The Korea Herald

Seoul to send medical workers to Africa to help fight Ebola

Oct 17, 2014

MILAN, Italy ― South Korea plans to send medical workers to Africa to beef up its contribution to a global fight against the Ebola virus as fears grow over more potential cases and calls rise for sweeping action in the international community. The decision was revealed late Thursday by President Park Geun-hye, who is attending the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting in Milan. The Korean government plans to send about 10 health officials, her spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters. The timeline and the des
Seoul slams Japan for seeking revision of U.N.'s comfort women report

Oct 16, 2014

South Korea expressed regret Thursday over Japan's continued denial of its coercion of Korean women into sex slavery during World War II, sternly warning the country not to gloss over its wartime history.Seoul's move came in response to Japan's request to the author of a U.N. report condemning Japan's sexual slavery to withdraw part of the content, citing Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun's retraction of an article on the issue.Radhika Coomaraswamy, a former U.N. special rapporteur on violence ag
S. Korea pushes to strike FTAs with China, Vietnam, New Zealand this year

Oct 16, 2014

South Korea said Thursday it will push to conclude free trade agreements (FTA) with China, Vietnam and New Zealand before the year's end.Negotiations for a free trade pact have been underway with each country as South Korea seeks to expand its presence overseas."In becoming one of the world's top 10 trading nations, the driving force behind our economy was exports," Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said as he presided over a government policy meeting."In order to maintain the solid stability of our
Park calls for bigger biz partnership with Italy

Oct 15, 2014

MILAN -- President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday urged businessmen and authorities from South Korea and Italy to expand bilateral cooperation, so that the two countries could together attain new global business opportunities through strengthening partnership.Highlighting Italy‘s role in leading industrial innovation and also Korea’s advanced IT technology and manufacturing capability, Park said the two nations could produce outstanding business outcomes if they work together.“If the two nations cou
Seoul flatly rejects Japan's claim to Dokdo islets

Oct 15, 2014

South Korea said Wednesday that it will not tolerate Japan's continued claim to Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo, vowing to take stern measures if Tokyo makes any attempt to undermine its territorial sovereignty.Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told lawmakers on Tuesday that Japan will stick to its claim to the islets that lie closer to South Korea than Japan in waters between the two countries.Seoul's foreign ministry said that it is "deplorable" that Japan has repeated an "absurd" cl
Travel ban extended for Japanese reporter accused of

Oct 14, 2014

South Korean prosecutors said Tuesday they have extended a travel ban on a Japanese journalist accused of defaming President Park Geun-hye by reporting false rumors about her whereabouts on the day of April's deadly ferry sinking.Tatsuya Kato, former head of the Seoul bureau of Japan's conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper, was indicted Wednesday on defamation charges for reporting that Park and an unidentified man had an alleged secret meeting on April 16, citing rumors circulated in South Kore
Seoul, Beijing share view on minimizing impact of fishing boat incident

Oct 14, 2014

South Korea and China have shared the view that they should make concerted efforts to minimize the impact of last week's fishing boat incident on bilateral relations, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.The skipper of an 80-ton Chinese fishing boat was shot dead Friday by a South Korean coast guard official in South Korean territorial waters in the Yellow Sea. The coast guard says that the captain violently resisted arrest over alleged illegal fishing.Three Chinese fishermen are in detention h
N.K. leader seen in public after 40 day absence

Oct 14, 2014

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made a field trip in his first public appearance in about 40 days, Pyongyang state media reported Tuesday, taming rampant speculation over his physical and political health.The visit to the Wisong Scientists Residential District and a new energy research institute marked his first “field guidance” since attending a musical concert on Sept. 3. The official Korean Central News Agency did not mention the date of the trip, but it was thought to have been Monday.In
Death of skipper to have limited impact on China ties

Oct 12, 2014

Concerns are growing over a possible diplomatic spat with China in the aftermath of the death of the captain of a Chinese fishing vessel during a raid by Korean Coast Guard officers on Friday. Song Houmu, the 45-year-old skipper of the 80-ton boat, died following a fight with the officers who stopped his boat for suspected illegal fishing in Korea’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the West Sea. As he violently attacked the inspectors despite the warning shots, a guardsman shot him in the stomach with
Envoy pursues ‘wine diplomacy’

Oct 12, 2014

Ambassador Nikoloz Apkhazava sees wine as central to Georgia’s national identity
Embassy invites local students to partake in video competition

Oct 12, 2014

The Irish embassy and the Irish Association of Korea launched the “Send me to Ireland” video competition for university students on Monday. This competition gives South Korean undergraduates the chance to compete for an opportunity to experience Ireland from an educational, cultural and academic perspective, according to a statement from the embassy.The competition seeks to raise awareness of the many Korean-Irish connections, and offers the winner an opportunity to study at one of Ireland’s lea
[Herald Interview] Korea, Ivory Coast talk Ebola fight

Oct 12, 2014

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara was visibly upbeat about his meet-up with President Park Geun-hye at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday, due to growing commercial links and badly needed South Korean investment in a slew of infrastructure projects underway in the West African nation.The former veteran IMF economist also emphasized the role South Korea could play in the fight against the spread of the Ebola virus thanks to its world-renowned scientific and medical prowess.Ouattara said he and Park d
Embassy hosts lecture on December parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan

Oct 12, 2014

(right) Charge d’Affaires of the Uzbek Embassy in Korea Bakhtiyor IbragimovBakhtier N. Ibragimov, charge d’affaires of the Uzbek embassy, hosted a seminar in Seoul on Tuesday on recent political reforms in the Central Asian nation and its parliamentary elections in December. Several prominent South Korean organizations and experts on Central Asia cohosted the lecture, including the Silk Road Foundation and Eom Gu-ho, a Hanyang University professor and director of its Asia-Pacific Research Center
SIWA Bazaar touted as multicultural, meaningful

Oct 12, 2014

This year’s diplomatic community bazaar will be held at 63 Convention Center on the second floor of the Samyuk Building in Yeouido in Seoul on Nov. 10, said the president of the Seoul International Women’s Association in a press statement.“This year the Bazaar will be held at a new venue: the second floor of the beautiful 63 Convention Center with everything on one floor. Conveniently located on Yeouido Island, with an ATM on-site, the Convention Center has ample parking facilities and easy publ
S. Korea, Japan agree to resume finance ministers' talks

Oct 11, 2014

South Korea and Japan agreed Friday to hold a finance ministers' meeting in Tokyo at an early date, resuming a consultation mechanism that has been stalled for nearly two years amid badly frayed relations.South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso reached the agreement during a one-on-one meeting held on the sidelines of a series of international meetings that the top economic policymakers were attending."The finance ministers of the two countries exchang