Kazakhstan’s national holiday ― the Day of Unity of Kazakh People ― celebrates diverse nationalities and ethnicities that peacefully coexist in Kazakhstan. The country has more than 130 ethnic groups and nationalities ― Kazakh, Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Tatar, Uyghur, German, Azeri and Belarusian ― including some 100,000 third- and fourth-generation ethnic Koreans who were deported to Central Asia from Soviet Union in the 1930s. They did not relocate based on their own will, but were driven by

In 1989, witnessing the fall of the Iron Curtain, U.S. political scientist Francis Fukuyama declared that history had ended, with Western liberal democracy representing the final form of government and mankind’s ideological evolution. The next 25 years proved to be more complicated than he anticipated: a plethora of regimes and ideologies have swept across the globe toward authoritarianism, away from his optimistic outlook. The pioneering thinker at Stanford University said he still resolutely s

It was sad to see U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe in Washington last week sashaying into a banquet wearing tuxedoes, alongside gracefully dressed first ladies. It was almost like a kid watching his best friend enter a party with the school bully.As melodramatic as it sounds, the resentment that prevailed South Korea during the eight-day-long Abe visit to the U.S. was very real.It was not about feeling left out. It was more about feeling let down, but not because the U

Japan said Monday it has secured a UNESCO advisory panel’s endorsement for the listing of major wartime industrial facilities as World Heritage sites, posing a threat to Seoul’s efforts to keep the move at bay amid unabated historical spats. The International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS, has recommended the registration of 23 sites of “Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution,” built in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. They were credited with contributing to Japan’s rapid industri

President Park Geun-hye on Monday said that Japan failed to “face up to history,” with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe coming under international fire for not apologizing to Korean women who suffered from sexual enslavement by the Japanese military during the World War II.“Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been under fire in the United States over his remarks on historic disputes,” Park said. “He lost a chance to build trust with neighboring countries by apologizing on their shared histo

Though the recent revision to an atomic energy pact with the U.S. allows South Korea’s study of pyroprocessing, the nascent technology will likely increase electricity costs while failing to reduce the stockpile of spent fuel here, a leading nuclear scientist has said. Under the amendment, Seoul secured Washington’s consent to carry out electroreduction, the first stage of pyroprocessing, which Korean experts have touted as a possible solution to deal with its mountain of used fuel rods. The tec

The Dominican Republic is a tourist paradise to those itching to escape an uptight life and heal their body and soul.The nation of tropical islands in the Caribbean Sea has 1,600 kilometers of coastlines and 400 kilometers of picturesque beaches. It also has a treasure trove of ecological attractions: national parks, mountain ranges, green fairways, waterfalls and rivers.Over five centuries of Caribbean, Latin American and African heritage have produced a melting pot of cultures, best represente

Classical music buffs in Korea had a rare opportunity to listen to a world-class performance by a Costa Rican pianist on Wednesday. Pianist Manuel Obregon, former Costa Rican culture and youth minister (2010-14), played his compositions as well as those of his countrymen ― Cesar Alceo, Ulpiano Duarte, Ray Tico and Justo Santos. The performance, at a traditional Korean house in Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul, took place with the backdrop of the sunset. The combination of a unique stage, music and

Up-and-coming Indonesian artist Christine Tjoe is showcasing religion-motivated works in Korea. Tjoe has been carving out an international presence with her intense colors and brushstrokes, with nearly 100 exhibitions in Asia since debuting in 1999. The exhibition, “Perfect Imperfection,” at the SongEun Art Space gallery in Seoul from April 28-June 20, displays some 50 paintings, sculptures and installation art pieces. Tjoe has used diverse methods, such as acrylic, oil painting, etching, sculpt