The Korea Herald

Uruguayan Ambassador Legnani encourages women to aim high

Mar 9, 2014

“Every woman has to fight. She has to fight for her future, and her future does not have to be to take care of the house,” said Uruguayan Ambassador to South Korea Alba Florio Legnani in an interview with The Korea Herald on Wednesday, days before International Women’s Day was celebrated around the world.Legnani is one of just seven female ambassadors out of the 100-plus heads of diplomatic missions here. She is also the senior envoy of an informal caucus of women ambassadors working in South Ko
U.S. congressmen urge reunions of divided Korean-American families

Mar 8, 2014

Four U.S. congressmen submitted a resolution to a House committee calling for the reunion of Koreans in the United States with their long-lost families in North Korea, according to the Library of Congress. The measure was sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel, Howard Coble, John Conyers and Samuel Johnson, all Korean War veterans. "The division on the Korean Peninsula separated more than 10,000,000 Korean family members, including some who are now citizens of the United States," said the resoluti
Malaysia, Vietnam mount search for airliner carrying 239 people

Mar 8, 2014

Malaysia and Vietnam launched searches on Saturday for a Malaysia Airlines flight that lost contact with traffic controllers, as fears mounted over the fate of the 239 people aboard.Vietnamese state media said citing a Navy official that the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing bound Flight MH370 had crashed into the sea, some 240 kilometers off the coast of Vietnam's Tho Chu Island.Vietnamese authorities said contact with Flight MH370 was lost near the country's airspace, but its exact location remained a myst
Virginia legislature approves bill on ‘East Sea’ name

Mar 6, 2014

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― Virginia legislators wrapped up all legislative procedures in both chambers on the “East Sea” bill Wednesday, passing the onus to Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe.Last month, the House and Senate approved bills that require all public schools to name the body of water between Korea and Japan as the East Sea as well as the Sea of Japan. Koreans view the name Sea of Japan, which is still better known worldwide, as a relic of Japan’s imperialistic past, including the colonizati
U.S. envoy denounces Japan's wartime sex slavery as 'grave human rights violation'

Mar 6, 2014

The U.S. ambassador to Seoul said Thursday Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II is "a grave human rights violation," expressing hope for Tokyo to take steps to ease the pains of victims. Sung Kim made the remarks at a forum hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a senior journalists' association, in Seoul, echoing Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's criticism the previous day in Geneva of Japan's attempts to deny its wartime atrocities."Yes, I agree (with Yun)," Kim said. "The comfort
Yun presses Japan over sex slavery at U.N.

Mar 5, 2014

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se urged Tokyo to take steps to resolve its mobilization of sex slaves at a U.N. session on Wednesday, denouncing a recent series of revisionist moves and remarks by Japanese officials and politicians. It was the first time a top South Korean diplomat raised the issue and criticized Japan by name at the U.N., reflecting Seoul’s toughened stance in line with Tokyo’s accelerating swing to the right. In his keynote speech at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Yun sa
[Graphic News] Singapore is world’s costliest city: survey

Mar 5, 2014

Singapore replaced Tokyo as the world‘s most expensive city due to its soaring costs of cars and utilities as well as a strong currency, according to the 2014 Worldwide Cost of Living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.Despite Abenomics driving consumer confidence and price inflation, a weaker yen has pushed the Japanese capital to sixth place. Seoul ranked 17th in the survey, which examined prices across 160 products and services in 140 cities.(Source: Economist Intelligence Unit)
U.S. wants Korea, Japan to jointly seek ‘healing’ over history: Russel

Mar 5, 2014

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― The United States hopes that South Korea and Japan will make a concerted effort to promote the “healing” of the legacy from their shared history, especially in the 20th century, a key U.S. government official on Asia said Tuesday.“They are both dealing with the legacy of very, very sensitive and very difficult issues, historical issues from the 20th century.These legacy issues can’t be solved by any one party alone,” Daniel Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East
Minister to raise N.K. human rights, sex slavery at U.N.

Mar 4, 2014

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se plans to ratchet up pressure on Japan over its wartime enslavement of women and call for global efforts for better human rights conditions in North Korea at a U.N. session on Wednesday, officials said Tuesday. Yun departed for Geneva early Tuesday morning for a U.N. Human Rights Council session scheduled for March 3-28. He will be the first South Korean top diplomat to attend the meeting since 2006, and the first ever to raise the sex slavery issue there. His three-
Minister to raise N.K. human rights, sex slavery at U.N.

Mar 4, 2014

Yun to be first Korean foreign minister to attend U.N. rights session since 2006
Tokyo official’s sex slaves remark angers Korea

Mar 4, 2014

A senior Japanese government official touched off another wave of criticism from South Korea by suggesting that all the historical facts about Japan’s sexual enslavement of women during World War II might have been fabricated. Yoshitaka Sakurada, senior vice minister of education, made the controversial remark at a rally of about 500 nationalists who called for the Japanese government to reevaluate the Kono statement. “I am a person who does not like lies, fooling others or fabricating the truth
Former U.N. climate chief to head GGGI

Mar 3, 2014

The Global Green Growth Institute on Monday tapped as its new director general Yvo de Boer, former executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Seoul-based organization said. He will replace Howard Bamsey, who plans to return to his native Australia after a one-year stint. De Boer, currently the global chairman of climate change and sustainability services at KPMG International, one of the world’s largest accounting and consulting networks, is due to begin his four
UNHCR ups efforts to protect N.K. defectors

Mar 2, 2014

Seoul chief praises Korea’s refugee law, seeks celebrity goodwill ambassador to raise awareness
East Sea a thorny diplomatic issue

Mar 2, 2014

Foreign embassies take heat because their websites use the place names ‘Sea of Japan’and ‘Liancourt Rocks’
Korea, Southeast Asia discuss improving regional ties

Mar 2, 2014

Southeast Asia includes 600 million people of different ethnicities, cultures, languages, religions ― and disparate income levels. But despite these differences, the region is marked by widespread peace and economic development. The challenge now is how to take it to the next level. High-level national and regional leaders from Southeast Asia and South Korea convened on Wednesday in Seoul to review decades of forward-looking regional building, 25 years of ties between Seoul and ASEAN and the pat