By Reporter Anna Kim President Yoon Suk-yeol and the First Lady visited the US Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) named Kentucky, which was docked at the Busan Naval Operations Base on July 19. The President's spokesperson, Lee Do-woon, stated in a written briefing, "President Yoon's visit to the ballistic missile submarine is the first of its kind for a foreign head of state, including ally nations. It was planned to demonstrate President Yoon's determination to achieve 'peace through strength' based on the solid South Korea-US alliance." This visit to a US nuclear submarine is the
By Reporter Kayla lee Ambassador Song In-chang, the Sherpa for the G20, participated in the '3rd G20 Sherpa Meeting' held from July 13 to 16 in Hampi, India. At this meeting, representatives from G20 member countries and nine invited guest countries as well as major international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) attended, and substantive work on the drafting of the official G20 declaration to be announced at the G20 Summit in September began in earnest. The nine invited guest countries for 2023 are
By Reporter Kayla lee Jung Gang, Chief of Consular Affairs and Safety, visited Tokyo, Japan, and held the 23rd Korea-Japan Consular Chiefs Meeting with Toshihide Ando, Director-General of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on July 19. During the meeting, they extensively exchanged views on cooperation in various consular areas between the two countries, including △support for immigration, entry, and stay △protection of their respective nationals within each other's country. Director Jung requested Japan's cooperation to improve the convenience of stay for our nationals. At the same time
By Reporter Anna Kim Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Samtan Art Mine, the first cultural and artistic mine in South Korea, attempts to explore a meeting with the "Africa Primitive Art" with contemporary Korean artists. Organized by Samtan Art Mine and sponsored by Jeongseon County and Jeongamsa Temple, the exhibition titled "Contemporary Art Inspiration from African Art" will be showcased at the Samtan Art Mine Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) until August 25. Participating artists include painters Kwon Hak-jun, Park Bong-gi, Saya, Wi Se-bok, Yoon Hoo-myeong, Lee In, Cho Young-jae, sculptors, a
By Reporter Anna Kim The exhibition, displaying the unique style of artist Shin Sung-hee (1948-2009) known as "Nouage," is currently being held as the grand opening exhibition at The Gallery. Visitors can view representative works from different periods, ranging from Shin Sung-hee's early canvas works to his Nouage series, "Peinture Spatiale" series, and "Conclusion of Continuity" series, comprehensively exploring the artist's entire career. Shin Sung-hee's artwork, which embodied the essence of painting while presenting a distinct sculptural world, received greater recognition internationally
By Reporter Anna Kim I would like to express my gratitude to President Zelensky for the invitation and special consideration during these challenging times. First and foremost, I extend deep condolences to the innocent Ukrainian citizens who lost their lives due to Russia's illegal aggression and to the young Ukrainians and their families who sacrificed their lives to defend freedom. As the President of the Republic of Korea, I feel a great sense of responsibility as I visit Ukraine for the first time, especially during this critical period. During this visit, along with the South Korean gover
By Reporter Anna Kim The Korean and Mongolian National Tax Agency Chiefs held their 12th meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on July 18. During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed to enhance tax cooperation between the two countries. According to the terms of the MOU, the Mongolian National Tax Agency will organize annual tax conferences exclusively for more than 450 Korean companies operating in Mongolia. These conferences aim to provide tax-related information, address any tax-related issues, and actively support Korean businesses from a tax perspective. Additionally, th
By Reporter Kayla lee Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed various mutual interests, including South Korea-China relations, the Korean Peninsula issue and regional and international situations during the approximately 45-minute meeting Both sides reaffirmed the consensus reached during the South Korea-China summit in November last year at the G20, aiming to continue developing their bilateral relations. They emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy and mature relationship based on mutual respect, mutual benefit, and common interests and agre
By Reporter Anna Kim It has been officially announced that Canada has designated a national 'Taekwondo Day.' This distinguishes it significantly from the occasional declarations of 'Taekwondo Day' for appreciation and recognition in some other countries, like the United States. According to the Kukkiwon, led by President Lee Dong-seop, the Canadian government has decided to celebrate 'Taekwondo Day' on September 4. This date marks the day when Taekwondo was officially adopted as an Olympic sport during the 103rd International Olympic Committee General Assembly held in Paris in 1994. The offici
By Reporter Kayla lee Foreign Minister Park Jin held a bilateral meeting with Enrique Manalo, the Philippine Foreign Minister, on the occasion of attending the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministerial Meeting held in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 14. Ministers Park and Manalo agreed to further strengthen the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two countries in preparation for the 75th anniversary of South Korea-Philippine diplomatic relations in 2024. To achieve this goal, they discussed promoting active exchanges of high-level officials and exploring various cooperation measures, includin