By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, who is attending the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting (Feb. 20-21, Johannesburg, South Africa), held bilateral meetings with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to exchange views on bilateral cooperation, cooperation on the international stage, and regional and international affairs on Feb. 20. During the meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Wong, Minister Cho evaluated the 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' (upgraded in December in 2021), which has been strengthened through continuou
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Twenty-six K-folk painting artists shared the beauty of traditional Korean folk paintings with the world at the Leonardo da Vinci Art Gallery invitational exhibition in Milano, Italy, from Feb. to 10. The exhibition was a great success, as the works that combine the originality of K-folk paintings with modern sensibilities attracted the attention of European art lovers. The K-folk painting artists invited to the exhibition presented works based on traditional folk painting techniques with a modern sense, proving the globalization potential of Korean folk painting
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee We interviewed Lee Mi-hyung, director of the K Folk Painting Research Center, to learn more about the value of K Folk Painting and its future prospects. We talked about how K-Folk Painting, which bridges tradition and modernity, is developing and its potential to spread globally. --Ed. Question: How is K-Folk Painting different from traditional folk painting? Answer: K-folk painting is a modernized version of traditional Korean folk painting. While traditional folk paintings are paintings that were naturally formed in the lives of common people during the Joseon
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee The '2025 44th New Year Leadership Development Highest Course for Culture and Arts' hosted by the Korea Paper Culture Foundation-World Jongie Jupgi Organization (Chairwoman Rho Young-hye) was held at the Jongie Nara Museum in Jangchung-dong, Seoul on Feb. 10. The event was attended by more than 100 participants, including foundation executives, education directors, branch directors, and specially registered instructors for leadership training, who shared their vision for the globalization of Korea Jongie Jupgi (Paper folding). Delivering welcome speech, Chairwoma
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Diplomacy Journal, founded in 1996, is celebrating its 28th anniversary. Over the past 28 years, Diplomacy Journal has been at the forefront of documenting the flow of international diplomacy and promoting cooperation and cultural exchanges between countries, and now aims to further develop as a global diplomatic journal. Over the years, Diplomacy Journal has provided readers with insightful information through in-depth coverage of a variety of topics, including interviews with foreign ambassadors, international foreign policy analysis, economic trends, and cultu
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met in Munich on February 15 to reaffirm the unwavering trilateral partnership between the United States, South Korea, and Japan. They underscored their shared commitment to the safety, security, and prosperity of the three countries and the Indo-Pacific region. They pledged to take decisive steps to counter threats, strengthen economic resilience, and advance common interests. Strengthening Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation The three mi
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Speaker Choi Ho-jeong of Seoul Metropolitan Council visited the Evergreen Tree Welfare Center in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Korea, with Irish Ambassador to Korea Michelle Winthrop on Feb. 12. The welfare center, which is operated by the social welfare corporation St. John of God Brothers, is a self-supporting facility that provides comprehensive services for people with developmental disabilities to live independently as members of the community, and is operated under the guidance of the Ireland-based Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. The visit was organized by Ambas
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee "Members of the Ambassadors' Spouses Association in Seoul (ASAS) participated in a Korean temple food experience program at the Korean Temple Food and Culture Experience Center in Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the occasion of the Jeongwol Daeboreum (the day of the first full moon of the lunar year)," said Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism. Twenty-one ambassadors' spouses from 17 countries, including the United States, Australia, Bolivia, Hungary, and Japan, cooked and tasted Korean Jeongwol Daeboreum foods such as tricolor herbs and five-grain rice. At the eve
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Mayor Lee Chung-woo of Yeoju City met with the new Greek Ambassador to Korea, Loukas Tsokos, who visited Yeoju City on Feb. 10, to discuss the promotion of a sister city relationship between the Greek city of Papagou and Yeoju City. After the meeting, they visited the Greek military memorial. The new Greek Ambassador to Korea and his wife, as well as the Greek defense attaché to Korea, Archbishop of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Korea, and Gyeonggi Eastern Veterans Affairs Office Director Son Ae-jin were present at the meeting. The visitation ceremony was also atte
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Artist Park Ji-yoon, the second daughter of the late Gallup founder Park Moo-ik, met with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing on Feb. 7. Park met with the Chinese ambassador at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul. During the meeting, the artist discussed ways to expand cooperation through culture and arts, citing the role of art as a diplomatic bridge between the two countries. “As K-pop and K-art are gaining global recognition, we look forward to further cultural cooperation between China and South Korea,” said Ambassador Dai Bing. Park presented her artwork to
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Who can help the affairs of the sinking state? Who will set back right the miserable affairs of the sinking state? A world of power struggles and chaos, where the people wither. In the midst of the struggle for power, the people wither away. Wind and rain break the last of their loyalty. In the fierce wind and rain, even their loyalty may go broken. When will the day come when the darkness will lift and the mountains and rivers will be illuminated? The wind blows cold and the snow drifts thousand miles. The cold wind blows and the road becomes blurred in the flut
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee A delegation from the Committee of Family and Women of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which is directly under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, visited the Seoul Foundation of Women & Family (CEO Park Jung-sook) on Feb. 6 to share examples of Seoul's women and family policies and discuss ways to cooperate between the two organizations. The meeting was held at 4 p.m. at Seoul Women's Plaza and was attended by Park Jung-sook, CEO of the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family (SFWF), and Ms. Mukharam Nurmatova, Deputy Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Women's
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with Chinese Ambassador Dai Bing on Feb. 6 and exchanged views on bilateral relations between South Korea and China and Korean Peninsula issues. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cho met with Ambassador Dai Bing at the government building in Seoul, and after assessing that the bilateral relationship has been steadily developing with positive exchanges, he said, "Let us continue to work closely together to achieve more substantial and fruitful results this year." "To this end, I expect the Chinese Embassy in Korea, unde
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Unification Minister Kim Young-ho met with acting US ambassador to South Korea Joseph Yun on Feb. 4, the ministry said. Kim and Yun exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and discussed cooperation between the two countries. Kim welcomed the appointment of Acting Ambassador Yun, an expert on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea, and congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President James David Vance on their recent inauguration. He asked the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to play an active role in the process of cooperation on unification and N
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with Israeli Ambassador to Korea Rafael Harpaz in his office at Seoul City Hall to discuss cooperation measures between major cities of the two countries on Feb. 3, 2025. Ambassador Rafael Harpaz, who took office in October of last year, is a diplomacy expert who served as Ambassador to Azerbaijan and the Philippines and Director General of the Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mayor Oh said, “Seoul and Tel Aviv, which are friendly cities, are not only the centers of the two countries in terms