Jordan emphasized the role the kingdom plays as a force for stability, tolerance and peace in the Middle East during a reception celebrating its 67th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule with local guests, members of the diplomatic community and friends of Jordan at a hotel in Seoul on Monday.“Jordan, by the grace of God and the wisdom of the Hashemite leadership, the awareness and dedication of its people, still maintains its long-established policy of development and stabilit

The dreary second-floor shop for foreign diplomats appeared as lonely as it was out of place amid the posh boutiques and upscale offices that populate southern Seoul. Seoul’s drab and gray Diplomatic Duty-Free Store could be better suited in the black-and-white show reel of an old Soviet-era marketplace, or maybe in a grocery store in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang than in one of this city’s most bustling, glitzy and fashionable shopping districts. Kim Mi-yeon, a young female store c

With uneven progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, its succeeding framework should be focused on people, equality and the environment to better fight poverty and achieve sustainable growth, UNESCAP chief Noeleen Heyzer told The Korea Herald. Heyzer is executive secretary of the Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, which oversees the development process in its 62 member countries. A group of top officials, scholars and activists from aro

South Korea signed a deal with the board of the U.N. Green Climate Fund (GCF) Monday to help the new U.N. fund establish its headquarters here, ministry officials said. South Korea was chosen last October to host the U.N. fund that aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to help developing nations combat climate change. The headquarters of the U.N. fund will be situated in Songdo, Incheon City. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Co-Chairman of the Green Climate Fund Ewen McDonald, signed the a

In his 2012 book “No One’s World,” political scientist Charles Kupchan sketches a global landscape with multiple centers of power and diverse versions of modernity. The West and the rising rest will compete over principles, status and geopolitical interests as the sea change unfolds, he argues.Despite Pyongyang’s security threat, South Korea is well positioned to take advantage of the pluralistic order due to its economic vigor and democratic vibrancy, the scholar said in a recent interview with

International politics scholar Kupchan says no one will dominate future new world order

Seoul struggles to revive momentum to reach out to resource-rich, fast-growing economies

Russia’s Far East is in many ways its “Wild West,” where hardened Cossacks some 350 years ago and young Soviets with courage and ambition, fewer than a hundred ― came to exploit Sakha diamonds and Sakhalin oil.Today, Russia looks to tap this rugged frontier’s still-unrealized vast natural resources by increasing economic links with Korea in fields from energy and infrastructure to shipbuilding, and even in joint agricultural projects.Its Far East will be the source of future economic growth for

As part of the Arab Cultural Festival, which it has been organizing since 2008, the Korea-Arab Society kicked off the 6th Arab Film Festival on Wednesday at Art Nine in southern Seoul.The five-day film festival opened with “Royal Love” from the United Arab Emirates. The festival included six other features and two documentaries: “Aseel” from Oman; “Kayan” from Lebanon; “Kick Off” from Iraq; “Militants” from Tunisia; “Reporting ... a Revolution” from Egypt; “The Battle of Algiers” from Algeria; “

The Italian Embassy highlighted the golden age of Italian cinema during a reception celebrating its republican constitution at the Italian Ambassador to Korea Sergio Mercuri’s residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, on Monday. Italy’s republican form of government was adopted in 1947 after a popular referendum but the preceding years of post-war reconstruction are also remembered for the golden age of Italian cinema.Italy’s Republic Day is celebrated on June 2.Italian neorealism in film developed as Mu

The Philippine Embassy here celebrated Asia’s oldest democracy on the 115th anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine Independence and the 18th Filipino Migrant Worker’s Day at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium on June 2.Thousands of people came out to the all-day event to enjoy the sunny weekend weather, as well as food, friends and fun. The festival also showcased the contribution of the estimated 60,000 Filipinos living and working here to promoting a multicultural Korea, organizers said.The