Australia will continue its surveillance flights over the disputed South China Sea and insists on unhindered access to the area’s trading routes, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews said.“We have been surveilling the area for close to thirty five years,” Andrews said on Sunday in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La security forum in Singapore. “We are doing it currently and we will continue to do it in the future.”Andrews would not be drawn on whether Australia may fly planes over reefs t

Korean President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Colombia late last month as part of her four-nation tour of South America achieved concrete results in fortifying bilateral ties, Colombian Ambassador Tito Saul Pinilla told The Korea Herald last week. Park’s visit produced five memorandums of understanding in defense, commerce, green energy, health care and education, fleshing out the strategic partnership reached in 2011. The ambassador expressed his country’s appreciation while awaiting the approval o

The parliaments of South Korea and China are pushing to issue a joint statement marking the end of World War II, a diplomatic source in Beijing said Friday.The move came as the two countries prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.The consensus on a joint statement was reached in a meeting between South Korean parliamentary speaker Chung Eui-hwa and Zhang Dejiang,

South Korea has pledged $600 million to support growth among African countries, the government said Friday.A related memorandum of understanding, signed Tuesday with the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast, calls for Seoul to provide soft loans to help various development projects.The loans from South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) will be made available until 2018."There are a large number of projects waiting for funding in Afric

Another victim of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery died of old age on Wednesday, bringing down the number of total surviving victims to 52. Lee Hyo-sun, 91, died at a hospital in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. She was one of the 238 women who had registered with the government, claiming to have been forced by Japan to serve at frontline brothels during World War II. Her death underscores the urgency of the wartime human rights issue surrounding the victims, euphemistically called “comfort wo

The Embassy of Argentina celebrated the 205th anniversary of the May Revolution of 1810, which gave birth to the Argentine Republic after three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the first generation of Korean immigration to Argentina. With the support of the Korean government, the Korean community in Argentina will host a number of events to mark the historic milestone. Argentine Ambassador Jorge Roballo congratulated ethnic Koreans in Argentina for

Finalizing the recently agreed Iranian nuclear deal will pave the way for international cooperation, security and prosperity, Iran’s top envoy to Korea stressed last week. Iranian Ambassador Hassan Taherian underscored that the nuclear deal framework, which came out of negotiations between U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China, Germany, European Union and Iran from March 26 to April 2, was “definitely a successful achievement.” However, more political consensus is required to seal the final comprehe

South Korea and Japan have agreed to expand economic and financial cooperation at a finance ministers meeting in Tokyo, the government said Saturday.The talks between Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, mark the resumption of bilateral dialogue that had been suspended since November 2012 and allowed the two neighbors to exchange views on a host of outstanding issues, the finance ministry said.The trading partners had been holding annual meetings since 2006, but fraying relati