The Korea Herald

Envoy assails Korean ‘Ebola panic’

Aug 24, 2014

Envoys describe Ebola panic, as Korean Air cancels direct flights to unaffected East Africa
Irish Embassy opens condolence book for ex-premier

Aug 24, 2014

Following the recent death of former Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds, the Irish Embassy here will open a book of condolences at its chancery for those wishing to extend their sympathies today (Monday) from 10:00 a.m. to noon and from 2-4 p.m. The late former premier, a position called a “taoiseach” in Ireland, made the biggest gamble of his long political career when he and former British Prime Minister John Major secured an IRA cease-fire in August 1994, 20 years ago this month. Reynolds d
Korea-ASEAN youth exchanges get boost

Aug 24, 2014

The ASEAN Korea Center promoted people-to-people ties between South Korea and Southeast Asia with a youth workshop here and trip to Vietnam for Korean youths selected from among the participants. The “ASEAN-Korea Youth Workshop” brought together 80 young people residing here from Southeast Asian and Korean students studying at universities around the country with the aim of fostering mutual understanding and friendship by creating a venue to discuss issues of common concern. The one-week worksho
Japanese map recognizing S. Korea's ownership of Dokdo unveiled

Aug 24, 2014

A map made by the Japanese government that recognizes South Korea's ownership of its easternmost islets of Dokdo was unveiled on Sunday, in a clear piece of evidence refuting Japan's repeated claim to the territory.The map indicates that Japan's continued territorial claim to the Dokdo islets is wrongfully made as the Japanese government used the map to mark its own territory when it clinched a peace treaty with Allied forces in September 1951 following its defeat in World War II.The Dokdo islet
Ex-Japanese leader lashes Abe on history

Aug 22, 2014

A former Japanese prime minister, who offered a landmark apology for the country’s wartime atrocities, lashed out at incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday for his ongoing attempts to chip away at Tokyo’s previous efforts to atone for its imperial past and move relations with neighbors forward.Tomiichi Murayama called on Abe to follow through on his promise to uphold previous apologies, which he said serve as foundations for better Seoul-Tokyo ties. Marking the 50th anniversary of the end
[Newsmaker] New envoy to Japan faces daunting task

Aug 21, 2014

Yoo Heung-soo appears to be a confident and seasoned politician. Though he has yet to grasp all the pending issues and diplomatic terminology, his hale, vigorous and poised figure defies concerns about him being Korea’s oldest-ever ambassador to Japan. The 76-year-old former lawmaker, provincial governor and national police chief is scheduled to fly to Tokyo on Sunday to take on what is currently one of Korea’s most challenging diplomatic posts. He received a letter of credence from President Pa
U.S. Treasury official discusses sanctions on N. Korea, Russia

Aug 21, 2014

A senior U.S. Treasury official on sanction affairs has met with the South Korean government in a bid to discuss an array of sanctions imposed on North Korea, Russia and Iran, government sources said Thursday.David Cohen, U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for a two-day visit as part of his tour to Asia and the Middle East.Earlier in the day, he met with Hwang Joon-kook, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy, and Lee Kyung-soo, deputy
Memories of trampled dignity haunt former sex slaves

Aug 20, 2014

Victims urge Japan to sincerely apologize
Former senior lawmaker appointed envoy to Japan

Aug 20, 2014

Yoo Heung-soo, a former lawmaker, provincial governor and national police chief with close ties to Japan, was appointed as the new ambassador to Tokyo on Wednesday. The 76-year-old head of the Korea-Japan Friendship Association will succeed Lee Byung-kee, who is now director of the National Intelligence Service. The announcement came as the two countries’ relations are at their lowest ebb in decades due to heated historical and territorial feuds. Skepticism has erupted in the diplomatic circles
[Herald Interview] Ex-U.N. rights expert urges Tokyo to resolve sex slavery dispute

Aug 20, 2014

COLOMBO ― A former top U.N. expert on women’s rights urged Japan to come up with a resolution to a decades-long dispute over its wartime sex slavery, criticizing Tokyo for moving “backwards” with its historic revisionism. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women from 1994-2003, warned that the issue of the so-called comfort women would “come back to bite” Japan if it continues attempting to whitewash its imperial past and undermine earlier apologies. “Recently,
S. Korea to offer US$1 mln in aid for Iraqi humanitarian crisis

Aug 20, 2014

South Korea's foreign ministry said Wednesday it has decided to provide an additional US$1 million in humanitarian aid to help Iraqi refugees amid escalating violence in the country.The humanitarian crisis has heightened in northern Iraq since Sunni Muslim insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized Iraq's second-biggest city of Mosul in June.The United States began to carry out air strikes on the Islamic extremist group on Aug. 8.Seoul's foreign ministry said it has d
[Herald Interview] KOICA seeks balanced, sustainable aid

Aug 18, 2014

Korea’s 2010 enrollment in the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee was a milestone in the history of its economic growth, epitomizing its unprecedented ascent from a war-stricken backwater to an aid donor. The country has since been scaling up its aid commitments and personnel to help the developing world fight poverty, disease, climate change and other grave challenges. Last year, it doled out more than $1.74 billion in official development assistance as the world’s 16th-largest patron.At t
S. Korea forms task force on historical issues with Japan

Aug 18, 2014

South Korea's foreign ministry has set up a task force to mainly deal with Seoul's shared history with Japan such as Tokyo's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, officials said Monday.The ministry said the three-member task force under the Northeast Asian affairs bureau is charged with dealing with Japan's moves to gloss over its wartime atrocities.The move comes as bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been strained to their lowest point in recent years due to Japan's stance o
‘Comfort women’: Living, harrowing mark on history

Aug 17, 2014

Following is the first 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 Aug. 14, 1991, a feeble yet upright old woman stepped forward for a historic news conference in Seoul. In front of a crowd of reporters and a flood of flashlights, she surprised the world by declaring that she was a sex slave for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. “Why do they (the Japane
Seoul to add consular affairs division for overseas Koreans

Aug 17, 2014

The Foreign Ministry will create one more consular affairs division to better protect South Koreans living overseas, a ministry official said Sunday.The new division will complement the current single consular affairs division at the Foreign Ministry, the official said. The launch of the new division will be included in the home affairs ministry’s government reorganization plan to be announced in the near future, he said.The Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Bureau is currently in charge of