Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Newsmaker] Heavy agenda awaits Yun in U.S.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is set to confer with key officials in Washington over North Korea and relations with Japan frayed by its premier’s visit to a controversial war shrine. During a three-day stay, he is scheduled for talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Monday and Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday. Yun also plans to meet with other former and incumbent officials from the administration, Congress and think tanks including Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Rober
Jan. 6, 2014
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OECD, Korea to build development model for poor nations
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will formulate a rural development model based on South Korea‘s rags-to-riches growth story to help underdeveloped nations overcome poverty, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.As part of the OECD-Seoul government deal forged last month, Mario Pezzini, director of the OECD Development Centre, will fly to Seoul to deliver an OECD-signed copy of the agreement and hold a seminar on the project Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Jan. 6, 2014
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Japan mulls mandatory history class at high schools
Japan may designate Japanese history as a compulsory course for its high school students, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Monday.According to the daily, Tokyo’s Education Ministry is mulling educational reform which would require high schools to make the now-optional history course mandatory. Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura is expected to consult on the matter with the ministry-affiliated Central Council for Education this summer.If approved, the new curriculum will be applied from 2
Jan. 6, 2014
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S. Korean FM in D.C. for talks with Kerry, Hagel
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se began a three-day trip to Washington Sunday aimed at discussing North Korea, and history and territorial tensions in Northeast Asia.Some of Japan's domestic issues such as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's tribute to the Yasukuni Shrine have "become a matter of worries not only on a bilateral level between South Korea and Japan but also in the international community," Yun said.He was speaking to reporters shortly after laying flowers at the Korean War Vetera
Jan. 6, 2014
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Chinese media blast S. Korea's plans to build new ocean research station
Chinese media over the weekend blasted South Korea's plans to build an ocean research station in the Yellow Sea, claiming it is a thinly disguised move to extend its exclusive economic zone.Huanqiu Shibao, a Chinese tabloid that is a sister company to People's Daily newspaper, said in an article carried on Saturday that Seoul is trying to build another so-called oceanographic station to secure exclusive rights in contested waters.The paper that generally focuses on international issues said Sout
Jan. 6, 2014
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[Ma Young-sam] Public diplomacy and citizen ambassadors
Korean newspapers recently carried a photo of the new U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, holding a calligraphic work with “friend” in Japanese at Mangokuura Elementary School in the northeastern city of Ishinomaki. This region was one of many hit by the devastating 2011 tsunami. Cal Ripken Jr., a Major League Baseball hero, coached orphans in China as a special envoy of public diplomacy appointed by the U.S. State Department. President Barack Obama visited Shanghai in 2009 and participa
Jan. 5, 2014
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White House to address petition to remove ‘comfort woman’ statue
An online petition submitted to the White House demanding the removal of a monument to commemorate comfort women was on the verge of reaching 100,000 signatures within days, as of Thursday. If it passes the 100,000 mark, the U.S. presidential office will be mandated to address the request.More than 98,700 people signed the petition titled “Remove offensive state in Glendale, CA public park” submitted on Dec. 11, 2013, by a person identified by his or her initials T.M. The White House’s policy is
Jan. 2, 2014
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[Newsmaker] New video rebuts Japan’s Dokdo claim
Korea unveiled a new promotional video on Dokdo on Wednesday, countering Tokyo’s increasing territorial assertions and lambasting Japanese politicians’ visits to a controversial war shrine. The 260-second clip was released at midnight on YouTube and the Foreign Ministry’s website (dokdo.mofa.go.kr). It was an update to a previous piece that was uploaded in late October but taken down shortly due to its unauthorized use of clips from Japanese broadcaster NHK.The latest version is much shorter tha
Jan. 1, 2014
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S. Korean FM to visit U.S. to discuss N. Korea, regional issues
South Korea's top diplomat plans to visit Washington in early January for talks with U.S. officials on key regional issues, including North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior U.S. officials, foreign ministry spokesperson Cho Tai-young said. Yun and Kerry last had a face-to-face meeting in September in New York. During the upcoming visit, Yun will discuss "such issues as bila
Dec. 31, 2013
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Korea, Myanmar to build Yangon bombing memorial this year
South Korea and Myanmar have agreed to establish a memorial early this year for victims of North Korea’s bombing in Yangon in 1983, Seoul officials said. The monument is to be erected on a 258-square-meter site at Aung San National Cemetery in the former Myanmar capital. “We’re all set for the project, with the statue already completed by our contractor. There will be a launching ceremony next year (2014) with the families of the deceased officials,” the official said last month on condition of
Dec. 30, 2013
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Park slams Japan for 'digging up past wounds' after Abe's shrine visit
South Korean President Park Geun-hye slammed Japan Monday for "digging up wounds of the past" after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at a war shrine last week in a move seen as an attempt to glorify the country's militaristic past.Abe made the visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday, sparking angry protests from South Korea and China. The shrine honors Japan's war dead, including class A criminals. Abe was the first Japanese prime minister to visit the shrine in more than seven y
Dec. 30, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Abe’s gamble falters under criticism
Japanese leader Shinzo Abe is struggling to contain a backlash over his recent visit to a controversial war shrine that has sparked a barrage of criticism even from domestic supporters and international allies, notably the U.S.The prime minister’s visit on Thursday to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo honoring war criminals has further aggravated diplomatic tension with South Korea and China, two major victims of Japan’s past militarism, and frustrated peace advocates in the island country.The visit
Dec. 29, 2013
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Korean and foreign envoys perform charity concert
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a charity concert with the diplomatic corps that showcased a multicultural array of talent and amity among South Korean and foreign envoys and their families in Seoul on Dec. 13.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Paraguayan Ambassador to South Korea Ceferino Valdez, who is also deputy dean of the Diplomatic Corps, opened the holiday event with heartfelt speeches that lauded multiculturalism and promoted the spirit of charity during the holiday season.“This j
Dec. 29, 2013
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Qatar celebrates National Day, envoy goes home after 5-year post
Qatari Ambassador to South Korea Ali Hamad Mubarak Al Marri completed his posting here and returned to his home country before the embassy hosted its National Day reception in Seoul on Dec. 18.In his place, Minister Counsellor Mohamed Ahmed Alsada presided as the embassy’s charge d’affaires during the reception.Al Marri began his posting in December 2008, serving almost exactly five years to the day as his country’s top diplomat here. The South Korean ambassador to Qatar is Chung Kee-jong.Al Mar
Dec. 29, 2013
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Afghanistan envoy returns to join presidential campaign
Afghan Ambassador to South Korea Yunos Farman abruptly left South Korea on Tuesday to join the presidential campaign of former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah as a senior aide in the war-torn country’s first ever democratic transition of power. Farman said he felt sorry he could not properly say good-bye to his friends and colleagues here, during an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald at his office in Hannam-dong in Seoul just hours before he was to catch a flight to Kabul, addin
Dec. 29, 2013
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‘Africa still not on Korea’s mind’
Sylvestre Bile, the ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire, knows South Korea well. After all, this is his second posting here. His first was for eight years when he opened the West African nation’s embassy in 1997.His current posting as ambassador started almost exactly one year ago. After more than a decade, one thing has not changed for the career diplomat: Putting his country on the map in the minds of South Koreans remains a singular ― perhaps even frustrating ― challenge.“South Korea has a very low p
Dec. 29, 2013
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Envoy lauds liberation fighters on Jamhuri Day
Kenyan Ambassador Ngovi Kitau celebrated the pioneers of African liberation and pointed out the implications of the current economic boom in Africa during the 50th anniversary of Kenyan independence from colonial rule at a hotel in Seoul on Dec. 16.One of the pioneers Kitau lauded during the reception for Kenya’s Independence Day, called Jamhuri Day by Kenyans around the world, was anti-Apartheid activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Dec. 5.Others he paid
Dec. 29, 2013
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Abe’s shrine visit freezes Asia ties, rattles U.S.
Tension is escalating in Northeast Asia in the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to a controversial war shrine, putting the U.S.’ strategic refocus toward the economically vital region to the test. Abe on Thursday became the country’s first leader to visit the Yasukuni Shrine in nearly eight years to mark the first anniversary of his second premiership. It instantly incited strong condemnation from Korea and China with which Japan’s relations are already snowed under in festering
Dec. 27, 2013
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S. Korean parliament likely to adopt anti-Abe resolution
South Korea's National Assembly is expected to adopt a resolution next week to denounce Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for paying his respects at a war shrine in what was seen as an attempt to glorify the country's militaristic past.Leaders of the ruling Saenuri and the main opposition Democratic parties called in unison Friday for an anti-Abe resolution after the Japanese leader paid homage at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine that honors the country's war dead, including class A war criminals.South
Dec. 27, 2013
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U.S. response to Abe's Yasukuni visit re-examined
Amid speculation about how the Obama administration has responded to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a highly controversial war shrine, the State Department reiterated Washington's explicit disappointment Thursday."The United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors," Jen Psaki, the department's spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.Her four-paragraph statement contained exactly the same wording as t
Dec. 27, 2013