By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo UN Secretary-General António Guterres, standing alongside top officials in New York on Friday, underscored the essential need to bolster the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) across the Middle East amid continued attacks on its mandate, staff, premises and operations. Speaking at a pledging conference for the agency, the UN chief outlined the countless challenges facing Palestinian civilians in Gaza who are “forced to move like human pinballs across a landscape of destruction and death”. “Hopelessness is the greatest ally of instability,” he warned, stres
By UN Journal Kayla Lee National Security Adviser Jang Ho-jin met with visiting New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters at the Yongsan Office of the President in Seoul on July 15, the presidential office said. Jang and Peters agreed that the two countries, as similarly positioned countries in the Indo-Pacific region, should work together to safeguard peace, stability and a rules-based order in the region. Jang thanked New Zealand in particular for its role as chair of the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) Summit, which played an important role in issuing a joint statement o
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari, the new 12th papal nuncio to Korea, visited Catholic Medical Center (CMC) and Catholic University of Korea on July 10. The visit was organized to see firsthand the facilities of CMC, which has one of the largest medical networks and clinical and research centers in Korea, St. Mary's Hospital Seoul, which has a state-of-the-art medical system, and Catholic University College of Medicine and Nursing, which is training global medical talent based on the Catholic spirituality of respect for life. “I look forward to the visit of the Holy Father
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul held a luncheon meeting with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters on July 15 to exchange views on issues of common interest, including high-level exchanges, practical cooperation, including the economy, and the Korean Peninsula and key regional issues. Cho noted that New Zealand is a longtime ally that participated in the Korean War, and that the two countries have maintained close communication and cooperation as similarly situated countries with shared values. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Peters empha
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo First Lady Kim Keon-hee met with North Korean detention victims and their families, North Korean defectors working to improve human rights in North Korea, and North Korean experts at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) conference room in Washington D.C. on July 11. During her state visit to the United States in April last year, Mrs. Kim also met with North Korean experts and North Korean defectors to discuss North Korean human rights issues. "It is of great significance that we are meeting for the second time since last year, and recent reports that North Korea
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is in Washington, D.C., to attend the NATO Summit, held a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on July 10 (local time). The two leaders welcomed the opportunity to meet again in about a month and a half since they held a bilateral summit on the sidelines of the South Korea-Japan-China Summit in May, and appreciated the continuation of their meetings on the sidelines of the NATO Summit for the third consecutive year as part of the IP4. The two leaders noted that cooperation in various areas, including the economy, e
UNJournal Kayla Lee | A solo exhibition by artist Jeon Byung-hee will be held on the 5th floor of Insa Art Plaza (Lefranc) in Insadong, Seoul from July 10 to 23. In this exhibition, Jeon has developed a technique called "petal touch three-dimensional oil painting technique," in which the artist sculpts petals with paint as if embroidering the emotions felt in her heart, and expresses her wishes for happiness as petals on the tip of her brush. I work in a way that feels a little unfinished because I want the viewers to fill in the gaps in their minds. It is a work that is completed by the artis
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young "Mercy in the heart, peace in the world!" This is the theme of the 2019 Buddha’s birthday celebration in the year of the Buddha, 2563! However, in recent years, we have witnessed many conflicts and instability around the world. Conflicts between nations, racial tensions, mistrust in politics, economic inequality, and many other issues have disrupted our daily lives. In the midst of this turmoil, the values of peace and mercy are more important than ever. The need for peace Conflict around the world is not just a localized problem. The modern world is globalized, and
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo Gwangju City Mayor Kang Ki-jeong met with Paraguayan Ambassador to Korea Miguel Ángel Ubaldino Romero in the reception room of the city hall on July 9 to discuss fire safety exchanges. "Korea is the country that has provided the most support and cooperation in improving Paraguay's firefighting facilities," said Ambassador Romero, adding, "Our relationship with Gwangju, which began in 2018, goes beyond friendship and makes us feel like family and friends." Mayor Kang responded, "Natural and social disasters are occurring in various forms every day, so I hope we can lea
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo The UN human rights chief Volker Türk expressed his outrage on July 9 at Russia’s latest airstrikes on Ukrainian cities which killed dozens and hit the country’s biggest children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv, the UN News reported. Mr. Türk said these “relentless” attacks were deepening the humanitarian crisis in the country, tearing apart infrastructure, and creating a host of socioeconomic challenges. Between March and May, 436 civilians were killed and 1,760 injured, High Commissioner Türk said. “These high civilian casualties are largely the result of the ground
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee held a dinner meeting with about 120 local compatriots in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 8. (local time) When the President and Mrs. Yoon arrived at the entrance of the venue, they were greeted with a banner that read "Welcome to Hawaii by the President and Mrs. Yoon," along with many compatriots and Americans in military uniforms who came out to support President Yoon, who has firmly restored the U.S.-South Korea alliance, and some Americans who came out to support President Yoon, who sang "American Pie" last year, wav
UNJournal Jon Lee | President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee visited the Pacific National Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 8. The cemetery was established in 1949 and is home to veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Upon arriving at the cemetery, the President and First Lady were led by James Horton, Director of the Pacific National Cemetery, to lay a wreath and honor the U.S. veterans interred at the cemetery. After laying a wreath, they greeted and thanked the six Korean War veterans in attendance. The President and First Lady then visited the grave o
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young Director Han Myung-ku questions the movie industry and society with his unique perspective on social issues. His next movie, 'Geojedo POW Camp,' is in full production as the set site has been finalized. Han, who won the Best Director award at the Indian International Film Festival for his film "The Silence of One’s Lover," will direct "Geojedo POW Camp," a dramatic film with a total budget of 75 billion won, which is scheduled for release in 2025. The executive producer will be Kim In-sik, chairman of the steering committee of the Korea Association of Film Producers
By UN Journal Kayla Lee If Wittgenstein, a master of modern philosophy, once said, "The ultimate goal of philosophy is to show the fly the way out of the bottle," then the ultimate goal of art would be described as "to make the fly in the bottle dance, sing, and dream, so that it can overcome the gravity of reality." In other words, art, with its unique imagination and creativity, is the pursuit of self-reflection, which includes not only philosophy but also the so-called literary periods of literature, history, and the humanities, and should be aimed at eternity while seeing the limits of hum
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul received the new Ambassador of Japan to Korea Koichi Mizushima and exchanged views on bilateral relations on July 5. Minister Cho welcomed Ambassador Mizushima's appointment at a time when bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea, which are of vital national security and national interest, are developing on the basis of deep trust between the two leaders. Cho also stressed that both sides should wisely manage bilateral issues in a mutually respectful and supportive manner in order to consolidate the positive trend of bila