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| Korea Times President and Publisher Lee Byeong-eon, fifth from right, and Korea Times staff pose with embassy representatives including ambassadors from Central American countries during the envoys' visit to the newspaper's office in Jung-gu, Seoul, Friday. From right are Managing Editor Shim Jae-yun, Dominican Republic Embassy's Counsellor Alex Pina, Honduran Ambassador Virgilio Paredes Trapero, El Salvador Ambassador Milton Alcide Magana Herrera, Lee, Costa Rican Ambassador Rodolfo Solano Quiros, Guatemalan Ambassador Herbert Estuardo Meneses, Digital Managing Editor Oh Young-jin, Panamanian Ambassador Ruben Arosemena, Chief Editorial Writer Park Yoon-bae, Managing Director Cho Jae-hyon and Embassy Correspondent Yi Whan-woo. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Yi Whan-woo
The Korea Times on Friday invited embassy representatives including ambassadors from six Central American countries ― Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama ― to a meeting and luncheon as part of efforts to build friendship and discuss mutual interests.
This is the first time that the Seoul-based daily newspaper has set up such meeting in its history.
The invited guests were five ambassadors to Korea ― Rodolfo Solano Quiros of Costa Rica, Herbert Estuardo Meneses Coronado of Guatemala, Milton Alcides Magana Herrera of El Salvador, Virgilio Paredes Trapero of Honduras and Ruben Arosemena of Panama ― plus Alex Pina, the counsellor of the Embassy of Dominican Republic.
From the Korea Times side were President and Publisher Lee Byeong-eon, Managing Editor Shim Jae-yun, Digital Managing Editor Oh Young-jin, Managing Director Cho Jae-hyon, Chief Editorial Writer Park Yoon-bae and Embassy Correspondent Yi Whan-woo.
The six countries are all part of SICA, a Spanish acronym for the eight-member Central American Integration System that also includes Belize and Nicaragua.
Calling The Korea Times a "natural window" to Korea, the envoys underscored the role of the newspaper in helping foreigners better learn about the country. They pointed out that Central America is not very well known here and that the newspaper can help bolster cooperation on trade, investment, tourism, education and other sectors between Korea and their respective countries.
The meeting was followed by a lunch at a nearby Korean barbeque restaurant.
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| Embassy representatives from Central American countries and Korea Times staff attend a meeting at the newspaper's office. |
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| Korea Times President and Publisher Lee Byeong-eon, left, talks with El Salvador Ambassador to Korea Milton Alcide Magana Herrera before a meeting hosted by the newspaper at its office . |
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| Korea Times Managing Editor Shim jae-yun, left, joins a conversation involving Honduran Ambassador to Korea Virgilio Paredes Trapero, right, and Costa Rican Ambassador Rodolfo Solano Quiros, second from left, before a meeting hosted by the newspaper at its office . |
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| Korea Times Digital Managing Editor Oh Young-jin, left, talks with Guatemalan Ambassador to Korea Herbert Estuardo Meneses before a meeting hosted by the newspaper at its office . |
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| Korea Times Managing Director Cho Jae-hyon, left, exchanges business cards with El Salvador Ambassador to Korea Milton Alcide Magana Herrera before a meeting hosted by the newspaper at its office. |
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| Korea Times Chief Editorial Writer Park Yoon-bae, right, speaks with Guatemalan Ambassador to Korea Herbert Estuardo Meneses before a meeting hosted by the newspaper at its office. |
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| Embassy representatives from Central American countries watch an introductory video clip on The Korea Times during a meeting with the Times staff. |
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| Panamanian Ambassador to Korea Ruben Arosemena, right, speaks during a meeting hosted by The Korea Times at its office. |
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| Embassy of the Dominican Republic Counsellor Alex Pina speaks during a meeting hosted by The Korea Times at its office. |
