The Korea Herald

Korea plans to provide development aid to Cuba

Feb 11, 2015

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to provide Cuba with $3 million (3.3 billion won) in development funds to help boost food productivity and combat poverty in the Central American nation. The policy comes in apparent efforts to improve relations with Cuba following a recent breakthrough in the nation’s Cold War standoff with the U.S.Seoul’s Foreign Ministry clinched an agreement with the World Food Program for the three-year project on the sidelines of the agency’s executive board meeting in R
Police seek man who raped Japanese student in northern India

Feb 9, 2015

JAIPUR, India (AP) -- Police were searching Monday for a man who raped a Japanese student sightseeing in northern India, while elsewhere they announced the arrest of eight men suspected of brutally raping and killing a Nepalese woman, as authorities continue to struggle with a spate of attacks on women. The 20-year-old student attacked Sunday is the second Japanese woman raped in India in recent months. The man had met her in Jaipur and offered to act as her tour guide, according to police inspe
Families of Australians on Indonesia death row in emotional appeal

Feb 9, 2015

JAKARTA (AFP) -- The mothers of two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia tearfully begged authorities on Monday to "spare our sons' lives", as their lawyer revealed plans for a last-gasp legal bid. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" drug smuggling gang, were arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year after being caught trying to traffick heroin out of Indonesia.They lost a legal bid last week to have their cases reviewed, eff
SNU says seeking more victims of sexual abuse

Feb 9, 2015

Seoul National University has decided to interview all female students of a male professor at the department of business administration, who is suspected of sexually harassing several women.All female students who took the professor’s classes over the past year will be interviewed, according to the school’s human rights center on Monday. The center said its probe is aimed at finding more victims or securing witness testimony from the students, though the professor has denied the allegations. SNU
THAAD targets N.K., no decision yet on deployment: U.S. official

Feb 9, 2015

Washington’s advanced missile defense asset is designed to stave off persistent threats from North Korea, though no decision has been made on its possible deployment to the peninsula, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Monday. The U.S. has displayed its desire to install here the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, a key part of its missile defense scheme, to better counter North Korean threats. This poses a pressing dilemma for Seoul due to China’s opposition that the system appe
Park, Obama to hold summit in U.S.

Feb 8, 2015

President Park Geun-hye is expected to visit Washington this year for a summit with her counterpart Barack Obama as the allies ramp up diplomatic efforts to better counter North Korea’s threats and coordinate related policies. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks on the margins of a security conference in Munich on Saturday to discuss Park’s envisioned trip and review the situation around the peninsula, the region and the globe.Obama’s national security
ASEAN, Korea anticipate eventful 2015

Feb 8, 2015

The ASEAN-Korea Center held its annual council meeting last week to take stock of last year’s progress and discuss this year’s budget and plans. The meeting, the seventh in running, was attended by 11 directors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Korea that make up the highest decision-making body of the center. The council directors reviewed last year’s programs leading up to the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit held in Busan last December. The summit celebrated 25 years of bila
Philippines embassy awards Korean vice admiral

Feb 8, 2015

The Philippines embassy awarded Korea’s high-ranking naval officer for his contribution to disaster relief efforts in the central Philippines in late 2013. Vice Admiral Koo Ok-hyoe, superintendent of the Republic of Korea Naval Academy, received the Chief of Staff Commendation Medal and Ribbon ― the highest distinction awarded by the Philippines military ― at a ceremony at the embassy on Jan. 29. “A true friend is someone who helps a friend in need,” said Philippines Ambassador to Korea Raul S.
‘China’s Dream’ to keep N.K. threats at bay

Feb 8, 2015

China’s quest to become a powerful nation will lever against North Korea’s military provocations and promote multilateral cooperation toward unification, an expert said in an interview with The Korea Herald last week. Professor Lee Hee-ok, who teaches Chinese politics and China-Korea relations at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, said that “China’s Dream” touted by President Xi Jinping will keep Pyongyang’s provocations in check as they directly challenge China’s regional security. “Xi has calle
[Weekender] Abe shamed by attempt to whitewash atrocities

Feb 6, 2015

International criticism is escalating over Tokyo’s apparent attempts to whitewash its wartime wrongdoings as a group of U.S. historians issued a strong protest against the moves, arguing no government has the right to “censor history.”In a joint statement, a group of 19 American scholars decried Tokyo’s recent request for a U.S. publisher to change the description of the issue of the “comfort women” ― a euphemistic term referring to Asians forced into sexual servitude by Japan during World War I
Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo seek to hold FM meeting in late March

Feb 6, 2015

South Korea, China and Japan are seeking to hold a meeting of their foreign ministers in Seoul late March in a bid to revive momentum for trilateral cooperation, officials said Friday. The three countries have pushed to hold the ministerial talks to pave the way for the resumption of a high-level trilateral summit that has been on hold since mid-2012 amid rows over historical issues. Seoul's foreign ministry said the three nations have settled on holding a foreign ministers' meeting around lat
S. Korea signals flexibility on N.K. sanctions

Feb 6, 2015

South Korea is prepared to roll back a set of sanctions on North Korea if conditions are met through dialogue, a top official here said Friday. Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said he government has already completed a relevant "study." "Once talks are held between the South and the North, I believe it can serve as a chance for lifting the May 24th Measure," he said at a forum in Seoul. His remarks indicated the Park Geun-hye administration's flexibility on the sanctions imposed by the pre
China warns S. Korea against deploying U.S. missile defense

Feb 5, 2015

China warned Thursday that the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea could undermine the "overall interest of bilateral relations" between Seoul and Beijing, underscoring a long-standing rift between the neighbors despite their growing warmth on bilateral ties. The warning by China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei came a day after China's defense minister Chang Wanquan held talks with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo in Seoul on Wednesday, d
Yun departs for Germany for foreign ministers' meetings

Feb 5, 2015

The South Korean foreign minister departed for Germany Thursday to meet with the German foreign minister on ways to step up cooperation over the North Korean nuclear issue and Seoul's push for unification. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier are scheduled to meet on Friday in Berlin before holding a joint press conference in the afternoon, the foreign ministry said. The ministers' plan to discuss how to strengthen their collaboration over the North
Seoul, Washington FMs to hold talks in Germany this week

Feb 4, 2015

South Korea's foreign minister plans to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart in Germany this weekend to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other bilateral issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which kicks off Friday for three days, the ministry said.Yun will fly to Germany on Thursday for a four-day stay, which includes a planned