Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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Swedish envoy hosts avant-garde novelist
The Swedish Embassy’s Seoul Literary Society hosted its 29th meeting in an intimate discussion with novelist Jung Young-moon on Jan. 29.Swedish Ambassador to Korea Lars Danielsson entertained Jung, foreign envoys, expatriates and literary enthusiasts at his official residence in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul. Jung’s repertoire includes five novels and five collections of short stories. In Korea, he is seen as a successor to the tradition of avant-garde writers of the 20th century such as Franz Kafka and
Feb. 3, 2013
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Brunei taps Korean fisheries know-how
Brunei sought to tap into Korea’s advanced fishing technology by inducing investment in the small Southeast Asian nation.Brunei is known for its abundant marine resources and rich bio-security. Blessed with a mild climate all year round, it is safe from natural calamities such as typhoons or earthquakes. Experts say that this provides particularly favorable conditions for aquaculture, but the country lacks business know-how and advanced fisheries technology. So, marine tech-advanced Korea and ec
Feb. 3, 2013
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Scholars reveal ancient Korean-Iranian diplomatic ties
A scholarly project analyzing a recently uncovered ancient Persian text, years in the making and involving experts from Korea and Iran, is now shedding light on the extent of interactions between ancient Korean and Persian peoples that span thousands of miles.The Iranian Embassy in Korea is keen to promote the preliminary results of the joint research conducted by Iranian professor Daryoosh Akbarzade, who arrived here on Jan. 30, and Lee Hee-soo, professor of cultural anthropology at Hanyang Uni
Feb. 3, 2013
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Special Olympics opportunity for public diplomacy
The word “diplomacy” often conveys an image of stiff-collared old men in buttoned suits talking endlessly in puffed-up niceties.But that out-of-date image gets upended by events like Special Olympics with its grassroots sports, health, educational and other programs for people with intellectual disabilities. The Special Olympics World Winter Games opened here Tuesday, with more than 3,000 athletes and officials from 120 countries competing, and will conclude on Feb. 5.It’s no wonder foreign envo
Feb. 3, 2013
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Hagel vows work to strengthen alliance with S. Korea
Chuck Hagel, the nominee to be U.S. secretary of defense, on Thursday emphasized the importance of bolstering alliances with South Korea, Japan and Australia to deal with North Korea, which he described as "quite unpredictable."He said North Korea poses an actual threat to the U.S. and its regional allies, expressing his far-reaching views on pending national security issues at his Senate confirmation hearing."North Korea is beyond a threat," he said. "It's a real nuclear power and quite unpredi
Feb. 1, 2013
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Suu Kyi lauds Korea’s democratic transition
Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday praised Korea’s journey to democracy during her visit to a national cemetery for victims of the 1980 massacre in Gwangju.Suu Kyi, herself a beacon of democracy and major driving force behind the Southeast Asian country’s political reform, placed a wreath at the May 18th National Cemetery. The southwestern city is home to a student-led armed uprising on May 18, 1980, against the junta led by Army coup leader Chun Doo-hwan, who later became
Jan. 31, 2013
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U.S. team on Korea policy being reshuffled
With a shake-up of President Barack Obama's national security team in full swing, major changes are expected in the line-up of key officials handling Korea issues.Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, is certain to quit as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves the department this week.Campbell will likely stay in office for at least a few more weeks until his successor is decided and completes the Senate confirmation process.Multiple sources say ther
Jan. 31, 2013
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'PyeongChang Declaration' urges world to improve rights of intellectually disabled
Global leaders participating in a conference on intellectual disabilities on Wednesday will issue a joint statement urging the world to help improve rights for the intellectually disabled, officials said.The "PyeongChang Declaration," with the subtitle, "Hearing Voices, Making Changes," will be announced after the conclusion of the Global Development Summit, which opened earlier Wednesday on the sidelines of the 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games, the event's organizers said. PyeongChang,
Jan. 30, 2013
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Korean leaders pledge support for Myanmar reform, democracy
Korean leaders pledged support for Myanmar’s political reform and economic development during their meetings with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday. Suu Kyi arrived in Seoul late Monday for a five-day visit to attend the opening ceremony for the biennial Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province.She met with President Lee Myung-bak, President-elect Park Geun-hye and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to discuss the two countries’ cooperation on bilateral and Asia
Jan. 29, 2013
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Foreign Ministry voices concerns over transfer of trade affairs
The Foreign Ministry expressed concerns on Tuesday over a plan by the transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye to transfer its trade division to the commerce ministry, saying it could hurt overall capabilities in trade negotiations. The ministry made the comments in an 8-page report submitted to the National Assembly as it is set to lose its 15-year-long jurisdiction over trade affairs, a part of government-wide reorganization plans set by the incoming President Park. The report, obtaine
Jan. 29, 2013
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Suu Kyi to meet Park
Both women lost their fathers to gunshots. Both also overcame that tragedy and rose to political prominence in countries where men dominate decision-making, buoyed in part by the legacies of their fathers.Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader whose 2010 release from house arrest signaled the beginning of Myanmar’s transition from decades of military rule, is scheduled to meet Tuesday in Seoul with Park Geun-hye, who takes office next month as South Korea’s first female president.The meeting be
Jan. 28, 2013
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KOICA shores up medical services, rural development in Peru
CCORAO/PACHACUTEC, Peru ― Fresh out of high school and dismayed by his lack of resources to go to college, Orland Choque took a trip to a ceramic studio in the city of Urubamba in southeastern Peru in 2005. Upon first contact with ceramics, he was mesmerized by its sculptural possibilities. That was his “eureka moment,” he said, which led him to sign up for a pottery school run by KOICA in his hometown Ccorao. Choque, now 26, teaches and helps with the academy’s operations and administrative aff
Jan. 27, 2013
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Korea promotes student exchange programs with Chile
SANTIAGO ― With Korean pop culture fast spreading among young Chileans, the Korean Embassy in the Latin American country is setting its sights on student exchange programs as the focal point for its public diplomacy.Korea has been exploring ways to sustain the Korean Wave around the globe and to make the most of the knock-on effects on its national prestige and cooperation with partner countries. The exchange programs allow participants to better understand Korea and experience firsthand its cul
Jan. 27, 2013
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K-pop craze boosts Korea’s public diplomacy
SANTIAGO/LIMA ― On a slow Wednesday afternoon, dozens of teenage girls straggled into a public park in Santiago, their T-shirts featuring TVXQ, JYJ, Super Junior and other Korean pop stars. Soon, music was turned up, and the group began to walk through the choreography. The practice goes on for about three hours, three days a week. The venue has also become a hot spot for youngsters to exchange the latest K-pop-related information and products. “We also carry out online campaigns to boost sales
Jan. 27, 2013
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Photo exhibition tells story of Israel’s beginnings
The Israeli Embassy brought the story of the founding of the State of Israel, and the powerful immigration story it entailed, to Korea for the first time in a photo exhibition at Korea Foundation Cultural Center Gallery through Feb. 7.It is a story that Israeli Ambassador to Korea Tuvia Israeli knows all too well. He emigrated to Israel with his parents from Romania as a 7-year-old child in 1962.“We stayed in a transition camp, like many first arrivals,” Israeli said during the opening reception
Jan. 27, 2013
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Korea, China, Japan meet to boost ASEAN cultural ties
Korea, Japan and China explored ways to enhance regional cooperation in trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges, especially in tourism, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos on Jan. 20. Secretary-General of the ASEAN-Korea Center Chung Hae-moon met with his counterparts Ma Mingqiang of the ASEAN-China Center and Yoshikuni Ohnishi of the ASEAN-Japan Center. The meeting marked the first such trilateral confab between the ASEAN centers of Japan
Jan. 27, 2013
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Australia Day highlights multiculturalism
The Australian Embassy in Korea lauded multiculturalism as an important value in Australian society in this year’s national day celebrations at The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul on Thursday.The evening’s festivities included a fashion show with Korea-Australian designer Bae Yeo-jin’s winter line, worn by Australian model Jessica Gomes, who made headlines here in 2011 when performing in Korea’s “Dancing with the Stars.”“A focal point for this year’s celebration included the achievements of Korean-Au
Jan. 27, 2013
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Korea-ASEAN understanding promoted through storytelling
An international project started in 2010 to enhance mutual understanding between Korea and Southeast Asian countries has led to the creation of educational materials to promote the values of understanding, peace and human rights.Organizers from the Asia-Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding did this through the power of storytelling. “Telling tales from Southeast Asia and Korea” was launched this month.Teachers in East Asia can promote mutual understanding in English and ot
Jan. 27, 2013
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Envoy proposes Korea-Japan teamwork on nation branding
One of the first things Japanese Ambassador to Korea Bessho Koro noticed when he arrived in Korea about three months ago was the crowds routinely assembling outside his residence in the Seongbuk-dong neighborhood of Seoul ― gaggles of Japanese women aiming and clicking cameras.But, to his chagrin, they were not there to get a shot of him. They were snapping pictures of the house across the street of actor Bae Yong-jun of “Winter Sonata” fame, a TV drama that first aired in 2002.Bae is an example
Jan. 27, 2013
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Park to send policy consultation team to U.S.
South Korean President-elect Park eun-hye plans to send a high-level delegation to the United States or policy consultations with the American ally, her spokesman said Friday.Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, ill visit the U.S. in the near future as head of a “policy consultation delegation” that includes three members of the transition team and government officials, spokesman Park Sun-kyoo said.The U.S. has welcomed the planned visit and the two sides are discussing d
Jan. 25, 2013