The Korea Herald

Indonesian envoy hosts CICI alumni reception

Mar 2, 2014

Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea John Prasetio hosted a reception for the Corea Image and Communication Institute celebrating “graduates” of past sessions and the start of the 17th session of the group’s CQ Forum at his residence in Yeouido on Tuesday. CQ has some 300 members from various countries, including several foreign envoys. Many of them have completed one session or more of the group’s forums. “I admire what CICI is trying to do by assembling the international community in Korea. Th
Envoys collaborate to host translator Kevin O’Rourke

Mar 2, 2014

The ambassadors of Sweden and Ireland jointly hosted Kevin O’Rourke, a perennial expatriate and translator of thousands of Korean poems, in the Seoul Literary Society’s first reception of the year held at the Irish ambassador’s residence in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, Wednesday. O’Rourke, a Columban missionary, spoke before a packed house of expatriates, foreign envoys and local VIPs. He talked at length about Korean literature, literati and the social transformation of this country, during the 33rd g
Kenyan safaris could be next big thing for Koreans

Mar 2, 2014

The Kenyan Embassy here and the Kenya Tourist Board, the top travel promoter for the country, pitched to prospective South Korean tourists and travel agents in a bid to attract a larger number of South Korean visitors to the East African nation. The embassy and the board brought seven Kenyan travel companies for a two-day, two-city road show in Seoul and Busan on Wednesday and Thursday. Kenyan Ambassador to South Korea Ngovi Kitau said Kenya is riding on the launch of Korean Airlines’ direct fli
Germany, Korea collaborate on transportation

Mar 2, 2014

Germany and South Korea are ratcheting up cooperation on high-tech transportation issues, including energy and the environment, in efforts to get a jump on what officials described as the transportation infrastructure of the future.“E-mobility” was the catch word that best sums up a visit here by representatives from Germany’s auto industry. An invention of auto industry consultancies, e-mobility refers to the rapidly increasing popularity of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as smar
Tokyo releases video clip against East Sea campaign

Feb 25, 2014

Tensions between Korea and Japan are growing again as Tokyo released Monday an online video clip that criticizes Seoul’s efforts to have the name East Sea used along with Sea of Japan in U.S. textbooks. Japan’s latest response came as some U.S. lawmakers pledged to push for the adoption of the dual-name system after Virginia passed a bill this month requiring makers of school textbooks to label the body of water between the two countries with both names.“The (name) Sea of Japan has been used sin
Naturalized scholar from Japan launches Dokdo website

Feb 24, 2014

A naturalized South Korean professor from Japan launched a website on Monday to fight Tokyo’s renewed claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, a research institute said.Yuji Hosaka, a naturalized Korean and head of the Dokdo Research Institute of Sejong University, opened the website (www.dokdoandeastasia.com) in three languages ― Korean, Japanese and English.A fact sheet provided on the website includes an official document released in 1877 by the Meiji government in Japan, which de
Danish prime minister to visit Korea next week

Feb 24, 2014

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt will visit South Korea next week for summit talks with President Park Geun-hye about increasing cooperation in green growth, trade and investment and other areas, the presidential office said Monday.Thorning-Schmidt will arrive in South Korea on March 5 for a four-day official visit. Accompanying her will be a 68-member economic delegation, which will be Denmark’s largest-ever and seek business cooperation with South Korean firms.The Danish leader is
Korea summons Japan envoy

Feb 23, 2014

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry called in a senior Japanese diplomat on Sunday and filed a strong protest after Tokyo sent a central government official to a local event aimed at bolstering the country’s claims to the South’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.Lee Sang-deok, director-general in charge of Northeast Asia affairs at the foreign ministry, filed the protest after summoning Hisashi Michigami, a senior minister at Japan’s Embassy in Seoul, the ministry said. Lee also conveyed a verbal note tha
Profile of Laos on the rise

Feb 23, 2014

Following historic summit, Vientiane is to receive increased attention from Korea
Envoy describes Czech experience in N.K. in 1950s

Feb 23, 2014

Czech Ambassador to South Korea Jaroslav Olsa Jr. delivered a speech on Korean-Czech relations during a monthly lecture series, the first this year organized by the Asia Society Korea Center, at the ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul on Tuesday. Olsa focused his talk on Czechoslovak-North Korean ties during the 1950s.Czechoslovakia, as a member of the communist Warsaw Pact along with the Soviet Union and China, supported North Korea in the Korean War, which lasted for three years from 1950. Throughout
Freed KOTRA chief celebrated on Libya’s Revolution Day

Feb 23, 2014

Only hours after Jo Dae-shik, deputy minister for planning and coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to Libya, was called to an emergency meeting in the early morning of Jan. 20, he was on a plane bound for Tripoli to secure the release of a senior Korean government official kidnapped in Libya.Days later, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency chief Han Seok-woo was freed.Jo and Libyan Charge d’Affaires Farhat Abdussalam had a lot to celebrate on the third anni
ECCK elects new vice president

Feb 23, 2014

The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea elected a new vice president to its seven-member executive board at the group’s annual general meeting in Seoul on Thursday.The newly elected vice president is Steve Duckworth of the United Kingdom. He is the managing director of Environmental Resources Management Korea, a branch of a global provider of environmental, health, safety and risk consulting services. He has 27 years of professional experience in environment, health and safety, and is a charte
Ambassador congratulates Mongolian students for 10 years of effective organizing

Feb 23, 2014

Mongolian Ambassador to South Korea Baasanjav Ganbold inaugurated a sports competition organized by a Mongolian student group, to celebrate its 10-year mark at Sahmyook University in Nowon-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 16.The Mongolian Student Association in Korea (CMOX) organized the competition as a way of thanking a slew of local organizations, including the Mongolian Embassy here, that have supported the group over the years.Some 60 Mongolian students celebrated the association’s 10th anniversary with
Dominican Republic pitches new investments

Feb 23, 2014

A delegation from the Dominican Republic’s Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD) arrived here last Sunday for a weeklong visit to meet with government officials and companies, as well as for an investment seminar at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency in Seoul on Wednesday.The Dominican Republic has led the Caribbean in foreign direct investment for years. The country received about $2 billion in foreign investment last year. Some 45 percent of FDI in the Caribbean is destined for the is
Seoul urges Japan to stop attempts to whitewash wartime sexual slavery

Feb 21, 2014

South Korea called on Japan Friday to stop any attempts to whitewash its sexual enslavement of South Korean women during World War II after a Tokyo official suggested a plan to withdraw the country’s previous apology for the atrocity.Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated in a parliamentary meeting on Thursday a plan to reexamine South Korean victims’ previous testimony used to draw up the so-called Kono statement.The statement was issued in 1993 by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary