By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo The construction of a major battery manufacturing complex in Arizona, announced by LG Energy Solution, is on track to be completed in two years with the first round of hiring expected to begin at the end of this year. The company provided progress updates on its $5.5 billion (7.2 trillion won) stand-alone facility during a stakeholder meeting on April 3 at Combs High School in San Tan Valley near the town of Queen Creek where the complex is located. The attendees included Brian Oh, Head of Mobility & IT Battery Division at LG Energy Solution; Hyung Kim, Hea
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Senior officials from China and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan gathered in Xian on March 30, 2024, to inaugurate the Secretariat of the Central Asia-China cooperation mechanism. From the Kazakh side, Deputy Foreign Minister Alibek Bakayev attended the Central Asia-China Secretariat opening ceremony. In particular, it was underlined that the launch of the Secretariat was an outcome of the 1st Central Asia-China Summit, which took place in Xian in 2023. He highlighted the foreign policy priorities of Kazakhstan, including good-neighb
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Chonnam National University President Jung Sung-taek meets with Serbian Ambassador to Korea President Jung Sung-taek of Chonnam National University received a visit from the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Serbia Nemanja Grbic at the reception room of the university headquarters on April 8 and talked about international exchanges. At the meeting, the Serbian ambassador introduced Serbia and Kragujevac University and showed an active stance on exchanges with Chonnam National University. President Jung Sung-taek expressed his gratitude for visiting Chonnam
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Jecheon City Mayor Kim Chang-kyu recently held a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Xing Haiming to explore ways to cooperate in attracting Chinese companies to invest in Jecheon. The meeting was attended by Jecheon Mayor Kim Chang-kyu, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, Deputy Chief of Mission Fang Kun. They listened to the difficulties faced by Chinese companies in entering Korea and discussed continued cooperation for investment in Jecheon. As the atmosphere for attracting foreign companies to Korea is currently heating up, w
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo The Governor of the Turkistan province, Darkhan Satybaldy, paid an official visit to South Korea on April 1-3, 2024. During the visit, he held bilateral meetings with CEOs of private sector organizations. The Governor was welcomed at Korea International Trade Association (KITA) by its Chairman, Jin Sik Yoon. During the meeting, they discussed the investment opportunities and significant potential for trade cooperation. Speaking about the business friendly climate in Kazakhstan, the Governor invited member companies of KITA to cooperate with the Turkistan provin
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo "We will humbly accept the will of the people expressed in the general election and do our best to renew the state affairs and stabilize the economy and people's lives," said President Yoon Suk-yeol. Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea secured large majority in the general election, crushing the ruling People's Power Party. The Democratic Party of Korea won 175 seats in the general election, maintaining its position as the sole majority party. The People's Power Party won 108 seats, the Fatherland Innovation Party 12 seats, the Reform Party 3 seats, the N
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo POSCO International’s palm business has become a major source of revenue for the company, with sales of USD 163.6 million (approximately KRW 213.8 billion) and operating profit of USD 52.56 million (approximately KRW 68.6 billion) last year. Since beginning its farm plantation development in Papua, Indonesia, in 2011, the company started commercial production in 2016 and is on the right track, achieving its largest production volume of 208,000 tons in 2023. Its PT.BIA corporation, the locally established company to run the farm business, turned profitable in 20
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Folk painting Sibjangsaeng is one of the traditional folk arts of Korea, and refers to works inspired by the Korean class system of Sibjangsaeng. Folk painting Sibjangsaeng are paintings by folk painters, mostly active during the Joseon Dynasty, that satirize various aspects of the Sibjangsaeng caste system and express them through rich imagination. Sibjangsaeng represented a wide range of classes, from nobles to peasants, merchants, servants, gamblers, virgins, crosses, and commoners. They were often depicted in the form of a single family or several Sibjangsa
By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee The Organizing Committee of the held a steering committee meeting and selected sculptor Jeon Hang-seop, a graduate of Seoul National University's Department of Sculpture and Graduate School of Art, as the 27th World Peace Art Exhibition Steering Committee Chairman. Yoon Song-ah, who majored in Western painting at Hongik University's Department of Painting, made her acting debut in 2005 as the main character of the SBS children's drama "English Magic School" and has since appeared in numerous dramas and movies, was selected as PR ambassador. After garnering attent
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Dawonsys announced on April 8 that Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Republic of Korea, visited the company's factory in Jeong-eup, Jeollabukdo Province. The purpose of the ambassador’s visit was reportedly related to the construction of the Santo Domingo railroad infrastructure, one of the three major infrastructure projects in the Dominican Republic. Dawonsys introduced its railroad expertise and operational know-how to Ambassador Camilo. They explored opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the construction of rai
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, who is visiting Belgium to attend the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting, held a meeting with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Raymond Peters in Brussels on April 4 and exchanged views on bilateral relations, economic and trade cooperation, regional and international issues. Minister Cho expressed the significance of the meeting as the first high-level contact since the inauguration of New Zealand's new government in November last year, and called for more high-level exchanges between the two countries in
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek of Kazakhstan paid an official visit to South Korea on April 1-2. During the visit, he held talks with his colleagues and Presidents of Korean Universities and discussed issues of cooperation in science and digital technologies. At a meeting with the Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong Ho they reviewed the present status of cooperation and charted the course for future collaborations. Additionally, Minister Nurbek met with the Mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on providi
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Park Sang-woo attended a meeting in Seoul organized by the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC) in Korea and infrastructure and other issues of mutual interest on April 3. The meeting was organized at the request of the Ambassador of Panama, who represented the Diplomatic Corps of Latin America in Seoul, to discuss cooperation in the construction and infrastructure sectors between Korea and Latin America. Minister Park met with ambassadors from 12 Latin American countries. Park noted that Brazil was t
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo Incheon City Mayor Yoo Jung-bok met with Peruvian ambassador to Korea Paul Fernando Duclos Parodi to discuss cooperation at the reception room of Incheon City Hall on April 1. The meeting was held at the request of the ambassador, who discussed the appointment of Peru as the country’s honorary consul in Incheon and ways to cooperate in economic and cultural fields. "Peru is hosting the APEC Leaders' Meeting for the third time this year, after 2008 and 2016," said Ambassador Duclos Parodi. "We are looking forward to hosting the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Korea nex
By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux and Seodaemun-gu Mayor Lee Sung-heon recently held a working-level meeting between the French Embassy in Korea and the Seodaemun-gu Office at the office's conference room to discuss ways to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two organizations. Ambassador Bertoux said, "Expanding relations through cooperation with local governments is the key to diplomacy." "I consider strengthening exchanges with Seodaemun-gu to be the first step in bilateral diplomacy between Korea and France," he said. "We are very pro