By Anna Kim Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin will visit three African countries and Dubai from August 8 to 14, Deputy Spokesperson Ahn Eun-ju of the ministry said on Aug. 3. The purposes of Foreign Minister Park’s visit to Africa are to actively seek support of Africa, where the largest number of the member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is located, for Korea’s bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan, and to discuss how to encourage the participation of African countries’ high-level officials in the Korea-Africa Summit scheduled for next year. Foreign Minister Park w
By Kayla lee President Yoon Suk-yeol held a summit with Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno in Seoul on Aug. 1, asking for the Central American country's support for Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo. According to Presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon, both leaders discussed development of bilateral ties and stronger practical cooperation. Prime Minister Briceno visited Korea at the invitation of the Busan city government. Welcoming the Belizean leader on his second trip to the country in two months since the first in May, President Yoon said, "More Korean tourists are visiting Belize,
By Lee Kap-soo Regarding the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree where heat waves are causing a series of heat-activated patients, President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered, "Add a tourism program to make it a memorable event." President Yoon, who is on vacation on Aug. 5, ordered Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min to "add a tourism program to see Korea's industry, culture, history and nature urgently," Kim Eun-hye, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a written briefing. President Yoon requested cooperation from cities and
By Lee Kap-soo Shim Min, governor of Imsil-gun County, Jeollabuk-do, has stepped up as a "global ambassador" to herald his county, Jeollabuk-do and South Korea to participants in the 25th World Scout Jamboree held in Saemangeum, Imsil-gun. Governor Shim welcomed Macedonian teenagers participating in the World Jamboree who visited Imsil-gun for the first time on Aug. 1 and served as a goodwill ambassador to promote Korea, Jeollabuk-do, and Imsil. On this day, 30 Macedonian teenagers visited Imsil Cheese Village and held a "hoho program, rural culture experience." Governor Shim said, "Today, we
By Anna Kim Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang and Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn met with the House Committee on Ways and Means, led by Congressman Jason Smith, on July 31 in Seoul to discuss the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, energy cooperation and other Korea-U.S. industrial and trade issues. Meanwhile, Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Jang Young-jin held a briefing session on Korea-U.S. industrial technology R&D on August 1 (local time) in San Francisco and conveyed the Korean government’s stance on international coope
By Kayla lee K-water held a meeting with ambassadors from five countries in the Mekong River basin, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, at the Han River Basin Headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Aug. 1. At the meeting, K-water shared the current status of projects being pursued in the Mekong River basin, including the expansion of water facilities in Batambang Province, Cambodia, and the establishment of a climate-adaptive flood example and warning system for the Sebanghiyang River basin in Sawanaket, Laos. In addition, they discussed ways to cooperate through t
By Anna Kim The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), dispatched to Canada on July 2 to support the suppression of wildfires therein, left Canada on August 1, local time, and arrived in Korea on August 2 after a month of firefighting operations in the country. Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to the KDRT aboard a Korean transport aircraft and extended appreciation to Korea, saying that all Canadians were moved by Korea’s dispatch of the KDRT at a time when Canada was facing difficulties due to its worst-ever wildfires. Taking a tour of the aircraft cabin, the Prime Mi
By Kayla lee The Busan Port Authority (BPA) announced on Aug. 4 that it signed an MOU for logistics-linked cooperation with Ishikawa Prefecture, a port authority at Kanazawa Port in Japan, at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal in Dong-gu on Aug. 3. Kanazawa Port, located on the west coast of Honshu, Japan, is geographically adjacent to Busan Port and has eight Busan routes per week, and large shippers such as Komatsu, the world's second-largest heavy equipment company, use the route. BPA President Kang Joon-seok said, “Through the signing of this MOU, we will strive to facilitate
By Anna Kim Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin, who is on an official visit to Austria (Salzburg) from July 27 to 28 at the invitation of Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg, met with the Austrian Federal Minister on July 27, and had a broad exchange of views on strengthening the Strategic Partnership between the two countries, enhancing substantive cooperation in such areas as future industries and economic security, and regional affairs. The two ministers appreciated that high-level exchanges between the two countries have taken place actively, in
By Reporter Anna Kim President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Peter Wennink, the CEO of ASML, a Dutch semiconductor company, on July 28 at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, during his visit to South Korea. This meeting between President Yoon and CEO Wennink is the second one following the bilateral summit between South Korea and the Netherlands in November last year, which aimed to foster cooperation among semiconductor companies. ASML, the world's leading semiconductor lithography equipment manufacturer, had a groundbreaking ceremony for the "ASML Semiconductor Equipment Cluster" in Hwaseong City,
By Reporter Anna Kim Peruvian Ambassador to Korea Paul Fernando Duclos Farodi hosted a reception to mark the 202nd anniversary of Peru's Independence Day and the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with South Korea at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sejong-ro, Seoul on July 27. "We decided to establish diplomatic relations by starting mutual partnerships in various fields such as political cooperation, economic relations, and cultural and educational exchanges through a joint statement on April 1, 1963,” Ambassador Duclos Farodi said. Peru and South Korea have continued friendly relations and m
By Reporter Anna Kim Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang has decided to establish supply chains for key resources such as minerals and liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Australia and create conditions for corporate investment. Minister Lee met Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen in Seoul on July 25 to secure key resources such as minerals and LNG and strengthen cooperation in carbon-neutral areas such as clean hydrogen, green steel, carbon capture and storage (CCS). Regarding CCS cooperation, which is a way for the two countries to achieve carbon neutrali
By Reporter Kayla lee Talk Talk Korea 2023, the world's largest Hallyu content contest, opened on July 17 and will run through September 17, Korea.net, the official website of the Republic of Korea reported. Organized annually by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), Talk Talk Korea is the world's largest Hallyu content contest for foreigners, and has contributed to disseminating positive images of Korean culture across the world. This year's contest, under the theme of "Let's Unveil the Diversity of Korea" will seek submissions in the fo
By Reporter Anna Kim LG Electronics is promoting South Korea’s second largest city’s bid for World Expo 2030, at The Amundi Evian Championship 2023, one of the five major LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tournaments. LG has supported this prestigious event as an official sponsor since 2017. The tournament began on July 28 and will run until July 30 at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France. In an effort to carry out its mission to support Busan’s bid to host the World Expo, LG will screen its promotional video during The Amundi Evian Championship. Last year, the company also engaged i
By Reporter Anna Kim HD Hyundai announced on July 27 that Dmytro Ponomarenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Korea, visited Pangyo HD Hyundai Global R&D Center (GRC) and discussed the reconstruction project with Cho Young-chul, president of HD Hyundai Site Solution. President Cho introduced HD Hyundai's construction machinery business here and shared information on the visit of Korean economic mission to Poland, where Korean companies participated on July 14. The two sides agreed to discuss ways to cooperate with Ukraine's reconstruction project and continue to establish a cooperative system.