Marking one year of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement that entered into force on Dec. 12 last year, the Australian Embassy held a press conference last week to reflect on the deal’s positive impacts and gauge potentials for growth. The comprehensive agreement covers a broad spectrum, including trade in goods and services, investment, technology and information sharing. Korea agreed to a 94 percent tariff reduction on goods imported and Australia consented to a 100 percent elimination.  (F

France, which has Europe’s second-largest venture capital ecosystem, is vying to transform the entire country into a start-up incubator. The government of President Francois Hollande has unveiled an ambitious “French Tech” initiative backed with 215 million euros ($236 million) in funding, aimed at harnessing countrywide entrepreneurship and global competitiveness in the information communications technology, e-commerce and innovative industries, as well as med-tech, bio-tech and clean-tech sect

The literary wonders of late Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) are unveiled to the public free of charge at the Seoul Museum of History until Feb. 21. A collaboration with the Odense City Museum in Denmark, the exhibition titled “I Belong to the World” showcases the classic writer’s artifacts, including his bed, manuscripts and hand-cut paper crafts, as well as artworks by Danish Queen Margrethe II and late American artist Andy Warhol (1928-87), who were inspired by Andersen.Visito

The Korea America Friendship Society held an annual year-end party Thursday to reflect on the 65 years of military alliance that has safeguarded the prospering commercial and cultural links between the two countries. “The security and stability ensured by our alliance is the foundation for the strong partnership between the U.S. and Korea,” said the U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Mark Knapper in a speech at the reception at Millennium Seoul Hilton. Also in attendance were the Deputy Comman

Marking the silver jubilee of official ties with Korea, the Romanian Embassy held a National Day reception last Wednesday in Seoul, featuring joint performances by Romanian and Korean artists. Romanian musicians Grigore Lese and Zamfira Muresan and Korean artist Lee Kyung-hwa performed traditional songs and dances to accompaniment from wind and percussion instruments. Romanian musicians Zamfira Muresan (left) and Grigore Lese. Joel Lee / The Korea Herald“I have performed in many countries, and i

The embassies of Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, in collaboration with the World Culture Open, celebrated the establishment of a regional organization with a promotional event dubbed “Hello! Alba-Latin America” in late November.The Bolivian Alliance for the Peoples of our America, or Alba, was founded by Cuba and Venezuela on Dec. 14, 2004, for the purpose of integrating Latin America and the Caribbean. Since then, Alba has acted as an institutional vanguard for human rights, public h

The British Chamber of Commerce in Korea finished off a productive year with an annual Christmas luncheon in Seoul that attracted over 440 guests from 110 companies, including Santa Claus.“The party is a combination of British swankiness and waggishness,” Michael Breen, author, journalist and CEO of Insight Communications Consultants, told The Korea Herald, at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, where the event was held. Santa Claus entertains the participants at the British Chamber of Commerce in Kor

A day before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris kicked off Monday, citizens and diplomats marched across central Seoul to urge the negotiating world leaders to live up to their promises of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and capping the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius beyond preindustrial levels. Holding banners reading “Our planet, our future, fighting climate change together” and “100 percent renewable energies for you and me,” 18 European Union missions a