South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for the United States on Monday for negotiations with his U.S. counterpart on ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.Hwang Joon-kook, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, is scheduled to meet Glyn Davies, the U.S. envoy on North Korean policy, according to the foreign ministry. The trip comes only about three months after he last visited Washington to meet Davies

Korea, China and Japan have agreed to restart their three-way high-level dialogue in nearly one year in efforts to mend relations eroded by territorial and historical brawls, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday.The one-day event is slated for Sept. 11 in Seoul, bringing together Lee Kyung-soo, Seoul’s deputy minister for political affairs; Liu Zhenmin, Beijing’s vice foreign minister; and Shinsuke Sugiyama, Tokyo’s deputy minister. It will be the first deputy minister-level gathering since last

The following is the sixth in a series of articles on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the foundation of The Korea Herald on Aug. 15. ― Ed.On Wednesday around noon, some 100 activists, students and other citizens crowded outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, braving the wet weather and sudden drop in temperature. Their age, gender and political inclination may have varied, but they had one common cause: to urge Tokyo to atone and compe

Some 500 top policymakers, academics and relief workers from around the world stressed the significance of good governance in achieving sustainable economic growth and social integration during a conference in Seoul on Tuesday. While definitions of good governance may differ, they picked transparency and credibility as key elements, calling for governments in both advanced and emerging countries to step up efforts to improve these areas. The one-day annual event was hosted by the Korea Internati

The following is the fifth in a series of articles on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the foundation of The Korea Herald on Aug. 15. ― Ed.From apologizing for its wartime sexual slavery to setting up a civilian atonement fund, Japan has sought to relieve itself of moral responsibilities for the atrocities. But these efforts have backfired as it has shirked its legal responsibilities for the human rights violations. Since the early 1990

The diplomatic community here ― including about a dozen foreign ambassadors, many diplomatic spouses and a coterie of visiting foreign artists ― crowded into the Chosun Ilbo Art Museum in downtown Seoul on Wednesday for the opening reception of the 22nd Seoul International Arts Festival.Organized by the World Culture Artists Association, the festival exhibited works from nearly every region of the world. Many foreign diplomatic missions here arranged for artists from their countries to participa

For the Ukrainian Embassy, this year’s Independence Day could be its most meaningful ever.As Ukrainian national soldiers marched on parade in Kiev’s Independence Square, pro-Russian separatists have marched dozens of captured government troops through the city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.Embassy officials, Ukrainian expatriates and friends of Ukraine celebrated the country’s Independence Day with a special service at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Seoul and a procession from City Hall to Gye

The Ecuadorean Embassy is running an exhibition of work by the artist Hernan Illescas, titled “Symbols of Dreams.” The chancery organized a number of events in August celebrating Ecuador’s independence, with its national day being Aug. 10. “On Aug. 10 Ecuador made a call not only to all the villages in the royal audience of Quito but also to all of the other villages in Latin America for independence,” said Jorge Alberto Icaza Gustinez, consul general and deputy head of mission and consular affa

In a show of just how far bilateral ties have come in recent years, the Indian Embassy here hosted its biggest-ever business symposium in Seoul on Friday.Hundreds of executives, government officials, consultants and media representatives came out for the “India: New future in infrastructure and manufacturing” symposium to learn how to increase commercial and trade ties between South Korea and the third-largest economy in Asia and most populous democracy in the world. Anil Wadhwa, vice minister f