The Korea Herald

[Newsmaker] Merkel cements EU position

Sept 23, 2013

German Chancellor Angela Merkel cemented her position as Europe’s de facto leader on Sunday by cruising to election victory for a third term in office.Having presided over a robust economy in a region of sick-man peers, the center-right Christian Democratic Union and its sister Christian Social Union of Bavaria won more than 40 percent of the national vote, bringing Merkel to within five seats of a tantalizingly rare parliamentary majority. Merkel’s political standing, already unmatched among he
Korean, Japanese ministers to meet in N.Y. this week

Sept 23, 2013

The foreign ministers of Korea and Japan plan to hold talks in the U.S. this week in an apparent attempt to restore the two countries’ relations soured by historical and territorial feuds. Yun Byung-se will meet with Fumio Kishida on Thursday in New York on the margins of the annual U.N. General Assembly slated for Sept. 17 to Oct. 1. This will be their second bilateral discussion since they were sworn in early this year.With some ranking Japanese officials continuing to deny wartime atrocities,
‘End quotas to see real Thai food’

Sept 22, 2013

Ever eat out at an authentic Thai restaurant here? That is doubtful, according to the Thai Embassy in South Korea.There is a dearth of restaurants in South Korea serving real Thai cuisine made from real Thai ingredients at the moment, according to the Thai Ambassador to South Korea. But he is keen to change that.Kittiphong na Ranong sees improving Thai food restaurants as a way of prying open markets here, which he sees as too closed to agricultural products from his country.The embassy is deter
Papua New Guinean envoy stresses resource development for all

Sept 22, 2013

Papua New Guinean Ambassador to South Korea Bill Veri underscored his nation’s commitment to making sure resource development projects in his country benefit not only foreign investors and the national government, but also traditional landowners, on Papua New Guinea’s 38th Independence Day.Veri said the island nation was committed to ensuring everyone benefits from the enormous potential that lies in developing Papua New Guinea’s vast mineral and energy wealth during an Independence Day receptio
German language students celebrate ties

Sept 22, 2013

The German Embassy and partner organizations celebrated PASCH Fest 2013 with hundreds of high schoolers at Kyunggi Girls’ High School in southern Seoul on Sept. 14.The Partner School Program, or PASCH, brings together students enrolled at the half dozen or so German language programs in South Korea every year. This year they celebrated with a play about the Korean nurses and miners who traveled to Germany starting in the 1960s. The performance brought together local high-school youths enrolled i
New Zealand showcases nation as study destination

Sept 22, 2013

New Zealand Embassy and Tertiary Education officials and Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce pitched the Asia-Pacific nation as place to study at the 2013 New Zealand Education Fair at COEX in southern Seoul on Sept. 14-15. The fair supported the embassy’s “Study in New Zealand” campaign, and more than 30 New Zealand institutions from various areas of education were represented at the two-day fair. “There’s nothing quite like this sort of face-to-face interaction to give students and the
Malaysia invites Korean buyers to trade fair

Sept 22, 2013

The Malaysian Embassy’s trade and investment center is inviting Korean companies to register for INTRADE 2013, a trade fair to take place in Kuala Lumpur from Nov. 24-28, to meet prospective business partners from both developed and emerging economic sectors.Korean companies that participate in INTRADE 2013, the seventh International Trade Malaysia, can be matched with prospective Malaysian partners in one-on-one meetings during the trade fair, according to the embassy. INTRADE 2013 will focus o
[Photo News] Kyrgyz Independence Day

Sept 22, 2013
U.S. museum to return Joseon Dynasty seal to S. Korea

Sept 20, 2013

A U.S. museum has decided to return a seal used by a queen of Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) after confirming it was stolen by an American soldier during the 1950-53 Korean War, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday. Rep. An Min-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party said officials at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art expressed their intention to return the artifact to South Korea and issued a statement confirming the decision. "Our persistent efforts to collect evidence and demand (
N.K., Chinese nuke envoys discuss six-party talks

Sept 17, 2013

BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― Chief nuclear envoys from North Korea and China held talks in Beijing and shared “in-depth views” on ways to resume the six-party talks on ending the Norths’ nuclear weapons program, China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. A delegation headed by North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan arrived in Beijing on Monday, nearly three weeks after Kim held talks in Pyongyang with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei. The North Korean delegation included Pyongyang’s chief
Park taps ex-lawmaker as secretary for political affairs

Sept 17, 2013

President Park Geun-hye has appointed a former ruling party lawmaker as her new secretary for political affairs, an official said Tuesday.Joo Kwang-deok, 53, a former prosecutor and a member of the previous National Assembly, began his new job on Monday, the official said on condition of anonymity.Joo succeeded Kim Seon-dong, who left the post in a reshuffle of the top office late last month.His immediate boss is senior political affairs secretary Park Joon-woo, a former career diplomat who serv
[Graphic News] Nonimmigrant entries to U.S. increase

Sept 16, 2013

More than 1.5 million South Koreans entered the U.S. as visitors for the first time while Mexicans topped the list of nonimmigant entries into the U.S. California (19 percent), Florida (13 percent), Texas (13 percent) and New York (13 percent) were the most frequented destinations by visitors.
Seoul urges Tokyo to stick to its peace constitution

Sept 16, 2013

South Korea called on Japan Monday to comply with the basic ideology of its peace-promoting constitution as Tokyo is making legal efforts to beef up its military might.Japan is moving to amend its post-war constitution in order to strengthen its military, whose capacity is now confined mainly to self-defense activities. The pacifist constitution, written after the country’s defeat in World War II, prohibits Japan’s rearmament as well as the deployment of its forces abroad.“We are repeatedly dema
Tension flares with Japan over Korea’s fisheries import ban

Sept 15, 2013

Japanese delegation to visit Seoul to request explanation for ban
International conference meets for peace

Sept 15, 2013

A group of international leaders in peace building and education from two dozen countries and four continents, as well as high-level Korean diplomats, convened here on Monday to discuss ways to enhance international understanding and create a culture of peace in the region. While North Korea appears to be restarting its program to process weapons-grade plutonium, and China, South Korea and Japan quarrel endlessly over history and territory, United Nations and foreign affairs officials met to dis