The Korea Herald

Japan steps up Dokdo claim in schoolbooks

Apr 6, 2015

Japan on Monday approved a batch of updated middle school textbooks carrying stronger claims than before to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, in another move that could dampen efforts to mend bilateral ties. The Korean government immediately lodged a protest, calling the decision a “provocation” against its sovereignty over its indigenous territory. Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong summoned Ambassador Koro Bessho and delivered a written complaint. “The Japanese government has once again sta
Experts denounce Abe gov't for politicizing school textbooks

Apr 6, 2015

South Korean experts Monday denounced the Japanese government for politically using school textbooks as it approved texts intensifying Japan's claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. The Japanese education ministry approved 13 sorts of middle-school level textbooks containing Tokyo's claim that South Korea is illegally occupying Dokdo, three times more than the four that passed Tokyo's regular review in 2011. The move is seen here as the Abe administration's attempt to bolster its
S. Korea protests Japan's Dokdo claim

Apr 6, 2015

South Korea on Tuesday protested Japan's foreign policy report that renewed Tokyo's claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. In the 2015 Diplomatic Bluebook, released earlier in the day, the Shinzo Abe administration argued that the pair of outcroppings in the East Sea is Japanese territory based on historical facts and international law. It came a day after Japan's education ministry irked South Koreans by unveiling the results of its regular review of textbooks for middle school
Turkmen president to visit S. Korea

Apr 6, 2015

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will visit South Korea later this week for talks with President Park Geun-hye on enhancing ties in business and other areas, Park's office said Monday. The Turkmen leader is scheduled to arrive in the country Saturday and attend the opening ceremony of the 7th World Water Forum in the eastern city of Daegu the following day, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release. During the four-day state visit, the two leaders are to hold summit talks next Monday an
Lippert to return to podium

Apr 6, 2015

By Song Sang-hoU.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert has agreed to take to the podium again at a forum to be hosted by the same organization that held a seminar where he was attacked by a leftist extremist a month ago, its senior official and a source said Monday.Saenuri Party Rep. Chang Yoon-seok, who serves as chairman of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, recently met with the top U.S. envoy and requested him to give a lecture, the official said.“(Lippert) has, in pr
No immediate signs of N.K. provocations: Seoul ministry

Apr 6, 2015

North Korea is showing no signs yet of any immediate ballistic missile launch, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, amid growing concerns about the possibility of an additional provocation by the communist nation.On Friday, the North test-fired four short-range missiles presumed to be KN-02 ground-to-ship ones into the West Sea following the test-firing of a single projectile the previous day, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff. "No concrete, specific signs have been detected as I've j
S. Korean businessmen to visit Kaesong

Apr 6, 2015

A group of South Korean businessmen with factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex will visit North Korea this week, with the two Koreas locking horns over Pyongyang's move to raise wages for its workers there, a Seoul ministry said Monday.They plan to cross the border on Tuesday morning for a one-day trip to hold an emergency meeting of the operating committee for the inter-Korean economic cooperation program, according to the unification ministry's spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol.Chung Ki-sup, wh
S. Korea, China hope Japan to join volcano study in N. Korea

Apr 6, 2015

State-funded geological institutes of South Korea and China are hoping Japan will join their joint research of a dormant volcano in North Korea, a South Korean research institute said Monday, in what could be a rare bit of cooperation among the three nations on the Korean Peninsula's highest peak, Mt. Baekdu.Volcanologists from the three nations' geological institutes -- the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, the China Geological Survey and the Japan Geological Survey -- will
Seoul keeping close tabs on Japan's school textbook review

Apr 6, 2015

South Korea is closely watching Japan's plans to unveil the results of its review of textbooks for middle school students as they are expected to contain Tokyo's repeated claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, officials said Monday. Later in the day, Japan is set to make public the outcome of an examination of school textbooks that will likely include Tokyo's territorial claim to Dokdo, in what could be another source of tension between the two historical rivals. Japan has long de
S. Korea, Japan to hold series of defense, foreign officials' meetings

Apr 6, 2015

Despite their frayed relations, South Korea and Japan are expected to hold a series of defense and foreign affairs officials' meetings bilaterally or trilaterally with the United States later this month, diplomatic sources said Sunday. Deputy minister-level officials from the three countries are scheduled to hold the annual Defense Trilateral Talks in Washington where they are expected to discuss ways to increase cooperation on missile defense, information sharing and other matters. The meetin
KOICA bolsters rural development in Senegal

Apr 5, 2015

BELLY NAMARY/THIES, Senegal ― Nariel Sow, a 10-year-old resident of Belly Namary in Senegal’s northwest, had to walk around 3 kilometers several times a day to fetch water for her 14-member family due to a lack of wells in her own village.The daily routine, an obligation for girls in her rural community, posed a major hurdle for developing her knack for French and math at school. With a water tower built by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, she is now able to focus on her study, dreami
KOICA strives to empower women in Ivory Coast

Apr 5, 2015

SEGUELA/ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast ― Women chatter away in twos and threes as they lean over their bedsides at the neatly arranged patient rooms in a provincial hospital in Seguela, some 592 kilometers northwest of Abidjan. Months before, most of the 25 patients entered the clinic feeling disgraced by their disease, obstetric fistula, and the resulting cold shoulder given by their family and community. Some were deserted by their husbands, and though the illness is treatable with a brief surgery, many
Romanian exhibition illuminates communist life

Apr 5, 2015

A group of Romanian artists is displaying work that delves into life during and after communism, revealing a complex world of creativity and resistance. The “Pocket Revolutions: Romanian Contemporary Art” exhibition at the Korea Foundation Gallery from April 3-18 in Seoul celebrates the silver jubilee of relations this year and pays tribute to the communist legacies of Romania. Photographs, films, sculptures, books and paintings by eight artists reveal a complex reality of the country’s turbulen
German firms glitter at Seoul Motor Show

Apr 5, 2015

The German Association of Automotive Industry (VDA) has showcased the latest technology and opened the doors for medium-sized suppliers at a pavilion at the 2015 Seoul Motor Show.With the import of foreign cars steadily rising in Korea, German cars, known for their world-class performance, design and safety, increased sales by 28 percent in 2014 with 143,300 vehicles. Imported car sales overall increased 14 percent in 2014. One in 7 cars sold in Korea last year were imported, with German brands
Colombia, Korea boost cooperation for FTA

Apr 5, 2015

The Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism visited Korea last week to gain assistance from Korean agencies to boost the competitiveness of Colombian industries before a free trade agreement comes into effect, likely this year. Minister Cecilia Alvarez-Correa signed an offset agreement with Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea International Cooperation Agency and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which would provide technical assistance to Colombia’s automotive