The Korea Herald

S. Korea, Japan to hold talks over UNESCO row

May 21, 2015

South Korea and Japan will hold talks this week to resolve a row over Japan's attempt to win world heritage status for industrial facilities linked to wartime Korean slave labor, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Choi Jong-moon, South Korean ambassador for cultural and UNESCO affairs, will meet with Jun Shimmi, director-general for cultural affairs at Japan's foreign ministry, in Tokyo on Friday, along with relevant diplomatic and culture officials from both sides, the ministry said in a pres
S. Korea, Australia to discuss N. Korea, regional security

May 21, 2015

South Korea and Australia will hold foreign ministerial talks Thursday to discuss North Korea and broader regional security issues, officials said. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for a three-day stay. She plans to meet with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se for their eighth round of bilateral talks, according to a Foreign Ministry official here. "They will focus consultations on the North Korean issue and security affairs in the Asia-Pacific region," he sai
Park voices against Japan's world heritage bid

May 21, 2015

President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday condemned Japan's bid to list its wartime industrial facilities as world heritage sites, saying the move creates conflict between it and the nations that suffered under Japanese colonial rule. Park made the remark in a meeting with UNESCO chief Irina Bokova as Japan was campaigning to win UNESCO world heritage status for several industrial facilities where Koreans were taken to toil away as slaves during World War II. "Japan ignoring the history of forced
[Herald Interview] Educating girls ‘way to end poverty’

May 20, 2015

U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka does not mince words when she talks about the education of young girls. “It is the right thing to do,” she said emphatically during an interview with The Korea Herald at a hotel in southern Seoul on Monday. Mlbambo-Ngcuka is in Korea to attend the World Education Forum 2015 being held in Incheon May 19-22.For the developing and underdeveloped countries around the world, investing in women brings about fundamental changes in society, Mlbambo-Ng
[Herald Interview] ‘Korea-Japan-U.S. ties no zero-sum game’

May 20, 2015

Despite the strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo and other challenges, the South Korea-U.S. alliance is “more resilient, deeper and broader than ever,” former U.S. ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens said. Concerns persist over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive for a “normal state” and ongoing attempts to undercut the country’s imperial past and previous apologies for wartime atrocities such as its sexual enslavement of Korean women on frontline brothels.This has created tension as S
CICI members revel in patchwork, traditional Korean cookies

May 20, 2015

Members of Korea’s diplomatic community had an opportunity to participate in various Korean traditional experiences this month, including a baking class for traditional Korean cookies in Pocheon City, northeast of Seoul.The cooking event, held on May 9, was part of the Korea CQ Forum organized by the Corea Image Communications Institute and held at the Hangwa Culture Museum in Pocheon. Cultural attache of the Swiss Embassy Doris Walchli Giraud, the husband of Irish Ambassador Peter Bullen, the p
N. Korea slams South over wage row at Gaeseong complex

May 20, 2015

North Korea rebuked South Korea on Wednesday for refusing to raise wages for North Korean workers at their joint industrial park, claiming that the North has a legal right to decide the issue. The North's criticism came as it rescinded its approval of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's planned visit to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex this week. Many expected the U.N. chief's trip to help resolve stand-offs between the two Koreas, including the wage row at the complex, where about 53,000 Nort
Missile defense dispute reignited

May 19, 2015

Controversy over Washington’s alleged push to station an advanced U.S. missile defense unit on the peninsula was reignited when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry raised the issue for the first time during his trip to Seoul. At a meeting with U.S. troops and Foreign Service officers late Monday, the top diplomat cited North Korea’s ongoing creation of a nuclear arsenal and other “extraordinarily provocative activities” to stress the significance of the deployment of ships, forces and other asset
‘Eurasia Express’ to link Korea, Europe

May 19, 2015

South Korea on Tuesday unveiled plans to introduce a special express train this summer linking Asia and Europe as part of its efforts to boost economic and sociocultural cooperation between the two continents. Under the slogan, “One Dream, One Eurasia,” some 250 people from the political, economic, academic and cultural circles and ordinary citizens will gather in Seoul on July 14 before flying to Vladivostok and Beijing for a 20-day journey. In Vladivostok, about 200 of them will take the main
Jeju Forum to discuss path to Asian trust

May 19, 2015

A three-day international conference on a wide range of regional and global issues including security, education and environment will begin on Jejudo Island on Wednesday, its organizers said.Under the main theme of “Towards a New Asia of Trust and Harmony,” the 10th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity is expected to bring together some 4,000 experts, government officials and politicians from some 50 countries.Among the participants are former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, former Indones
[Herald Interview] ‘Abe unlikely to apologize in August speech’

May 19, 2015

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unlikely to make any apology for his country’s wartime atrocities in a much-anticipated speech to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in August, a Japanese expert said.Yoshihide Soeya, political science professor at Keio University, said that based on Abe’s personal belief that Tokyo’s past apologies were “excessive,” he may refuse to accept Seoul’s repeated calls to express its sincere contrition.“I think if you expect that, you will be dis
[Herald Interview] ‘U.S. may not need Japan’s consent to deploy forces to Korea’

May 19, 2015

The U.S. may not need Japan’s consent to deploy its forces from Japan to the Korean Peninsula in case of a contingency, a Japanese scholar said, noting that Washington has never sought Tokyo’s agreement for a troop dispatch overseas.The issue emerged as another source of diplomatic friction after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last July that Washington is required to secure “Tokyo’s understanding” should it want to send its marines to handle a peninsular crisis.Speculation has since bee
S. Korea urges close talks with U.S., Japan over defense guidelines

May 19, 2015

South Korea urged the United States and Japan on Tuesday to continue close consultations with it as they implement their new defense guidelines. In April, Washington and Tokyo announced they had upgraded their 1978 defense cooperation guidelines, which allows Japan to play a greater military role aboard. It came amid concerns over Japan's possible amendment of its pacifist Constitution and a regional arms race. "I think the U.S. and Japan need to continue close consultations with our governmen
S. Korea to bring N. Korea to U.N. sanctions panel for SLBM

May 19, 2015

South Korea plans to refer North Korea to a U.N. sanctions committee for its recent test-launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, a diplomatic source here said Tuesday. The government will soon send a letter to the North Korea Sanctions Committee established under the U.N. Security Council after the communist nation's nuclear test in 2006, according to the source. The committee submits a report to the council every three months. It would represent the beginning of a formal process to
USFK chief calls for stronger Seoul-Washington alliance against N.K. threats

May 19, 2015

The chief of United States Forces Korea vowed Tuesday to boost Washington's alliance with South Korea to deter evolving security challenges from North Korea's asymmetric capabilities. "In recent years, the North Korean threat has changed and it will continue to change, highlighted by its claimed SLBM development," Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said during the Far East Forum in Seoul hosted by the Far East Broadcasting Co. Earlier this month, the North said it held a successful test-firing of a subm