By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo On February 25, 2024, a Single voting day was held in the Republic of Belarus as part of the elections to the National Parliament. During this significant event for the entire State, members of the House of Representatives (lower House of the Parliament) and Local Councils were elected. Later this year, state elections will be held for members of the Council of the Republic, representatives of civil society organizations for the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, and deputies to Local Councils. In the context of 2024 Belarusian parliamentary elections, Andrew Chernetsk
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on February 23 (New York time), and exchanged views on Korea-United Nations cooperation, South Korea’s Security Council membership, North Korea, and key international issues. Minister Cho praised Secretary-General Guterres' leadership in resolving international issues such as the Gaza crisis in an era of unprecedented complex crises, and expressed his commitment to actively support the Secretary-General's efforts to promote sustainable development in the international community under Korea’s
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young The National Historical Museum of Greece has been invited by the Greek Embassy in Seoul to cooperate in arranging a photography exhibition at the War Memorial of Korea from late December 2023 to February 2023. The exhibition is supported by the Greek Ministry of National Defense. The exhibition aims to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and showcase Greece‘s image during the 1950s through American philhellene Robert McCabe’s photographs. It was a period when Greece joined the Korean War with a forceful expeditionary troop and air squadron,
By UN Journal Kayla Lee Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with Saia Ma'u Piukala, the new Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific, at his office on May 20, to share in-depth discussions on building a global healthy society. Piukala, formerly the Minister of Health of Tonga, took over as the Director of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, one of the six WHO regional offices (Europe, Pan-America, Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, Western Pacific, and Southeast Asia) on February 1, and chose Korea as his first overseas visit. Mayor O
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo Ambassador of Kazakhstan to South Korea, Nurgali Arystanov, met with Mayor of Busan, Park Heong-joon in Busan on Feb. 16, 2024. During the meeting, the Ambassador emphasized Kazakhstan's special relationship with Busan, noting the presence of the Consulate General of Kazakhstan and the signing of the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between Almaty and Busan. In this regard, the Kazakh diplomat invited the Mayor of Busan to visit Almaty this year. In turn, the Mayor of Busan accepted the invitation with gratitude expressed an interest in expanding bilateral coop
By UN Journal Lee Jon-young South Korea established diplomatic relations with Cuba on Feb. 14 in a surprise announcement that could pose a setback to North Korea that has long boasted brotherly ties with the Latin American country. In New York, the two countries' representatives to the United Nations exchanged diplomatic notes, marking the establishment of formal ties. Cuba is the 193rd country which South Korea has built diplomatic relations with. The announcement marked a culmination of Seoul's steadfast efforts to build a formal relationship with Cuba and expand its diplomatic foothold in C
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Seoul (Ambassador Saeed Koozechi) hosted a reception to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the National Day of Iran at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Sogong-dong on Feb. 8. "Forty-five years ago at this time, the Islamic Revolution triumphed in Iran, and the Islamic Revolution, under the leadership of Imam Khomeini, succeeded in introducing a system based on religious democracy in the social and political spheres through the power of the Iranian people themselves," said Ambassador Saeed Koozechi. "Since then, Iran has been conductin
By UN Journal Kim Ji-eun Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul had a telephone conversation with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, on February 6, the foreign ministry said. It was the first telephone conversation between the two ministers since Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul’s inauguration. Minister Wang expressed his wish to build close working relations with Minister Cho to closely cooperate for the development of Korea-China relations, and invited Minister Cho to visit China. Minister Cho expresse
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo As part of the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, a meeting was held between the Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ermek Marzhikpayev and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea Yu In-chon. They discussed the main directions for developing mutual cooperation between the two countries, strengthening ties and exchanging experience in the fields of sports, tourism and sports pharmacology. The Kazakh Minister expressed hope for strengthening mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation. Also, during the meeting,
By UN Journal Kim Ji-eun Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang In-sun, with Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment of the U.S. Department of State, co-hosted the 8th ROK-U.S. Senior Economic Dialogue (SED) in Seoul on Jan. 31, the foreign ministry said. This is the first official bilateral meeting since her appointment as the Vice Minister. At the Dialogue, the two sides discussed cooperation on building resilient supply chains, including the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the CHIPS and Science Act, the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), and
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo Kim Eun-mee, the President of Ewha Womans University, has been appointed as a National Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women in the Republic of Korea, the UN Women announced on Feb. 5. Kim has been a trailblazer in the field of international development studies, dedicating her research efforts to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. During her tenure as a professor at various prestigious institutions, including the University of Southern California, Brown University, Harvard University, and Ewha Womans University, she has paid special attention
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo The following article was contributed by Akmal Saidov, academician, doctor of legal sciences, Member of the Union of Writers of Uzbekistan, to the Dipl;omacy Journal for publication via the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Korea.—Ed. "...(Alisher's) titles were written like this: "The guide, the highest point of honor and respect, the head of religion and statesmen, the strength of the leaders of the country and nation, the initiator of good deeds, the developer of charity institutions, the pillar of the kingdom, the ruler of kings Amir Alisher, the leader, the hope and trust
UNJournal Jon Lee | Chun Young-hee, head of the Ministry of Foreign Ministry's Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau, hosted a roundtable for diplomatic corps members of the Peace Club, with about 20 participants, including ambassadors from the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, and Brazil. The Peace Club is a council between the diplomatic missions (20) of countries with permanent missions in North Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sharing the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula, Chun said that since the beginning of the year 2024, North Korea has been creating anxiety in t
UNJournal Jon Lee | Governor Kim Jin-tae of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province met with EU Ambassador to Korea Maria Castillo Fernandez at the Pyeongchang Olympic Memorial Hall in Gangwon Province on Jan. 27. "Thank you for coming to this Olympic event after the 2023 World Forest Expo," said Governor Kim. "If EU ambassadors from 26 countries visit Gangwon Province in the second half of this year, we will prepare abundantly for them to experience the nature and culture of Gangwon Province." "Of the more than 1,800 athletes participating in the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, more
UNJournal Jon Lee | "I sincerely hope that the 2025 APEC Summit will be held in Gyeongju, a city that represents the history and culture of the Republic of Korea, and that the President of Peru will visit Gyeongju," said Peruvian Ambassador to South Korea Paulo Duclos on Jan. 24. When Ambassador Paulo Duclos met with Gyeongju City Mayor Joo Nak-young at the Gyeongju City Hall in Gyeongbuk Province on Jan. 24, he expressed his hope for Gyeongju to host the 2025 APEC Summit. Peru, which is celebrating 61 years of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea, is hosting this year's APEC Summit