The Korea Herald

Obama to visit Asia for first overseas trip after re-election

Nov 9, 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama has chosen Asia as the destination of his first overseas trip since re-election, according to the White House Thursday.Obama is scheduled to visit Thailand, Burma and Cambodia Nov. 17-20, it said.The trip comes as the Obama administration pushes to rebalance U.S. diplomacy towards Asia."In Thailand, he will meet with Prime Minister Yingluck to mark 180 years of diplomatic relations and reaffirm the strength of our alliance," the White House said in a press release. "I
Korea braces for China slowdown

Nov 7, 2012

Economic ties to take new turn as Beijing leans toward stability, balanced growth
Obama faces tough foreign policy challenges

Nov 7, 2012

China, North Korea, Middle East remain tough nuts to crack
Seoul vows to double official development aid by 2015

Nov 6, 2012

South Korea will play a key role in devising a new global development cooperation paradigm, and more than double its assistance to developing countries over the next three years, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Tuesday.Speaking during the second session of the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Laos for a two-day run from Monday, Kim stressed the necessity of expanding official development aid despite global economic difficulties, according to his office in Seoul.“Development cooperation is an invest
Two religious groups permitted to visit N. Korea for exchanges

Nov 6, 2012

Two South Korean religious groups were this week given approval for plans to visit North Korea to promote cooperation with their counterparts in the North, Seoul‘s Unification Ministry said Tuesday.The ministry said it approved the visits of the two group whose religions originated locally, one of which follows the Dangun beliefs and the other a Cheondogyo group, to visit Kaesong on Thursday and Friday, respectively.A total of 10 officials from the groups will travel to the North during the sepa
Social protection key to economic growth: UNDP

Nov 6, 2012

Globalization spreads growth and risks. Trade and development have lifted many countries out of poverty but also left inequality and disintegration in their wake.To cope with the “growing pains,” countries should pursue a strategy that intrinsically combines growth and social protection in a way tailored to their unique conditions and specific needs, said Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau, director of the United Nations Development Program’s Seoul Policy Center. “Social protection is actually an ess
Race deadlocked as Americans vote

Nov 6, 2012

The long, bitterly fought race to The White House reached its end on Tuesday as Americans voted in what looked likely to be one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history. While neither candidate had a decisive edge, the latest Reuters/Ipsos national poll of likely voters showed President Barack Obama slightly ahead of Republican rival Mitt Romney, 48 percent to 46 percent.The same poll showed Obama ahead in Ohio, considered one of the most important of the 11 swing states that will d
Seoul-Beijing ties to face new test with Xi Jinping at helm

Nov 4, 2012

Following is the second in a series of articles on the future relations between China and two Koreas under next Chinese leader Xi Jinping ― Ed.Despite ever-growing economic interdependence, South Korea and China remain discordant over history, territory, fishing, North Korean defectors and regional security issues.With China ushering in a new leader this week, the two governments are expected to continue to try containing those volatile issues from flaring up, as stable bilateral ties are crucia
[Newsmaker] Bloomberg blinks on NYC marathon

Nov 4, 2012

A call to carry on as normal in a time of crisis can be taken as an invocation of hope and strength. Or it can be interpreted as insensitivity to others’ plight. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg learned the latter on Friday when a public outcry forced him to cancel this year’s New York City Marathon in the city still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Just hours earlier, Bloomberg had pledged the world’s biggest marathon would go ahead as planned.The billionaire mayor had argued that holding
ASEAN-Korea Centre brings Southeast Asian photo exhibition

Nov 4, 2012

Southeast Asia includes an enormous expanse of cultures, people and traditions across 2 million square miles and some 600 million people from Singapore to the Philippines and Vietnam to Indonesia.Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have brought Seoulites a chance to glean a photographic glimpse into this huge and diverse array of peoples and their religious practices and cuisines from a perspective that is anything but ordinary.It is all possible in an exhibition of 66 photograp
Turkey marks proclamation of modern republic

Nov 4, 2012

Turkey celebrated the 89th anniversary of its founding as a modern republic in a reception at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Monday.A score of VIPs from the government and the foreign diplomatic community joined with Turkish expatriates and friends of Turkey to celebrate the proclamation of Turkey as a secular and democratic country, as well as the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Turkey.The Republic of Turkey was officially proclaimed on Oct. 29, 1923.Bahk
Dominican rum, pirate tales make splash in Korea

Nov 4, 2012

When one thinks of rum, it is difficult not to invoke the romantic images of the verdant environs of the Dominican Republic and, of course, the swashbuckling adventures of hardscrabble pirates.One might first think of clips from Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean,” or maybe the well known English pirate of yesteryear Blackbeard (a.k.a. Edward Teach). The most famous ― if one can use such a word when taking about pirates ― in the Caribbean and Latin America, however, was Roberto Cofresi.Cofresi r
Austria celebrates National Day, 120 years of ties

Nov 4, 2012

Austria celebrated its National Day and commemorated the 120th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Austria and Korea at Banyan Tree Spa & Resort in Seoul, Monday.VIPs from the government and the foreign diplomatic community, as well as special guest and former Korean Ambassador to Austria Rep. Shim Yoon-joe of the Saenuri Party joined with some 200 guests and friends of Austria to listen to a performance of the Vienna Boys Choir.Austria celebrated its first National
Envoys upgrade negotiating skills

Nov 4, 2012

Negotiation is an everyday part of our ordinary lives, from deciding on where to eat out to which movie to see. Negotiation is, however, the bread-and-butter of diplomats; it is what they do. Their careers and ― far more crucially, the national interests of their countries ― depend on their skills as negotiators.About two dozen foreign envoys from nearly as many nations got together on Thursday to hone their negotiating skills at the Institute of Global Management, a Seoul-based consulting firm,
Swing states leave U.S. election up in the air

Nov 1, 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s race to the White House remained too close to call with less than a week to the election, according to opinion polls on Wednesday.Obama leads the national vote 47 percent to 46 percent, but more significant are the numbers in the vital swing states that will decide the election. The most recent Real Clear Politics average of polls in the 11 swing states put Obama ahead of Romney by less than one percentage point with 48.5 percen