Diplomatic meetings can at times be highly stressful. Each side comes in with separate agendas looking for resolution. There are a few tools a diplomat can use to put the other side at ease: one is a good meal with pleasant company, another is over a round of drinks, but in Finland they have a completely different tool that undresses both the person and the challenge. A couple of months ago, Fi...

Mercuri seeks to give a more rounded view of Italy to Korea The relationship between Korea and Italy is excellent, but more can be done under new pacts such as the free trade and framework agreements. Italian Ambassador Sergio Mercuri is no stranger to Korea. In the late 1980s, Mercuri was stationed in Seoul as first secretary and deputy head of mission. More than two decades later, Mercuri is...

Criticism mounts over Tokyo’s territorial claim to Dokdo Three Japanese lawmakers were asked to return to their country as soon as they arrived at a South Korean airport on Monday, as Seoul deterred them from visiting an eastern island in protest against Tokyo’s repeated territorial claims. Defying South Korea’s warning made days earlier, the three right wing politicians arrived at Gimpo Intern...

Attempt to visit island could chill bilateral ties, damage economic cooperation Three Japanese politicians denying Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo arrived at Gimpo airport Monday for an attempted visit to Ulleungdo near Dokdo, despite the Seoul government’s warning that their entry to the country will be barred. While the South Korean government has tried not to overreact to what is generally vi...

Regional powers likely to increase small-scale contact The six partners of the stalled regional dialogue aimed at denuclearizing North Korea are expected increase small-scale contact in the following weeks after Washington and Pyongyang made a breakthrough in their recent talks, analysts and officials here said Sunday. Two days of rare talks between the U.S. and North Korea ― the first in 19 mo...

The Korea Foundation Cultural Center is holding an art exhibition focusing on East Asian artists. Titled “Nostalgia, East Asia Contemporary Art Exhibition,” the exhibition will run until Aug. 27 at the center’s new location. Under the theme of nostalgia, the exhibition presents the contemporary art of Korea, China and Japan, each of which developed their own spirit. The Korea Foundation Cultur...

A Czech literary anthology consisting of 19 short stories by some of the most well-known Czech classic writers from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries has been published in the Korean language. “Short Stories by Czech Classics” was edited by Ivana Bozdechova and Czech Republic Ambassador Jaroslav Olsa, Jr. The book includes a thorough introduction about the history of early modern Czech li...