The Korea Herald

[News Focus] U.S. struggles to shore up Asia rebalance policy

Apr 13, 2015

Seoul pressured to enhance trilateral security cooperation with U.S., Japan
S. Korean embassy in Libya attacked

Apr 12, 2015

A group of armed gunmen attacked the South Korean embassy in Tripoli on Sunday, killing two Libyan guards and injuring another officer, Foreign Ministry officials said. The incident took place at around 1:20 a.m. Libyan time when the assailants fired some 40 shots from a machine gun as they drove by the embassy, an official said. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility about two hours later on Twitter, saying it had “removed” two guards at the facility. The three officers who wer
Sustainability key to post-2015 development era

Apr 12, 2015

With negotiations kicking into high gear for a new development agenda, sustainability and monitoring remain at the center stage to enhance the implementation of upcoming measures and the effectiveness of assistance, senior diplomats said. In an interview with The Korea Herald, three senior officials engaged in the U.N.-led process explored the significance of the new framework, which will be hammered out at a summit in September to fight poverty and achieve more environmentally friendly growth f
Hallyu to continue riding globalization wave

Apr 12, 2015

The Korean Wave, or hallyu, will continue riding the wave of globalization to export the Korea brand worldwide, a prominent producer speculated, while recommending Koreans find happiness through culture. Artistic director and former actor Song Seung-whan, who produced the nonverbal musical hit “Nanta,” said Korea’s assimilation of U.S. popular culture gave it a global identity and marketability. “Through American movies, music and fashion, we were endowed, fortuitously, a universal appeal in our
Nigeria to host world banking conference

Apr 12, 2015

International delegates at the 21st World Conference of Banking Institutes in Seoul unanimously voted last week that Nigeria would host the next conference in Lagos in 2017. The WCBI is a biennial event established in 1975 to foster the education and training of financial services personnel around the world. Over 50 personnel from 25 countries and 35 financial institutes along with 70 Korean workers participated in the event at the Westin Chosun hotel in Seoul under the theme “financial innovati
Mongolia marks silver jubilee with fashion

Apr 12, 2015

Towering models clad in Mongolian dresses strut the catwalk, glowing from the rays of neon light. The audience watches on in fascination, with both their eyes and cameras zooming in on the scene. The venue was both a fashion show and diplomatic reception marking the silver jubilee of ties between Mongolia and Korea.“I have never seen anything like this for the last two years as an ambassador. It was extraordinary,” Azerbaijani Ambassador Ramzi Teymurov said at the event at Lotte Hotel in Seoul o
Kyrgyzstan marks progress after revolution

Apr 12, 2015

Kyrgyzstan is putting behind a decade of conflict and moving forward as a democratic nation, Kyrgyz Ambassador Duishenkul Chotonov said in commemorating the April and Tulip Revolutions. The April Revolution in 2010 ousted former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and established a new constitution and parliament as the first Central Asian country. Bakiyev replaced his predecessor Askar Akayev in a landslide election victory in 2005 after the Tulip Revolution.“Since 2010, our country embarked on a path
Park likely won't attend Russia's war victory event

Apr 11, 2015

South Korea plans to send a special envoy to Russia for Moscow's war victory anniversary next month, the foreign ministry here said Saturday, indicating the Seoul president likely will not attend the event expected to bring the North Korean leader.Russia has sent invitations to South Korean President Park Geun-hye and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as well as other leaders, for its May ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, and Pyongyang
Park to tour S. American nations this month

Apr 10, 2015

President Park Geun-hye will tour Brazil and three other South American countries later this month to bolster South Korea's partnership with the region, the presidential office said Friday.Park will fly to Colombia on April 16 and then to Peru, Chile and Brazil before returning home on April 27, Ju Chul-ki, senior presidential secretary for diplomatic affairs, told reporters."The president plans to hold summit meetings with the heads of each state to discuss mutual interests, including ways to b
S. Korea, Turkmenistan agree to boost private economic ties

Apr 10, 2015

South Korea and Turkmenistan agreed Friday to expand economic ties in the private sector by setting up a special committee on new areas of cooperation, the government said.The agreement, reached at the fifth bilateral cooperation meeting in Seoul, calls for the committee made up of both government and private sector representatives to meet and pin point future areas of business interest, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.No date has been given on when the first meeting of t
S. Korea, Japan to hold security talks next week

Apr 10, 2015

South Korea and Japan will hold their first high-level security talks in more than five years next week, the foreign ministry here said Friday, amid renewed tension over historical and territorial issues.The so-called 2+2 talks, involving two senior foreign affairs and defense officials from each side, will be held in Seoul on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement. They will be led by Lee Sang-deok, director of Northeast Asian affairs at the foreign ministry, and his Japanese counterpart, Ju
U.S.-Japan defense pact likely to address Seoul's demand over collective self-defense

Apr 10, 2015

A U.S.-Japan defense pact in the final stage of negotiations is likely to address South Korea's demand that Tokyo should win Seoul's consent before exercising its collective self-defense right in contingencies around the Korean Peninsula, sources said Thursday.The United States and Japan have negotiated to revise the 1997 Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation to reflect changes in regional and global security situations. The negotiations are in the final stage with a view to conclude the
S. Korea, China hold ceremony on people-to-people ties

Apr 9, 2015

BEIJING--South Korea and China held a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday as the number of the two nations visitors to each others' country surpassed 10 million people last year. The number of Chinese visitors to South Korea soared 46 percent from a year ago to 6.33 million people last year, while the number of South Korean visitors to China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau, grew 3.6 percent to 4.1 million, according to the South Korean Embassy. The surge was fueled by a growing popularity of Ko
Prime minister warns Japan against historical distortions

Apr 9, 2015

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo on Thursday urged Japan not to distort facts related to the history between the two countries, days after Tokyo stepped up its territorial claims to the easternmost islets of Dokdo.“(Japan) must refrain from distorting historical facts based on things that are simply not true ... History will sternly judge such attempts to cover up the truth,” Lee said in a meeting with reporters at the Seoul Government Complex in central Seoul.Lee specifically criticized Japan’s so-ca
S. Korean minister to seek formal dialogue channel with N. Korea

Apr 9, 2015

South Korea's point man on North Korea vowed Thursday to make more efforts to open an official dialogue channel between the sides. Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo made the remark as inter-Korean ties have been strained over various issues, including Pyongyang's decision to raise wages for North Korean workers hired by South Korean businesses at a joint industrial complex. Seoul has proposed government-level talks to settle the issue, but Pyongyang has spurned the offer, insisting on its sov