The following message was contributed by Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ahmad Y. Al Barrak on the occasion of the 82nd National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ― Ed.The 82nd celebration of the National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this year comes while bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea are witnessing a qualitative leap and amazing developments that have extended to all aspects of political, economic, cultural, educational and m

South Korea appointed a former senior official of the National Intelligence Service as its new ambassador to Thailand in a regular personnel reshuffle that affected two other ambassadorial posts, officials said Friday.Jeon Jae-man, a seasoned diplomat who recently served as first deputy director of the NIS, was named ambassador to Thailand and Lee Yun-young, a senior trade official, was appointed to head the embassy in Bangladesh, the ministry said in a statement.Baek Seong-taek, a former profes

A former U.S. envoy for North Korea said Tuesday that possible differences between Seoul and Washington over how to deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions would not be much of a concern as they share the common goal of denuclearization.Washington has apparently been handling the North as part of its broader non-proliferation initiative while Seoul focuses on the denuclearization agenda. Some have raised concern that this could be a source of friction, particularly after the elections later this

The Virgin Mary has at least as many apparitions in the Catholic faith as there are nations in the world. Whether she appears as the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in Poland or the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico who, it is said, appeared as a tanned Aztec princess in 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been venerated at respective locales throughout the history of the Catholic Church.Paraguayan Ambassador to Korea Ceferino Valdez, himself a devout Catholic, said he has collected well over 100 represe

Seoulites can now feel the longing and melancholy of Fado, the traditional music of Portugal, by visiting the exhibition “History of Fado” at the Portuguese Cultural Center in the Portuguese Embassy through Sept. 21.Portuguese Ambassador to Korea Antonio Quinteiro Nobre and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies professor Maria Joao Amaral helped a mixed audience of Koreans and expatriates better understand the soulful tones of the country’s traditional music in an opening ceremony Monday.Fado is

Malaysia underscored close economic and military ties with Korea at a reception celebrating its 55th anniversary as an independent nation at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Sept. 10.Malaysian Ambassador to Korea Dato’ Ramlan bin Ibrahim addressed more than 100 foreign envoys, military personnel, local government officials and friends of Malaysia with Noh Dae-lae, commissioner of the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration, during the reception.Malaysia’s National Day is Aug. 31.“We are happ

Ambassador says travel ban for Koreans could be lifted soonKorea could lift its ban on its citizens traveling to war-torn Afghanistan within a matter of months, the Afghan ambassador said in an interview Tuesday.Ambassador Mohammad Yunos Farman said he was “very optimistic” that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would ease restrictions on travel to the central Asian country in the coming months.“I have a good a friend at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here. He was ambassador of Korea in Kabul at

Shows Koreans’ interaction with islets over 1,500 yearsA state-run history institute opened a museum dedicated to Dokdo in Seoul on Friday to showcase its 60 years of research findings and help promote understanding of the strategic and ecologic significance of the tiny East Sea islets. The facility, runs by the Northeast Asia History Foundation, presents maps, historical documents, charts, images and press records in chronological order. They were categorized into history and natural environmen