The Korea Herald

Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Arab world protests?

Feb 1, 2011

OSLO - The vibrant protest movements across the Arab world, Russian human rights activists and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will all likely be in the running for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, observers say as the deadline for nominating candidates approaches. According to existing rules, the Norwegian Nobel Committee will only consider candidate proposals sent by February 1 for its pick, to be...
Bureaucrat-turned-professor named new presidential secretary for economy

Feb 1, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak has appointed Kim Dae-ki, a bureaucrat-turned-professor, as his new senior secretary for economic affairs, Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. Kim, formerly the head of Statistics Korea and vice culture minister, replaces Choi Joong-kyung, who became the knowledge economy minister last month. Kim, 55, now serves as a professor at Seoul National University's Graduate...
Captured pirates admit hijacking was planned

Jan 31, 2011

Korean crew of rescued freighter to return home Seven South Korean crewmembers of a freight vessel recently rescued from Somali pirates are expected to return home this week following Oman’s approval of the ship to dock in the country, a Seoul official said Monday. South Korea’s 11,500-ton chemical freighter Samho Jewelry and its 21 crew members were rescued on Jan. 21 by the Navy days after it...
Lee talk show to cover N. Korea, economic policies

Jan 31, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak is to give his views on inter-Korean relations, diplomatic issues and the government’s economic policy plans for this year in a televised talk show Tuesday morning. In the 90-minute show titled “Dialogue with the President: the Republic of Korea in 2011,” Lee will discuss foreign affairs, security and economy with Hallym University of Graduate Studies professor Chung Kwan...
Lee may reshuffle aides, ministers

Jan 31, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak is reportedly considering replacing some of his aides and Cabinet members in February as he completes his third year in office. Lee, first of all, has to name a new senior presidential secretary for economic affairs to replace Choi Joong-kyung, who was appointed as the minister of knowledge economy last week. “As for the vacancies in Cheong Wa Dae, nominations can take p...
Seoul rejects N.K. offer of earlier talks

Jan 31, 2011

Defense Ministry says it wants enough time to make preparations Seoul’s Defense Ministry on Monday rejected North Korea’s proposal to hold working-level military talks at an earlier date, repeating that it wants to hold the meeting Feb. 11 as it originally suggested. In a faxed message sent to the ministry last Saturday, the North suggested holding the preliminary talks Tuesday without elaborat...
Gov't seeks to increase flights departing Cairo amid Egypt protests

Jan 31, 2011

South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday it is working on increasing the number of flights from Cairo to Seoul to transport South Korean nationals back home amid raging anti-government protests there. "As the situation gets worse, there aren't enough flights compared to the number of our people who would like to leave Egypt," said a ministry official. "We are in talks with Korean Air to increa...
Resumption of six-party talks ‘fully up to N.K.’: Minister Kim

Jan 30, 2011

Instead of setting preconditions, South Korea will watch how much veracity North Korea shows toward denuclearization and the two deadly attacks last year in their upcoming talks to decide when to restart larger-scale peace talks, Seoul’s foreign minister said. The comments by Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan come as the two Koreas are preparing to hold defense talks viewed by regional powers as a ...
‘The two talks will inevitably affect one another’

Jan 30, 2011

The following are excerpts from the interview with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan. ― Ed. The Korea Herald: Regarding the upcoming inter-Korean dialogue, what is the government’s official position on not linking North Korea’s apology for the attacks last year with the resumption of the six-party talks? Kim Sung-hwan: While we can set the conditions for the inter-Korean talks and have the initiat...
‘Somali pirates are the most sought after groom among Somali women’

Jan 28, 2011

Those who are considered elite in Somalia join a gang of pirates, and pirates are the most sought after groom among Somali women, according to a source in Seoul. As pirates get ransoms of $2million on average, according to a BBC report in 2008, the rewards which pirate gang members receive, can exceed the average annual income of a developed country, the source said. The Financial Times repor...
Ministry conducts reshuffle of senior prosecutors

Jan 28, 2011

The Justice Ministry on Friday appointed Han Sang-dae, chief of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, to head the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in a reshuffle that affected six senior prosecutor posts. Park Yong-seok, chief of the Legal Research and Training Institute, was appointed as the vice chief of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in the reshuffle, which officials said is aimed at...
Son says N.K. leader didn’t want power succession

Jan 28, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was opposed to the second hereditary power succession, but had no other option in order to stabilize the impoverished communist state, a Japanese newspaper quoted Kim’s eldest son as saying Friday. The Tokyo Shimbun said it had an exclusive interview with Kim Jong-nam, thought to be in his late 30s, in a southern Chinese city earlier this month. “Even Chairman Ma...
N. Korea proposes parliamentary talks

Jan 28, 2011

North Korea proposed parliamentary talks with the South to discuss ways to ease tension on the peninsula, drawing varied reactions from political parties here. “What is essential in the inter-Korean dialogue is dialogue between the authorities with real power and responsibility,” the North’s Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland said in an English-lang...
Much at stake in widened by-elections

Jan 28, 2011

With as many as six seats up for grabs, the by-elections in April are expected to have a major impact on the political climate ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections next year. Being this year’s only national-level elections, the votes could buck up or discourage the Lee Myung-bak administration as it nears its end. Gangwon Province will have to pick a new governor as Lee Kwang-j...
Former senior prosecutor gets jail term for bribery

Jan 28, 2011

A Seoul court sentenced a former senior prosecutor to two-and-a-half years in jail for accepting a luxury car and other kickbacks from a businessman in return for ordering his subordinate to investigate a case against the bribe giver's rival. The 52-year-old, surnamed Jeong who formerly served at the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office, was charged with accepting bribes worth 46 million won (US$41...