South Korean President Park Geun-hye has tapped a former four-term lawmaker with close ties to Japan as her new top envoy to Tokyo, officials said Tuesday.Yoo Heung-soo, the head of the Korea-Japan Friendship Association, was chosen for his wide network of personal relationships with members of the Japanese government and public, which is expected to help mend frayed ties between Seoul and Tokyo, the officials said.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as Yoo's appointment is subject to

The French Embassy celebrated Bastille Day in Seoul on Monday with a slew of French and South Korean businesses, while reflecting on its growing diplomatic and cultural relations with Korea. The reception was an occasion to showcase many French companies doing business here, such as Pierre and Busan-based Renault Samsung Motors, and South Korean companies that proffer French-like themed businesses, such as SPC Group’s Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette.French Ambassador to South Korea Jerome Pas

With over 1 million South Koreans visiting Thailand last year, Korean-fluent tourism professionals are needed there more than ever. So, the ASEAN-Korea Center organized a nine-week Korean language training program in Thailand and Laos for tourism and hospitality industry personnel to take place in July and August.The program provides lectures on basic-level Korean reading, writing, listening and speaking to participants from the Thai and Laotian tourism and hospitality industries. The lectures h

South Korea said Friday it will resume high-level talks with Japan next week to discuss the Japanese army's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II following a hiatus in June.Lee Sang-deok, director general of the Northeast Asian affairs bureau of the foreign ministry, will meet with his Japanese counterpart, Junichi Ihara, on Wednesday in Seoul in their third round of talks to discuss what is commonly called the "comfort women" issue, according to the foreign ministry.Seoul and T

South Korea and China have made a small but clear breakthrough in the latest round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), reaching an agreement on how they will pursue liberalization of their service and investment markets, the South Korean government said Friday."Regarding the service and investment sectors, (the twocountries) reached an agreement in principle on the way of market liberalization that had been one of the largest remaining issues,"the Ministry of Trade, Indus

A U.N. panel has ratcheted up pressure on Japan to resolve the issue of its wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women and criticized its recent attempt to undermine past apologies, Seoul officials said Thursday. The U.N. Human Rights Committee consisting of 18 independent experts from around the world held a two-day deliberation on a report monitoring Japan’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Geneva until Wednesday.During the session, the panel called

South Korea and the United States are likely to seek to promote "strategic cooperation" in civilian nuclear energy areas as they are discussing renewing a bilateral nuclear energy pact, sources said Thursday.South Korea and the U.S. have been in talks on the renewal of the 1974 accord over Seoul's civil nuclear energy use, also known as the "123 Agreement," which bans Seoul from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel on proliferation concerns.South Korea has been seeking to revise

Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva will visit Seoul this week for summit talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on expanding bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and other areas, Park's office said Wednesday.The Portuguese leader will visit Seoul for three days starting on Saturday at Park's invitation, according to the office."President Cavaco Silva's official visit will be an opportunity to build on the trust and bonds between the two countries' leaders and serve as an opp

South Korea on Tuesday lambasted five Japanese ministers for paying homage recently to the Yasukuni Shrine, calling it a pointed challenge to neighboring nations that suffered from Japan’s militarism.The Japanese cabinet members, including Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, on Sunday dedicated paper lanterns to the war shrine in Tokyo during the annual Mitama festival. The controversial shrine honors a number of class-A war criminals from World War II.“The international community voiced critici