The Korea Herald

Turkey marks independence, alliance with Korea

Sept 7, 2015

The Turkish Embassy held a reception on Monday to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of victory in the country’s War of Independence, which conveyed a message of reconciliation and peace. Known as the Armed Forces Day or Victory Day, Turkish Forces under military commander Mustafa Kemal Pasha, on Aug. 30, 1922, defeated World War I Allies in Afyon in central western Anatolia, laying the new modern state’s foundation.By November that year, the new regime in Ankara superseded the Ottoman Sultanate,
Pakistani national day teems with patriotic energy

Sept 7, 2015

The Pakistani Embassy, in collaboration with the Pakistani Business Association, held an Independence Day reception in Seoul on Aug. 30, which was attended by some 900 Pakistanis. Among the guests were Pakistani Ambassador Zahid Nasrullah Khan, first Korean Ambassador to Pakistan Oh Jae-hee, Rep. Jasmine Lee of the National Assembly and Pakistani singer Sara Raza Khan, who is regarded as an “idol celebrity” back home. Sara Raza Khan, who flew from Lahore for the event, sang various national song
S. Korea, Jordan to hold summit meeting to expand economic cooperation

Sept 6, 2015

The leaders of South Korea and Jordan will meet this week to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic ties and other issues facing the global community, the presidential office said Sunday.Cheong Wa Dae said President Park Geun-hye will meet King Abdullah II of Jordan on Friday in Seoul, with the two leaders to touch on trade, investment, and the construction and energy sectors as well as expanding economic cooperation.The Middle East monarch will be in the country on Thursday and Friday. Since
Park’s drive for unification faces headwinds

Sept 6, 2015

In the wake of President Park Geun-hye’s much-hailed visit to China, Seoul is poised to speed up its groundwork for a future unification with North Korea by intensifying diplomatic efforts with key neighbors and expediting humanitarian exchanges across the border. South Korea will initiate various discussions “in the near future” on how to bring about the peninsula’s unification, Park said, adding that the issue was also the focal point of her summit with President Xi Jinping last week. “We agre
Park: S. Korea to begin discussions with China on Koreas’ unification

Sept 4, 2015

President Park Geun-hye on Friday said South Korea and China could quickly begin various discussions on how to achieve a peaceful unification between South and North Korea.“Peaceful unification is the fundamental and the quickest way to resolve nuclear and other issues,” Park said in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way back to Seoul from a trip to China, referring to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Tensions persist on the divided peninsula over the North’s pursuit of its missile and
Park says she took cue from Schroeder over labor reform

Sept 3, 2015

President Park Geun-hye said Thursday that she has taken a cue from former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over labor reform. Park made the comment to Schroeder during their encounter at a military parade in Beijing, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters after arriving in Shanghai, the second and last stop on Park's three-day trip to China. Germany's so-called Hartz reform is credited with transforming the labor market and welfare system in Germany. Park has repeatedly c
Warmer Seoul-Beijing ties send message to Pyongyang

Sept 3, 2015

When Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a massive military parade on a rostrum overlooking Beijing's iconic Tiananmen Square, South Korean President Park Geun-hye sat two seats to the right of Xi. The presence of Park at the rostrum was notable, partly because of her yellow jacket, but also because Choe Ryong-hae, a key aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who also attended the military parade, was barely visible. Choe was seen at the end of a row of other foreign officials watchin
S. Korea's chief nuclear envoy to visit U.S.

Sept 3, 2015

South Korea's chief envoy will visit Washington next week for talks on how to deal with North Korea, a government official said Thursday, apparently as part of brisk shuttle diplomacy among regional powers following President Park Geun-hye's visit to Beijing. Hwang Joon-kook, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, plans to leave for Washington "around next week" for a meeting with his American counterpart Sung Kim, the official told reporters on condition of a
Sino-U.S. rivalry a challenge for Korea’s diplomacy

Sept 3, 2015

Park’s attendance at parade raises prospect of Korea’s ‘bridging’ diplomacy, experts say
Japan, U.S. welcome trilateral summit plan

Sept 3, 2015

Japan on Thursday expressed its resolve for discussions to arrange a trilateral summit with South Korea and China, while the U.S. lauded the three countries’ efforts to mend fences in the face of steadfast historical and territorial tension. Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping announced after their meeting on Wednesday they will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Seoul in late October or early November. The event is also likely to set the stage for first-ever talks between Park
Park’s visit illustrates evolving China ties

Sept 2, 2015

The summit Wednesday between Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping demonstrated the two countries’ evolving, increasingly multifaceted ties while building momentum for Seoul’s efforts to play a more proactive role in peninsula issues and regional diplomacy. During the meeting, Xi touted the bilateral relationship has developed to its “best-ever” in terms of politics, economy, trade, people-to-people exchanges and other areas, thanks to the two leaders’ cooperation. Park, for her part, expresse
[Newsmaker] Sankei under fire again for attack on Park

Sept 1, 2015

Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun came under fire again for an online column that called President Park Geun-hye’s plan to attend China’s World War II victory event “toadyism” and likened her to a 19th-century Korean empress assassinated by Japan.President Park Geun-hye presides over a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. (Yonhap)In its Monday edition, the conservative daily carried the column accusing Korea’s diplomacy of being historically subservient to big powers -- China, Russia or
S. Korea to demand removal of Japanese column insulting Park

Sept 1, 2015

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to demand the retraction of a Japanese newspaper column that likens President Park Geun-hye to a former Korean empress slain by Japanese agents.Japanese conservative daily Sankei Shimbun carried a column on its homepage Monday critical of Park's plan to attend a massive military parade in Beijing marking China's victory over Japan in World War II.Calling Park's decision an example of "toadyism," the column said Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) had a woman of p
Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, China to hold talks ahead of Park-Xi summit

Sept 1, 2015

South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Hwang Joon-kook, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, ahead of a summit meeting between President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Upon his arrival at the Beijing airport, Hwang said the planned meeting later in the day with Wu Dawei is aimed at fine-tuning the North Korean nuclear issue. Park will hold a summit with Xi on Wednesday in Beijing, a day before she attends a military parade marking the end of World
PM, Washington Gov. discuss inter-Korean deal

Aug 31, 2015

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and visiting Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Monday discussed an inter-Korean deal struck last week. The two Koreas reached a landmark deal last week to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In the agreement, North Korea "expressed regret" over the recent injury of South Korean soldiers in the explosion of landmines laid by North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. Seoul accused Pyongyang of secretly burying the mines in