The Korea Herald

Sharing ideas to benefit disabled

Foreign affairsOct 2, 2011

Ecuador’s vice president fights for human rights of the disabled Ecuador’s Vice President Lenin Moreno does not let his disability hamper his ability to help others the world over. Last week, he traveled to Korea for two days to take part in the Abilympics in Seoul, a worldwide vocational skill competition among people with disabilities. In his role as vice president, Moreno promotes an Ecuado...
S. Korean leader calls for cultural exchange with Japan

InternationalOct 2, 2011

TOKYO, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called Saturday for cultural exchange with Japan as a way to forge a forward-looking partnership between the two neighbors. South Korea and Japan are key trading partners, though their relations have often been strained by historical disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Lee made the comment in a message t...
President Lee calls for cultural exchange with Japan

PoliticsOct 1, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak called Saturday for cultural exchange with Japan as a way to forge a forward-looking partnership between the two neighbors. South Korea and Japan are key trading partners, though their relations have often been strained by historical disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Lee made the comment in a message to a joint South Korean and...
Lee calls for defense reform amid lingering tensions with N. Korea

PoliticsOct 1, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak called Saturday for defense reform to build a stronger military amid lingering tensions with North Korea over its two deadly attacks on the South last year. The North's attacks made it clear that "defense reform is an urgent task that cannot be delayed any longer," Lee said in a live televised speech marking the 63rd Armed Forces Day at the military headquarters near Daej...
Suspended bank made illegal loans to room salons

Social affairsSept 30, 2011

A local savings bank, now suspended for liquidity shortage, turned out to have provided more than 150 billion won in illegal loans to hostess bars and other adult entertainment clubs in southern Seoul, a police investigation found Friday. According to sources, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has booked eight executives and employees of Jeil Savings Bank without detention on illegal lending ...
Parks clash ahead of Monday showdown

PoliticsSept 30, 2011

Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party and civil activist Park Won-soon, who are to compete Monday for the liberal bloc’s unified candidacy for Seoul mayor, took part in heated debates on Friday. Both Parks attended the official televised open forum, following Professor Sohn Seok-hee’s radio debate show in the morning. The left-wing camp’s unified candidacy is to be decided...
GNP chief calls for flexible N.K. stance

North KoreaSept 30, 2011

Hong visits Gaeseong Industrial Complex amid lingering tensions South Korea’s ruling party will push for the government to ease its North Korea policy stance, a top conservative politician here said Friday after his one-day trip to a joint factory park in the North. “After this trip, I will demand the government take an ‘especially flexible’ approach as to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, among...
Parks clash ahead of Monday showdown

PoliticsSept 30, 2011

Rep. Park focuses on policy talks, civic activist Park on public polling Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party and civil activist Park Won-soon, who are to compete Monday for the liberal bloc’s unified candidacy for Seoul mayor, took part in heated debates on Friday. Both Parks attended Prof. Sohn Seok-hee’s radio program in the morning, followed by the official televised ...
Seoul bus fares to go up

Social affairsSept 30, 2011

Bus and subway fares in Seoul will be raised by 200 won by early next year, the capital said Friday. The Seoul municipal government is currently in talks with public transportation operators and is likely to allow the fares to rise by 100 won in November and by another 100 won early next year, city officials said. At present, the basic fee for adults is 900 won for buses and subways. The fees w...
Ranking N. Korean official to attend academic forum in U.S.: official

North KoreaSept 30, 2011

A ranking North Korean official in charge of policies on South Korea will attend a private academic forum in the U.S. next month, an official in Seoul said Friday. Won Tong-yon, deputy director of the United Front Department of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, will travel at the invitation of a professor at the University of Georgia, according to the South Korean government official who spoke ...
Lee calls for aides to exercise greater ethical control

Social affairsSept 30, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak urged aides Friday to exercise greater ethical self-control, saying he wants to make his administration the cleanest in South Korean history, although a series of top secretaries have been implicated in corruption scandals. “We have to keep in mind that our administration was born without taking any money,” Lee said during an unscheduled attendance at a meeting of preside...
Korea tops Abilympics medal tally

Social affairsSept 30, 2011

Korea finished top in an international skills contest for disabled persons in Seoul, its organizing committee said Friday. It clinched 17 gold, 17 silver and seven bronze medals at the International Abilympics, which wrapped up its six-day contest with a closing ceremony Friday. It was the fifth consecutive time the country topped the medal tally. Taiwan took second place with three gold, three...
First international private school opens in Jeju

Social affairsSept 30, 2011

North London Collegiate School Jeju, the first international private school in Jeju Global Education City, opened Friday. “NLCS Jeju is the country’s first case where the 161-year-old prestigious private school in the U.K. will maintain its reputation and realize its time-honored educational philosophy and the knowhow in school systems in Jeju,” Byon Jong-il, president of Jeju Development Center...
Ruling party chief visits N.K. amid lingering tensions

North KoreaSept 30, 2011

Visit raises anticipation for reactivation of economic cooperation South Korea’s top right-wing politician visited a joint factory park in North Korea Friday, raising anticipations for the possibility of the two Koreas reactivating their economic cooperation. Before crossing the heavily fortified land border to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, Hong Joon-pyo, chief of Seoul’s ruling Grand Nation...
NASA identifies 90% of largest near-Earth asteroids

ScienceSept 30, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- If you're worried about a killer asteroid wiping out Earth, NASA has some good news. The space agency said Thursday it has identified more than 90 percent of giant, potentially Earth-threatening asteroids, including ones as big as the one thought to have killed the dinosaurs eons ago. Artist's rendition of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer released Thursday by NASA/Jet Pro...