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.
By UN Journal Kayla Lee UN Secretary-General António Guterres has deplored a deadly weekend attack on a Gaza school-turned-shelter, his Office said on Aug. 12. “The Secretary-General condemns the continued loss of life in Gaza, including women and children, as we witness yet another devastating strike by Israel on the Al-Taba’een school in Gaza City, sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians families, with scores of fatalities, amidst continued horror, displacement, and suffering in Gaza,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. The incident occurred on Aug. 3 and at least 100 people were
UNJournal Kayla Lee | President Yoon Suk-yeol sent congratulatory telegeams to each of the 14 South Korean athletes who have won medals over the past three days at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. In his congratulations to Ban Hyo-jin, the youngest member of the Korean shooting team to win a gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle, the President said, “The entire nation held its breath during the last single shot of the youngest member of the Korean Olympic team in Paris and cheered when she won by 0.1 points.” He praised Ban's focus and boldness in winning Korea's 100th gold me
UNJournal Kayla Lee | Many Korean legends and myths are closely linked to nature. One of the most notable is the 'Manbyeonghwajodo' (萬病花朝圖). As its name suggests, this unique flower is said to have the mystical ability to cure all ailments, and the legends and stories surrounding it have been passed down through the ages. Manbyeonghwajodo is a painting that depicts the characteristic elements of the flower in a stylized manner, rather than in a realistic form. Each canvas is labeled with the names of flowers, such as Hangyuoknyeo Jikgeumhwa, Hongdohwa, Dongjeonghosangbuyonghwa, Yeongjuhwa, Okd
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul held a Foreign Ministerial Meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly in Seoul to exchange views on bilateral relations, regional and global developments on July 18. The two ministers noted that recent exchanges and communications between the leaders and ministers of the two countries demonstrate the importance that both sides attach to the Korea-Canada relationship, and adopted the Korea-Canada Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Action Plan as a follow-up to the May 2023 Korea-Canada Summit. The Action Plan is designed
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 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
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 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