Wednesday met with a group of company officials who ran factories at a now-shuttered industrial complex in North Korea as they called for more compensation for their losses over the closure.Cho Myoung-gyon held a meeting with 14 officials from local firms that invested in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea's border city of the same name, according to Seoul's unification ministry."Since I became the minister, what struck me first was the joint indu

President Moon Jae-in met with key political and government leaders Wednesday to explain the outcome of his recent trip to Germany, his office Cheong Wa Dae said, a move also aimed at overcoming the political dispute he now faces here.The meeting, held over lunch at the presidential office, involved the so-called five key figures next in command that include Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun and Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Kim Yi-su, who is

South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday launched a task force to spearhead organizational reforms aimed at strengthening its overall capability and efficiency.The task force is led by Oh Yeoung-ju, a special advisor to Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and comprises three divisions in charge of personnel, organization and renovation, according to the ministry.The task force will carry out an analysis of the ministry's organization and structure and collect opinions from officials and outside ex