By Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over the 75th Armed Forces Day celebrations at Seoul International Airport and Gwanghwamun on Sept. 26. This year's Armed Forces Day ceremony was characterized by the following features. First, it was the first time in 10 years since 2013 that a large-scale ceremony and parade was held to showcase the power of the Armed Forces. With more than 6,700 troops and 340 pieces of equipment participating in the event, the ceremony was held at Seoul International Airport in the morning, and a street march with the public was held from Sungnyemun to Gwan
By Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee made a surprise visit to the Paldo Market, which is open for Chuseok at Yongsan Children's Garden on the morning of September 24. Adults shopping for holy items at the market and children playing on the lawn were delighted to see them. The president and his wife took photos with each child who visited the market with their parents and wished them a happy holiday. The President and his wife first visited the booths for traditional games such as tteokmechigi and tuho and enjoyed traditional games with the children, asking them
By Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol delivered a keynote speech at the 'New York Digital Vision Forum' held at New York University on September 21 in the U.S., with representatives from the U.S. and world-renowned scholars in attendance, and presented the basic principles of the 'Digital Bill of Rights', a new digital order. The forum was held at the same venue exactly one year after the New York Initiative ('22. 9. 21), which first proposed the need for international solidarity in establishing a new order in the era of deepening digitalization. Since the announcement of the New York Initi
By Kayla Lee Jeju City will participate in the 2023 World Forum of Friendly Cities in Weihai City, Shandong Province, China, and sign a Friendship and Cooperation City Agreement with Weihai City. Under the theme of "Green Development and Low Carbon Living," the World Forum of Friendship Cities invites more than 1,000 representatives of international friendship cities, business leaders, experts, and media representatives from 16 cities in Shandong Province to promote cooperation. At the opening ceremony on September 25, Jeju City will sign a Friendship and Cooperation City Agreement with Weihai
By Lee Jon-young Travelers who lose or have their passports stolen while traveling in Vietnam can now get an "extension of temporary residence for departure" (exit visa) at the Da Nang Immigration Office without having to travel to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. According to the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) on Sept. 20, the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam (which oversees immigration offices in all regions of Vietnam) sent a letter to the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Da Nang on August 11, officially informing that "From August 15, exit v
By Lee Jon-young The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency and the Mackiss Company held a ceremony to deliver the 'Now We Are' drug and fraud prevention trademark to eradicate drug crimes and prevent leading investment fraud on Sept. 20. The ceremony was held in cooperation with the two organizations to actively spread the message of the seriousness of drug crimes that threaten the safety of citizens and the eradication of leading investment fraud. The Mackiss Company will release and distribute a total of 400,000 bottles of 'Now We Are' soju with the drug prevention message 'Never start drugs, a
By Kayla Lee A blessing ceremony was held in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to unveil a statue of the first Korean priest, Father Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon (1821-1846) on April 16 at 4:30 p.m. local time. The day marks the 177th anniversary of Father Kim's martyrdom. Installed on the exterior wall near the exit of the catacombs of St. Peter's Cathedral, the statue of Father Kim Tae-gon is a full-length statue measuring 3.7 meters in height and 1.83 meters in width, depicting Father Kim with his arms outstretched, dressed in a hanbok, including a lampshade and dopo. The statue was created b
By Lee Kap-soo The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) hosted “140 Guide Walkers” joint CSR event on September 16, 2023, at Ttukseom Hangang Park (Riverside stage) in Seoul, South Korea. In celebration of the 140th anniversary of Korean and German diplomatic relations, nearly 300 colleagues and partners from KGCCI and its member companies served as guide walkers for individuals with visual impairments at the 9th Harmony Marathon with Visually Impaired, organized by Seoul Disabled Sports Association. The “KGCCI Joint CSR 140 Guide Walkers” event has been a collaborative effor
By Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over the 73rd anniversary of the D-Day landing operation on Sept. 15 aboard the Navy's landing ship Nojeongbong, sailing through the channels of Incheon Harbor. This is the first time that a sitting president has presided over the event, and the first time that both the ceremony and the landing demonstration were held on a moving ship. During the ceremony, the President paid tribute to the veterans of the Korean War who sacrificed their lives to protect the freedom of the Republic of Korea in the past, and thanked the members of the ROK Armed F
By Lee Jon-young Jeju Special Self-Governing Province engaged in regional diplomacy by visiting Da Nang and Quang Ngai, Vietnam, from August 6 to 8, following up on its visit to Indonesia and Vietnam in August. This visit was part of the Jeju-ASEAN Plus Alpha policy. On August 4, Jeju signed a practical exchange agreement with Da Nang, which is not only a representative tourist destination but also a central hub city in Vietnam. Da Nang possesses one of Vietnam's top five trading ports and boasts a high level of information technology (IT) infrastructure. Additionally, it has seen an increase
By Kayla Lee Hwaseong City Mayor Jung Myung-geun invited Bui Minh Chau, Party Secretary of Vietnam's Phu Tho Province, to hold an international exchange meeting at Hwaseong City Hall on Sept. 11. The meeting was attended by 14 people, including three Vietnamese businessmen, and discussed ways to revitalize exchange and cooperation between Hwaseong City and Phu Tho Province. In addition, they agreed to further strengthen the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two local governments, which was temporarily halted by Corona 19, and to expand the fields of exchange beyond culture to i
By Kim Ji-eun The Peruvian Navy training ship 'BAP Union' (a 3200-ton sailing ship) arrived at Busan International Cruise Terminal in Yeongdo-gu, Busan on the morning of Sept. 10. The ship is a cruise training ship for the education and training of Peruvian naval cadets, and chose Busan as its fourth port of call to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Korea-Peru diplomatic relations during its round-the-world cruise training. The 115.5-meter-long, 6.5-meter-wide, 13.5-meter-high mast sailing ship has a total of 250 sailors, including 100 cadets, and is commanded by Captain José Arce. B.A.P. Un
By Lee Jon-young A commemorative event honoring the unwavering heroes who participated in the Korean War 72 years ago across the Caribbean Sea was held in Incheon's Seo-gu. On Sept. 8, within Gyeongmyeong Park, the Colombian Embassy in South Korea, in conjunction with the 17th Infantry Division of the Republic of Korea Army, and the Incheon Regional Veterans Affairs Office, organized a memorial event commemorating the 72nd anniversary of Colombian troops' participation in the Korean War at the Colombian War Memorial. Colombia, the only Latin American country to participate in the war, deployed
By Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Post TANGO (CP TANGO) to check the practice status of the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) on August 23, the third day of the Korea-U.S. joint exercise, in 23 years and encourage South Korean and U.S. soldiers. It is the first of its kind in 10 years since former President Park Geun-hye's visit in 2013, and contains the president's intention to curb North Korea's reckless provocations by sending a strong warning message about North Korea's tension-building activities along with the President’s determined will to pr
By Kim Ji-eun Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held its 60th Anniversary Ceremony on Sept. 1, attended by President Yoon Suk-yeol, Minister Park Jin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chancellor Park Cheol Hee of the KNDA, former ministers of foreign affairs, former presidents of the KNDA, and members of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee. In his opening remarks, Park Chul-hee, president of the KNDA, emphasized that the academy, which was founded in 1963, has grown over the past 60 years into a center of excellence for diplomatic and sec