Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Shinsegae faces showdown with investors over SSG.com's delayed IPO
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Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal
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Ex-pro baseball player who killed debtor appeals sentence
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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S. Korea to issue travel ban on Haiti amid intensifying gang violence
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Leaders of S. Korea, Angola agree to boost economic, trade cooperation
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Korea, Southeast Asia team up to boost tourism, jobs
Korea and Southeast Asian countries have teamed up in promoting Vietnam and Laos as vacation spots for Korean travelers in a new training program for leisure and hospitality professionals in those two increasingly popular tourist destinations.The program will also boost people-to-people exchanges and understanding, organizers said.The ASEAN-Korea Center is hosting two sets of two-day training programs for travel agents and tourism specialists on topics such as Korean tourism, language and cultur
June 23, 2013
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Envoy: Academic is ‘unsung hero’ of Korean studies in Europe
One of Korea’s earliest heroes of Hallyu was not a K-pop crooner nor was he a director of violent art-house favorites. One of the Korean Wave’s earliest acolytes was a mild-mannered 20th-century historian of Neolithic culture and, according to Czech Ambassador to Korea Jaroslav Olsa, Jr., an “unsung hero” of Korean studies in central Europe. Scholar Han Hung-su was critical in establishing Korean studies in central Europe and made close Czech-Korean ties possible in the process, said Olsa, the C
June 23, 2013
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Ambassador sees turning point for Ethiopia
Though Ethiopia and Korea’s five-decade relationship is Korea’s longest with any African nation and some 4,000 Ethiopian soldiers fought for the South during the Korean War, the East African nation’s top diplomat in Korea said he believes the two countries have yet to get know each other.“Even though Ethiopia and Korea share this war-time experience, it doesn’t mean we know each other well. For that matter, Korea does not know that much about Africa in general,” said Ethiopian Ambassador to Kore
June 23, 2013
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Pakistan promotes ties at Gangneung cultural festival
Dano Park in the resort town of Gangneung, Gangwon Province, was the scene of the traditional Pakistani pastime of kite flying on Friday.Locals and international exchange students learned the basics of kite flying during a cultural festival showcasing Pakistani food, as well as introducing traditional pastimes like kite flying, at Korea’s east coast resort town on Friday.The embassy organized the event in coordination with the Korea Pakistan Friendship Association (KOPAK), and the Pakistan Stude
June 16, 2013
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Indonesians learn Korean anticipating summertime travelers
Some 330,000 Koreans visited Indonesia last year, a 25 percent increase from 2009.To cope with the increased demand, the ASEAN-Korea Center launched a Korean language training program for the Southeast Asian country’s tourism and hospitality industry in Jakarta.The two-week language course is co-organized with Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. This summer’s course ends on June 25.The course is geared toward workers in the tourism and hospitality industry, providing basic lang
June 16, 2013
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Russia celebrates 23 years as market-oriented democracy
The Russian Embassy hosted dozens of foreign envoys, high-level Korean diplomats and other VIPs at its chancery in the historic Jeong-dong district of Seoul on Tuesday.They gathered on a drizzly evening to celebrate the 23rd National Day of the Russian Federation, enjoying a well-catered buffet that included traditional delicacies and toasting with Russian vodka. Russia has raised its international profile by hosting numerous global events recently, said Russian Ambassador to Korea Konstantin Vn
June 16, 2013
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Envoy underscores Jordan as safe haven for Syrian refugees
Jordan emphasized the role the kingdom plays as a force for stability, tolerance and peace in the Middle East during a reception celebrating its 67th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule with local guests, members of the diplomatic community and friends of Jordan at a hotel in Seoul on Monday.“Jordan, by the grace of God and the wisdom of the Hashemite leadership, the awareness and dedication of its people, still maintains its long-established policy of development and stabilit
June 16, 2013
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Diplomatic store underwhelms envoys
The dreary second-floor shop for foreign diplomats appeared as lonely as it was out of place amid the posh boutiques and upscale offices that populate southern Seoul. Seoul’s drab and gray Diplomatic Duty-Free Store could be better suited in the black-and-white show reel of an old Soviet-era marketplace, or maybe in a grocery store in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang than in one of this city’s most bustling, glitzy and fashionable shopping districts. Kim Mi-yeon, a young female store c
June 16, 2013
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Korea to ask Japan to correct Dokdo claim in textbooks
The Education Ministry said Friday it plans to call on Japan to correct its distorted history textbooks laying claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo.In March, Japan approved 21 high-school textbooks, some of which describe Dokdo, a group of rocky outcroppings lying in the East Sea between the two countries, as a Japanese territory. According to the report the ministry submitted to the National Assembly, the government plans to send a formal request to Japan asking it to correct the wrongful
June 14, 2013
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Korea appoints 23 new ambassadors
The Foreign Ministry on Friday appointed new ambassadors to 23 countries including the U.K., Australia, Italy and Vietnam. Lim Sung-nam, a former special representative for Korean peninsular peace and security affairs in charge of the six-nation talks for the denuclearization of North Korea, is picked as ambassador to Britain. Former Chief of Protocol Bae Jae-hyun and former ambassador for climate change Son Sung-hwan will be stationed in Rome and Stockholm, respectively.Kim Bong-hyun, a former
June 14, 2013
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UNESCAP calls for ‘transformative’ new development blueprint
With uneven progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, its succeeding framework should be focused on people, equality and the environment to better fight poverty and achieve sustainable growth, UNESCAP chief Noeleen Heyzer told The Korea Herald. Heyzer is executive secretary of the Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, which oversees the development process in its 62 member countries. A group of top officials, scholars and activists from aro
June 11, 2013
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Korea signs deal to host new U.N. Green Climate Fund
South Korea signed a deal with the board of the U.N. Green Climate Fund (GCF) Monday to help the new U.N. fund establish its headquarters here, ministry officials said. South Korea was chosen last October to host the U.N. fund that aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to help developing nations combat climate change. The headquarters of the U.N. fund will be situated in Songdo, Incheon City. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Co-Chairman of the Green Climate Fund Ewen McDonald, signed the a
June 10, 2013
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Trust key to regional integration: Kupchan
In his 2012 book “No One’s World,” political scientist Charles Kupchan sketches a global landscape with multiple centers of power and diverse versions of modernity. The West and the rising rest will compete over principles, status and geopolitical interests as the sea change unfolds, he argues.Despite Pyongyang’s security threat, South Korea is well positioned to take advantage of the pluralistic order due to its economic vigor and democratic vibrancy, the scholar said in a recent interview with
June 10, 2013
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U.S., China urged to avoid zero-sum path
Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in Washington, offered his views in a recent interview with The Korea Herald on a range of issues including the U.S. policy of rebalancing toward Asia, President Park Geun-hye’s “trustpolitik,” the relations between the U.S. and China, Northeast Asian security and the rise of nationalism in Japan. The renowned scholar is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “No One’s World: The West, t
June 10, 2013
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Park to convene security ministers' meeting on Monday
President Park Geun-hye will hold a meeting with foreign affairs and security-related ministers on Monday, an official said, a day after officials from the two Koreas opened their first government-level talks in two years at a border village of Panmunjom.It will be the third time that Park has held such a meeting since she took office in February.The inter-Korean meeting in Panmunjom on Sunday was aimed at paving the way for Seoul and Pyongyang to hold ministerial-level talks on Wednesday.The Su
June 9, 2013
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Korea eyes bigger presence in Africa
Africa beckons the world with its huge energy resources and fast-expanding markets. But its vast potential has been a mirage for Korea, which lags behind its rivals in aid, influence and strategy.After years of failed efforts, the nation is reviving its drive to bolster partnership with pledges of increased assistance and investment. In the past week, Seoul hosted the leaders of Uganda and Mozambique and the top diplomat of Gabon, with energy, trade and development aid topping the agenda.“We hav
June 9, 2013
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Russian Far East could be Korean investment ‘bonanza’
Russia’s Far East is in many ways its “Wild West,” where hardened Cossacks some 350 years ago and young Soviets with courage and ambition, fewer than a hundred ― came to exploit Sakha diamonds and Sakhalin oil.Today, Russia looks to tap this rugged frontier’s still-unrealized vast natural resources by increasing economic links with Korea in fields from energy and infrastructure to shipbuilding, and even in joint agricultural projects.Its Far East will be the source of future economic growth for
June 9, 2013
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Korea-Arab Society brings Arab film fest to Seoul, Busan
As part of the Arab Cultural Festival, which it has been organizing since 2008, the Korea-Arab Society kicked off the 6th Arab Film Festival on Wednesday at Art Nine in southern Seoul.The five-day film festival opened with “Royal Love” from the United Arab Emirates. The festival included six other features and two documentaries: “Aseel” from Oman; “Kayan” from Lebanon; “Kick Off” from Iraq; “Militants” from Tunisia; “Reporting ... a Revolution” from Egypt; “The Battle of Algiers” from Algeria; “
June 9, 2013
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Sweden marks National Day with pop performance
The Swedish Embassy here highlighted the Nordic country’s National Day this year with a pop performance by Swedish singer/songwriter Katie Goes To Tokyo, a.k.a. Kathrine Bergstrom, during a reception at a hotel in Seoul on Tuesday.“Katie” then travels to Tokyo ― in fact on her first trip to the East Asian capital ― where she will perform at the National Day reception of the Swedish Embassy there on June 6.Sweden has been celebrating its National Day on June 6 since 1916 where the tradition was i
June 9, 2013
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Italy celebrates Italian cinema in National Day reception
The Italian Embassy highlighted the golden age of Italian cinema during a reception celebrating its republican constitution at the Italian Ambassador to Korea Sergio Mercuri’s residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, on Monday. Italy’s republican form of government was adopted in 1947 after a popular referendum but the preceding years of post-war reconstruction are also remembered for the golden age of Italian cinema.Italy’s Republic Day is celebrated on June 2.Italian neorealism in film developed as Mu
June 9, 2013