By UN Journal Lee Jon-young The special envoy delegation of President Yoon Suk-yeol, comprised of Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Sung Tae-yoon and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Deok-geun, met with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on July 24 and delivered a letter of thanks from President Yoon for the selection of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) as the preferred bidder for the new nuclear power plant, and discussed follow-up measures. On behalf of the Korean government and Team Korea, Sung Tae-yoon, head of the envoy delegation, expressed his gratitude for the opportu
UNJournal Jon Lee | Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae and Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam of the Republic of Singapore signed the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Singapore on July 24, 2024, in Singapore. The Treaty establishes an institutional foundation for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the two countries that celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year, by laying out the specific scope and procedures for the legal assistance. The Tre
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo “I invite Korean electrical appliance companies to consider Colombia as an investment destination,” said Colombian Ambassador to Korea Alejandro Peláez Rodríguez at a reception to celebrate the 214th Colombia’s Independence Day. Delivering a speech at the gala reception held at Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on July 22, Amb. Rodríguez said, “We have worked with the Korean authorities and companies to make it a reality that South Korea engineering is present in Colombia in the design, construction and operation of electric, solar and wind power generation plants. “The sol
By UN Journal L:ee Kap-soo The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) announced on July 19 that it has agreed to increase the number of flights between Korea and the Czech Republic from the current four to seven times a week. The Czech Republic is home to more than 100 Korean companies in various sectors, including automobiles and semiconductors. Prague is a popular tourist destination for Koreans, and the airline sector has been the foundation for enhancing friendly cooperation between the two countries since the establishment of direct flights in 2004. As part of the industr
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 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
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 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 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
By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo The following article was contributed by Ambassador of Kazakhstan Nurgali A. Arystanov in Seoul to the Diplomacy Journal for publication. –Ed. It is widely recognised that preserving cultural heritage is crucial, as it shapes a nation’s identity and defines its future. Countries around the world have maintained historical sites, protected languages, and conserved natural sites. In Central Asia, the protection of cultural heritage is equally important, given the region’s rich and diverse history, which dates back to the 3rd millennium BCE. As the summer sun begins its