By UN Journal Kayla Lee The 9th Foreign Ministerial Strategic Dialogue between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom held in Seoul on Oct. 21, 2024. Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul of the Republic of Korea(ROK) and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy of the United Kingdom(UK) held the 9th ROK-UK Foreign Ministerial Strategic Dialogue in Seoul. The two Ministers discussed a wide range of topics, encompassing bilateral cooperation, international cooperation, and regional and global issues. The 1st Strategic Dialogue was held in December
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Nearly two million children suffering from severe wasting are at risk of death due to funding shortages for life-saving Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) to treat the condition, which is the most dangerous form of malnutrition, the UN News reported. The warning comes from UN children’s agency UNICEF which said levels of severe wasting in children under five remain gravely high in several countries due to conflict, economic shocks and climate crises. Severe wasting - also known as severe acute malnutrition - is caused by a lack of nutritious and safe foods and repeate
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Novelist Han Kang, 53, has become the first South Korean author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Han received the notification from Sweden's Hanlim Institute on Oct. 10 (local time) and said she thought it was a voice phishing when she heard it. “I'm very surprised and honored,” she said. The Swedish Academy described Han's work as “intensely poetic prose that confronts historical trauma and reveals the fragility of human life,” and praised her original style and innovation in contemporary prose. Han won the Booker International Prize for The Vegetarian in 2016, ra
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Last October’s terror attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on Israeli communities marked a devastating day for children, and the suffering has continued unabated, the UN News quoted a senior UNICEF official as saying on Sept. 19. Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action, stressed the urgent need for an immediate end to the hostilities and a negotiated political settlement that prioritises the rights and well-being of both Israeli and Palestinian children, now and in the future. He was briefing and taking questions from journal
By UN Journal Kayla Lee The REAIM Summit 2024, co-organized by the Republic of Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Ministry of National Defense (MND), ended in a success after a two-day run from September 9 to 10, 2024. The ministerial roundtable on September 10, which Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul chaired and Minister of National Defense Kim Yong Hyun delivered a keynote speech at Lotte Hotel in Seoul. It brought together government representatives from over 90 states. The representatives discussed and shared their national views on (1) general approaches and priorities, (2
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with a bipartisan delegation of seven U.S. Senators, including Senators Bill Hagerty and Chris Coons, to exchange views on issues of mutual interest, including U.S.-ROK relations, Korean Peninsula issues, and regional and global cooperation on Sept. 3. Minister Cho welcomed the group of senators, who are among his closest allies, and expressed his appreciation for their efforts to build bipartisan support for the ROK-U.S. alliance and U.S.-Japan-Korea cooperation in the U.S. Congress. He also noted that the U.S.-ROK alliance is stronger
By UN Journal Kayla Lee The 2nd Korea-Malaysia Climate Change Dialogue was held on September 2, at the Seoul Government Complex Annex to strengthen cooperation on climate change response between Korea and Malaysia. Han Min-young, Director of the Climate, Environment, Science and Diplomacy Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Datuk Nor Yahati binti Awang, Deputy Minister of Environment and Sustainability, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia, participated as the chief representatives. During the meeting, the two sides introduced domestic climate change policies,
By UN Journal Kayla Lee The island nations of the Pacific are “showing the way” to protect the planet from the ravages of climate change and now the rest of the world needs to step up with more support, the UN chief said on Aug. 26. According to the UN News, Secretary-General António Guterres was addressing the opening of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga, telling leaders that while much of the world is embroiled in conflict, injustice and socio-economic crisis, the Pacific “is a beacon of solidarity and strength, environmental stewardship and peace.” The Forum consists of 18 Member States, f
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), who is visiting South Korea, to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation, including CEPI's investment in Korean biotech companies on Aug. 26. Cho explained that the South Korean government is expanding its contributions to the international community with a significant increase in its ODA budget this year, and the $18 million in support for CEPI this year is part of its commitment to contribute to strengthening the global health system. Hatchett
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul delivered a special lecture during the opening ceremony of the 10th Global Korean Politicians Forum on August 20. In his lecture, Minister Cho elaborated on Korea’s diplomacy as a Global Pivotal State to overseas Korean politicians actively working around the world and urged them to continue serving as a bridge between Korean communities abroad and the homeland. The Global Korean Politicians Forum is a significant event where overseas Korean politicians from across the globe gather to explore ways of mutual development between Kor
By UN Journal Kayla Lee With the number of aid workers killed in the line of duty reaching record highs, the UN and partners are demanding greater accountability as countries commemorate World Humanitarian Day on Aug. 19, the UN News reported. Last year was the deadliest so far, with 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries - an “outrageously high number”, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The figure represents a 137 per cent increase compared to 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed. UN chief António Guterres said in his message for the day that a climate
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, recently hosted 30 people, including Ambassador of Malaysia to Korea Mohd Zamruni bin Khalid, the deputy ambassador of Papua New Guinea to Korea, and officials from the Marshall Embassy in Korea, for a two-day, one-night tour of Heuksan-do Island. The tour was held to promote the 'K-Tourism Island, Heuksan-do Island,' project that Sinan-gun is working on, and to establish cooperation and linkages with invited organizations. Heuksan-do Island was selected as a project target for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's K-Tourism Island Devel
By UN Journal Kayla Lee People wearing jeans with jeogori, or a bolero-style female Hanbok (traditional attire) jacket, royal Hanbok or leather pants with hip-torn black jeogori, those carrying traditional fans and bags with traditional patterns, and even dogs clad in Hanbok. These are part of the scenes witnessed from Dongdaemun History & Culture Station to the way to the 2024 Hanbok Expo at Art Hall of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul’s Jung-gu District, Korea.net reported. It made one feel like the past Joseon era coexisted with the present. Walking from Dongdaemun History & C
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Artist Seo Eun-hye, who paints Korean wildflowers, has been selected to exhibit her work on the big screen in New York's Times Square for the second consecutive year. According to the Busan art community on July 4, Seo was selected as one of 12 artists from around the world to participate in the 'Art Forum: No Boundaries' exhibition organized by Vision Art Media, and had the opportunity to display her work as video art on the big screen in New York Times Square on July 19. This is the second year in a row that Seo has been honored with the selection, as she was the firs
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Sudan’s deepening humanitarian crisis caused by nearly 16 months of war has left countless women and girls subject to sexual violence and rape and tens of thousands of children at risk of death from hunger, the UN News quoted UN aid teams as saying on Aug. 13. Speaking from Sudan, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder described meeting a senior medical worker at a hospital outside Khartoum who had “direct contact with hundreds, hundreds of women and girls, some as young as eight years old, who have been raped. Many have been held captive for weeks on end.