With Chinese President Xi Jinping set to visit North Korea this week, all eyes are on whether his visit will create new momentum to move forward stalled denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. State-operated media outlets in China and North Korea announced Monday night that the Chinese president is scheduled to make a state visit to North Korea on Thursday and Friday. According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, the two leaders will discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula

North Korea June 18, 2019

The Korea International Cooperation Agency on Friday held a ceremony marking the completion of a national museum in Congo, a project that was begun in 2012. The construction of the Congo National Museum in the capital city Kinshasa was funded by KOICA, a state-run aid organization. The museum will be the biggest museum in the country when it opens, KOICA said.  The South Korean aid group said it has funded $21 million for the project that is aimed at preserving cultural artifacts and to en

Diplomatic Circuit June 17, 2019

Concerns have been raised over the military’s surveillance capability after a North Korean fishing boat was found adrift in South Korean waters, assumedly hours after it entered. The North Korean fishing boat was found drifting some 150 kilometers below the Northern Limit Line in territorial waters of the South on Saturday. The boat, carrying four fishermen, was reportedly drifting after its engine broke.  South Korean fisherman first spotted the boat near waters off Samcheok Port in

Defense June 16, 2019

Right next to the railroad of Namyeong Station in Seoul stands a tall, dark gray building with peculiar-looking windows -- so narrow only a single beam of light passes through. While one would never know from its exterior view, it carries a portion of the turbulent history of South Korea’s democracy that was earned through sacrifice. Constructed in 1976, the seven-story building was the office for the anti-communism investigation division under the National Police Agency, disguised as

Politics June 14, 2019

Actress Yoon Ji-oh, who claimed to have been a witness in the sexual abuse scandal surrounding late actress Jang Ja-yeon, was sued Monday by donors who had given her money.According to the Seoul-based law firm Law & Us, 439 people who made donations to Yoon have filed a lawsuit for the return of about 10 million won ($8,500), claiming Yoon profited by deceiving them. The class action suit demanded compensation of 30 million won for other damages, according to the law firm.  Yoon had tes

Social Affairs June 10, 2019

African embassies in Korea will host events as part of 2019 Africa Week from Wednesday to Saturday in an effort to share their culture and exchange business opportunities. According to the Embassy of Egypt in South Korea, which holds chairmanship of the African Union, 19 embassies will participate: Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia.  The events

Diplomatic Circuit June 10, 2019

PAJU, Gyeonggi Province -- Crossing armed borders alone to flee a poverty-stricken life in North Korea was one of the biggest challenges 29-year-old Lee Kang has faced. Starting life over in South Korea, entirely different from his former home, was another. In the beginning, everything was surreal, as if he were living in two different worlds. He would be in South Korea when awake, but he would return to the North in his dreams at night, Lee told The Korea Herald.But thanks to the help he receiv

North Korea June 10, 2019

A former ambassador to Vietnam was dismissed from his post for violating the anti-graft law and other irregularities, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. Former Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Do-hyun received flight tickets and accommodation from a Vietnamese company when he attended an opening event for a golf course in Vietnam with his family in October. He is also suspected of verbally abusing his officials.  The irregularities were found when the Foreign Ministry conducted an inspection of the

Foreign Affairs June 7, 2019

Japan has faced difficulties engaging North Korea despite having expressed willingness to hold a summit with the North without preconditions. Tokyo had sought to convey its stance to Pyongyang during a two-day conference that kicked off Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, according to a Japanese news outlet on Wednesday. However, the communist regime had canceled its participation in the event.  According to Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s Foreign Ministry sent Asian and Oceanian Affairs Burea

North Korea June 6, 2019

North Korea has 27 diplomats dispatched as permanent representatives to three UN offices as of this year, a US-based media outlet reported Wednesday.　According to Radio Free Asia, Pyongyang has nine diplomats -- including Ambassador Kim Song -- stationed at the UN’s New York headquarters, and nine -- including Han Tae-song, the ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva -- dispatched to Switzerland.  Another nine are in Vienna, Austria, where international organizations, such as the I

North Korea June 5, 2019

South Korea is making efforts to revive US-North Korea talks, as it is key to reviving inter-Korean relations, Seoul’s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Tuesday.Speaking to foreign journalists in Seoul, Kim said inter-Korean business projects, the Kaesong industrial park and Kumgangsan tourism will be normalized once conditions are met. “At this point, the resumption of the US-DPRK negotiation is the important priority,” Kim said at a press conference at the Seoul Foreign

North Korea June 4, 2019

World leaders, activists and academics gathered to discuss gender equality in South Korea during a conference organized by the Canadian Embassy in Seoul on Monday. The event held in Seoul marked the opening of the Women Deliver Conference 2019, which is being held over three days in Vancouver, Canada. According to the embassy, some 7,000 participants from over 160 countries were to participate in the conference, with an additional 100,000 people joining online.  During the conference in Seo

Diplomatic Circuit June 4, 2019

Seoul and Washington have agreed to appoint a South Korean four-star general to lead the envisioned future joint command and relocate its headquarters from Seoul to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the Ministry of National Defense said Monday.Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan met in Seoul to discuss the pending issues and vowed to closely cooperate to back the on-going diplomatic efforts on the denuclearization of North Korea. During the 60-minute t

Defense June 3, 2019

The recovery project to return the remains of fallen heroes of the Korean War to their bereaved families is a race against time, as the war generation is aging, the chief of the division in charge of DNA analysis at the Defense Ministry told The Korea Herald.While South Korea is actively carrying out work across the country to recover war remains -- recently expanding the area up to the Demilitarized Zone bordering North Korea -- identifying and returning remains to families continues to make sl

Defense June 2, 2019

CHEORWON, Gangwon Province -- A helmet with six bullet holes, a canteen pierced 23 times and a rifle with a round of ammunition left in the chamber. On Tuesday, those traces of the Korean War were found just where the war had left them, on the untouched highland of Arrowhead Ridge inside the Demilitarized Zone.The scene is where more than 300 young South Korean, French and American soldiers died fighting the North Korean and Chinese forces. The other side is believed to have lost some 3,000 sold

Defense June 2, 2019