The Korea Herald

Korea to spend W6b on public diplomacy

Jan 1, 2013

The Foreign Ministry plans to spend 6 billion won ($5.7 million) on public diplomacy efforts this year as it seeks to improve Korea’s image abroad and better protect national interests in growing diplomatic feuds with Japan.The 2013 budget approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday includes public diplomacy as a separate item in the government expenses for the first time. The ministry was allocated slightly less than 2 trillion won in the budget, up about 3.2 percent from last year.The newly a
S. Korea to join U.N. Security Council amid deadlock over N.K. rocket

Dec 30, 2012

NEW YORK/SEOUL (Yonhap News) ― South Korea could take a more active role in getting the United Nations Security Council to punish North Korea for its recent long-range rocket launch, diplomatic sources said Friday.South Korea is set to serve as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Council for two years, beginning Jan. 1. The Council is the U.N.’s top decision-making body that can tighten sanctions on North Korea.Seoul, Washington and other nations condemned North Korea’s Dec. 12 rocket launch
S. Korea ranks third in visitor arrivals to ASEAN countries

Dec 30, 2012

South Korea ranked third in the number of outside visitors to Southeast Asian countries in 2011, tourism data showed Sunday, proving its clout in the region’s tourism sector.South Korean visitors to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations totaled 3,862,009 last year, accounting for 4.7 percent of the total, data obtained from the Seoul-based ASEAN-Korea Center said.South Korea ranked behind only China and Australia, which sent 7.32 million and 3.93 million visitors,
Park faces tough diplomatic challenges

Dec 30, 2012

N. Korean threat, Japanese nationalism, U.S.-China rivalry to test incoming leader’s foreign policy capability
Korea, India celebrate 40 years of ties in New Year

Dec 30, 2012

The Indian Culture Centre in Seoul celebrated the first anniversary of its establishment in April this year, and Korea and India will mark their 40th year of diplomatic ties in 2013. The following is a Q&A with Indian Ambassador to Korea Vishnu Prakash:Korea Herald: It’s been over a year since the Indian Cultural Centre opened in Seoul. What was the idea behind starting it? How can we compare the ICC in Korea to ICCs in other countries?Vishnu Prakash: Our cultural ties go back two millennia to t
Swedish envoys work to free American held in N.K.

Dec 30, 2012

The last thing a European diplomat might expect from a foreign posting is to represent the United States.But that is exactly what Swedish envoys in North Korea do as part of their official duties. Now they are working around the clock to free an American citizen that North Korea finally confirmed on Dec. 21 it had detained.But Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old Korean-American tour operator, is not likely to be released anytime soon, said Swedish Ambassador to South Korea Lars Danielsson. Danielsson sai
Georgia proffers signature wines

Dec 30, 2012

The Georgian Embassy here hosted an event featuring the country’s wine and brandy for prospective Korean importers and the foreign diplomatic community in response to a growing demand here for quaffs from the Caucasus.Georgian Ambassador to Korea Nikoloz Apkhazava also underscored the importance of his country’s wine to Georgian national identity during a tasting Thursday.“It is difficult to describe the importance of wine to Georgians. It is so tied up with our national identity,” Apkhazava sai
Singaporean Embassy donates W3m to local orphange

Dec 30, 2012

The Singaporean Embassy and Singapore Club Seoul donated 3 million won ($2,790) to a local orphanage during a year-end reception, Dec. 13. Singaporean Ambassador to Korea Peter Tan and wife Siew Eng visited the orphanage in a day of games, activities and gift-giving.Now in its fourth year, the Singapore Embassy’s annual charity event at the Hye Sim Won Orphanage in the Huam-dong neighborhood of Seoul has become an annual attraction for Singaporean diplomats and the city-state’s growing expatriat
S. Korea to join U.N. Security Council amid deadlock over N.K. rocket

Dec 29, 2012

With South Korea set to join the United Nations Security Council in four days, the country could soon take a more active role in getting the international body to punish North Korea for its recent long-range rocket launch, diplomatic sources said Friday.Starting Jan. 1, South Korea will serve as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation council for two years. The council is the U.N.'s top decision-making body, tasked with maintaining world peace.Following North Korea's Dec. 12 rocket launch, Seoul
N.K. suspected of purging two officials for April rocket failure

Dec 28, 2012

The list of North Korean scientists and officials named national heroes for contributing to the country’s successful launch of a long-range rocket earlier this month did not include key officials in charge of a botched April rocket launch, prompting speculation over their possible purge.According to recent North Korean media reports, the communist country declared 101 scientists, officials and others national heroes and gave them medals for contributing to its widely celebrated Dec. 12 launch of
S. Korea urges Japan to resolve wartime sex slavery

Dec 27, 2012

Responding to Japan's renewed denial of forcing Korean women into sex slavery during World War II, South Korea once again urged Japan Thursday to seek "satisfactory" solutions for the victims.Tokyo's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated earlier in the day that the newly launched Japanese government led by Shinzo Abe may review a 1993 statement issued by its then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the matter, saying it is "desirable for experts and historians to study" the issue, a
S. Korea submits formal claim on East China Sea shelf to U.N.

Dec 27, 2012

South Korea has submitted an official claim to extend a portion of continental shelf beyond the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the East China Sea to a United Nations body, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.The South Korean government presented the official document to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) located in New York a day earlier (Seoul time), claiming that the Korean Peninsula's natural prolongation of the continental shelf in the East China
Korea files extended continental shelf claim

Dec 26, 2012

South Korea claimed an extended limit of its continental shelf in the East China Sea in a report to the United Nations on Wednesday, upping its ante in a heated race with Japan and China over fisheries and resources deposits. The Foreign Ministry submitted to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf its claim to the edge of the country’s seabed beyond its 200 nautical mile (370 kilometer) exclusive economic zone from the baselines of its territorial waters. The formal report ma
Revised U.S. defense act urges tougher measures against N.K.

Dec 24, 2012

In the wake of North Korea’s rocket launch, U.S. Congress has passed a defense law modified for next year calling for tougher measures such as the possible construction of a new missile defense base and defense capability assessments. The National Defense Authorization Act contains a raft of policy and funding packages including budgets for military activities, related construction and research and development programs. Its 2013 version worth $633.3 billion requires the federal government to loo
Japanese prefecture warned against Dokdo event

Dec 24, 2012

South Korea on Monday warned a Japanese prefecture against holding a controversial event claiming the South’s easternmost islets of Dokdo next February, denouncing the plan as “unacceptable.” Japan’s Shimane prefecture is scheduled to hold the event on Feb. 22, or three days before the inauguration of Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s new president, a move that could lead to a potential flash point between the two nations at a time when Park and Japan’s incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have signa