“Improved South-North relation crucial for peace in Asia”
U.S. Special Representative for North Korean Affairs Glyn Davies, left, listens to South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam during their joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. <Photo=AP/Newsis> Most of the candidates running for the 19th general election, scheduled to take place on Apr. 11, said Friday […]
Top UN officials warn against growing human trafficking
*Editor’s note: High-ranking UN officials including Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon delivered speeches at the special General Assembly meeting held Tuesday (Apr. 3, 2012) in New York to raise the awareness among the members nations about the seriousness of the human trafficking. The AsiaN excerpted the story from the UN home page. UNITED NATIONS – At a […]
Transgender Woman to Compete in Miss Universe
Jenna Talackova, foreground, who advanced to the finals of the Miss Canada competition, part of the Miss Universe contest, who was recently forced out of the competition, appears with her attorney Gloria Allred at a news conference in Los Angeles Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Talackova says she was forced out of the competition because Pageant […]
Russia suffers frequent plane crashes
Russian emergency workers search the crash site of the ATR-72 plane crash outside Tyumen, a major regional center in Siberia, Russia, Monday, April 2, 2012. <Photo: AP/Newsis> MOSCOW (Xinhua) — Russia, once an aviation powerhouse, has been plagued by deadly plane crashes in recent years, with the latest claiming 31 lives on Monday when a French-Italian-made […]
Turkish energy minister hates hike but says necessary
Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said he also did not like the new natural gas energy hike price increase of 18 percent on Monday. Yet Yildiz went on to explain that even with the natural gas discount his country had received in 2011 from Russia it was not enough to offset rising cost […]
North Koreans eager to learn int’l business norms
If North Korea, as in the eyes of some casual observers, is totally sealed off from the outside world, it would follow that there would be little interest there in, say, the intricacies of the global economy. But according to Choson Exchange (CE), a Singapore-based non-profit group that runs business workshops in Pyongyang, interest in […]
Korea-Arab Society actively builds up cultural bridges
Although Korea and the Arab world have had links through the Silk Road for more than 1,000 years, in modern times, they have been restricted to the Arab construction boom in the 1970s and ‘80s and, more recently, to Korea’s energy dependency on Middle East oil. A joint partnership led by a retired Korean diplomat […]
Men’s ever-growing grooming needs
Consumers with deep pockets and cultural shift drive markets “No shame: get a free eyebrow touch-up and makeup for men” A blackboard sign said standing in front of a cosmetics shop named Manstudio. Located at the center of a bustling, hip street of Hongdae in Seoul, it is the first local cosmetics shop specifically for […]
‘Long-term vision planning needed for taekwondo’s longevity’
Master of Korean martial art plants seed in US For most people, taekwondo is a great hobby but not for Min Kyung-ho. “It’s a way of life,’’ says Min, a taekwondo master who has spent more than 50 years practicing and teaching the sport. Credited as the taekwondo pioneer in the United States, the 77-year-old […]
Persian New Year’s Day celebrated
Persian New Year’s Day, Norooz, which fell on March 20 this year, was belatedly celebrated in Yangcheon Cultural Center, western Seoul, Thursday (March 29) amid attendance of Iranian Ambassador to Korea Ahmad Masoumifar, other foreign diplomatic envoy and residents in the region. The celebration, hosted by Iranian Embassy, was also to mark the 50th anniversary […]