The Korea Herald

Envoys post blog on Irish president’s historic U.K. visit

Apr 13, 2014

To celebrate a diplomatic achievement realized by their respective countries, the ambassadors of Britain and Ireland did something special: They shared blogging duties.After all, what better way, in the age of Twitter and Facebook, to celebrate the historic visit of Irish President Michael D. Higgins to the U.K., the first ever by an Irish president?Irish Ambassador to South Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue and British Ambassador to South Korea Scott Wightman posted a joint blog on the historic visit, w
Korea, Japan to hold talks on sex slavery Wednesday

Apr 13, 2014

Seoul and Tokyo plan to hold director general-level talks on Wednesday on the long-festering issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, the Foreign Ministry here said Sunday. The consultations will mark an attempt by the two sides, with pressure from Washington, to mend fences eroded by a series of revisionist moves by Japanese officials and politicians ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s planned visit next week. The upcoming meeting, the first of its kind since
Seoul criticizes Japanese minister‘s visit to Yasukuni shrine

Apr 13, 2014

　South Korea criticized Japan’s internal affairs minister Saturday for visiting a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, calling it a “retrograde” action. 　Japan‘s minister for internal affairs, Yoshitaka Shindo, paid his respect at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during a local memorial ceremony there earlier in the day.　Hours later, the South Korean foreign ministry issued a statement denouncing the visit.　“The international community is jointly voicing criticism and worries about Japanese politician
S. Korea, Japan to hold talks on wartime sex slavery

Apr 13, 2014

South Korea and Japan are likely to hold director general-level talks in Seoul next week to discuss the issue of Japan‘s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, Seoul government sources said Saturday.　South Korea and Japan have been trying to set up a director-level meeting to try to resolve a series of pending issues arising from their shared history. Seoul reportedly wants the meeting, if held, to focus on the so-called “comfort women” issue while Japan insists that the topic should includ
India offers visa on arrival for S. Korean tourists

Apr 10, 2014

India will offer visa-on-arrival (VOA) to South Korean tourists at its major airports for their convenience starting from next week, its embassy in Seoul said Thursday.The decision was made during South Korean President Park Geun-hye's state visit to India in January to improve ties between the two nations, the Indian embassy said. Korean visitors will be able to apply for a single entry tourist visa available for one month on arrival at eight airports for a fee of US$60 or the equivalent amount
Korea’s overseas aid increases 9.2% in 2013

Apr 9, 2014

Korea doled out more than $1.74 billion in official development assistance in 2013, up about 9.2 percent from a year before, as the world’s 16th largest donor country, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said Wednesday. Seoul spent $1.3 billion in bilateral aid, consisting of $800 million in grants and $500 million in low-interest loans, and $450 million in multilateral projects run by international organizations. Despite the increase, the sum represents a paltry 0.13 percent of gross national inco
Korea appoints 20 new ambassadors

Apr 9, 2014

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday appointed new ambassadors to 20 countries including Spain, Indonesia, Austria, Denmark and Poland. Park Hee-kwon, ambassador to Peru and former deputy representative at the mission to the U.N., was named for Spain, while spokesman Cho Tai-young will be stationed in Indonesia. Song Young-wan, consul-general in Seattle who has expertise in disarmament and multilateral affairs, was picked as ambassador to Austria, home to the International Atomic Energy Agency and
Japan adds foreign ministry Web page to step up Dokdo claim

Apr 8, 2014

Japan added a new Web page on the foreign ministry's official website to step up its sovereignty claim to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo, according to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.The new page was added to the ministry's website last Friday under the front-page tab titled "Japanese Territory," according to the embassy and the English-language version of the website.The new Web page is a compilation of previous ministry Web pages focused on Japan's territorial conflicts
Matching Korean investors to developing-world needs

Apr 6, 2014

UNIDO Seoul gears up for first pilot project in Mozambique on biogas power plant
Swedish ambassador hosts novelist Lee Kiho

Apr 6, 2014

Swedish Ambassador to South Korea Lars Danielsson hosted the 34th session of the Seoul Literary Society, which featured novelist Lee Ki-ho, at the ambassador’s home in the Seongbuk-dong neighborhood of Seoul on Thursday.Lee, who debuted with a short story in 1999, has been described as inventive for both his narrative form and his iconoclastic characters. One character is a small-time pimp who dropped out of high school after assaulting a teacher. Another is a third-rate actor addicted to sniffi
Ambassadors’ spouses join Garden Club flower show

Apr 6, 2014

The Garden Club of Seoul, a perennial institution of the diplomatic community here, held an exhibition of flower arrangements at Raemian Gallery in Anguk-dong in Seoul on Thursday.Spouses of ambassadors have long participated in the Garden Club, and the club’s steward and flower muse, Im Hwa-kong, has been the very embodiment of floral design in the diplomatic community since the club’s founding more than five decades ago.“The show would not have been possible of course without the support and s
Envoys of Europe, Korea highlight cooperation on science and technology

Apr 6, 2014

South Korean Ambassador to the EU Kim Chang-beom and European Union Ambassador to South Korea Tomasz Kozlowski kicked off a “promotion caravan” in Seoul on Wednesday to raise awareness about South Korea-EU ties, as well as cooperation in fields of science and technology.The two envoys highlighted upgraded cooperation in science and technology, which promises to see some 40 South Korean scientists and researchers work with their European counterparts for yearlong visits by the end of 2014.“The pa
‘Korean tourists to Turkey to double’

Apr 6, 2014

Number of direct flights between South Korea and Turkey to triple to 21 per week by end of 2014
Rwanda recalls genocide in ‘Walk to Remember’

Apr 6, 2014

Rwandan Ambassador to South Korea Eugene Segore Kayihura is hosting a series of commemorative activities Monday to raise awareness about the horrendous loss of life that took place in his country 20 years ago, as well as the failure of the international community to respond to pleas for help.Various activities have been organized for the 20th Rwanda Genocide Commemoration, dubbed “KWIBUKA20,” to commemorate what the embassy described in a press statement as a “genocide that took away nearly a mi
U.S. seeks to reassure Japan amid Ukraine crisis fallout

Apr 5, 2014

YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO (AFP) -- US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on Saturday vowed America would stand by its security commitments to Tokyo, after Russia's intervention in Ukraine raised concerns in a region plagued by its own territorial disputes.Hagel, on a two-day visit to Japan as part of a tour of Asia, said Russia's annexation of Crimea had sparked worries among allies in the Pacific and elsewhere.Japan is locked in a bitter dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea, and some a