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Park to Get Honorary Doctorate

By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter Rep. Park Geun-hye of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) will receive an honorary doctoral degree in political science from Pukyong University in Busan, said a report. According to the report, Park received a phone call from university authorities a few days ago stating they'd like to award her the degree, which she accepted. ``The university had made the offer before, but she declined. The university made the offer again recently, and she accepted it,'' said an aide to Park. Pukyong University decided to award the degree to Park, daughter of late-President Park Chung-hee, to acknowledge that the former president had given financial support to the university, formerly known as Fisheries College of Busan, when he was in power. Park will receive the award Nov. 21 at the university. She received an honorary doctoral degree from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in February. hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

Nov 9, 2008

UN Official Praises Korea for Fighting Climate Change

By Kim Se-jeong Staff Reporter A senior U.N. official has praised Korea for its compliance with the United Nations' agenda and its firm commitment to fighting climate change. What is more noteworthy is that U.S. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ``has taken the climate change as an important agenda. Having his home country taking a leadership position is very significant, and I welcome it,'' Asha-Rose Migiro, deputy secretary-general of the U.N., said in an interview with The Korea Times last week. Migiro gave a speech on climate change at the World Leaders Forum in Seoul to mark the 60th anniversary of the country's founding. It was her first visit to Seoul. When it comes to climate change, there is one thing that has been unanimously agreed on: It is a man-made disaster. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a dire report in early 2007, confirming environmental destruction as a man-made disaster, and issued warnings that without imminent and collective action, human beings on earth would suffer a great deal from irreversible

Nov 6, 2008

Ex-Constitutional Court Chief Wins Prize

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The first president of the Constitutional Court Cho Kyu-kwang, 82, was given an award for his contribution to improving the Korean constitution and administrative law. The Constitutional Court said Thursday Cho was named winner of the ``Mokchon Prize'' in recognition of his endeavors as the first president of the court to ensure people's basic legal rights are protected under the constitution and to improve Korean administrative law. The Mokchon Prize was established in 2005 to pay tribute to the former judge and head of the Ministry of Government Legislation Kim Do-chang, who passed away that year. Born in 1926, he graduated from Seoul National University in 1948 and passed the Korean bar exam the following year. He served as the first president of the Constitutional Court between 1988 and 1994. pss@koreatimes.co.kr

Nov 6, 2008

Ceremony Honors Literature Translation Awards Winners

By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter The Korea Times awarded prizes to winners of its 39th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards at a ceremony held at Seoul Plaza Hotel Wednesday. The winners were Mabelle Moon, who translated Han Kang's ``The Mongolian Mark,'' chosen as the Grand Prize winner in the fiction category; Chung Jae-won and Frances Justine Post, who translated Gi Hyeong-do's poetry, were the Grand Prize winners in the poetry category; Lee You-jin for translating the novel ``Boy Meets Girl'' by Kim Do-eon, which won the Commendation Award in the fiction category; and Peter Lee, who translated ``Magnificent Sleep'' by Jeong Ggeut-byeol for the Commendation Award in poetry. Chung, the Grand Prize winner in the poetry category, couldn't attend the ceremony as he is currently in the United States. At the ceremony, Koh Jung-sook, Mabelle Moon's grandmother, received the award on her behalf, while Lee You-jin's parents received the prize for their daughter. Peter Lee, Lee Eun-joo (his wife), and poet Jeong Ggeut-byeol were present. ``This year, the level of tr

Nov 5, 2008

US Ambassador Celebrates Election

By Tom Coyner Contributing Writer About 200 guests were invited to a special morning brunch to take in the historic U.S. presidential and congressional elections at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in central Seoul Wednesday. ``Today, with our national elections, we Americans celebrate the twin traditions of change and continuity through democracy ― twin traditions with which our fellow democratic Korean friends share,'' said US Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens in her bilingual remarks to guests. In the tradition of American embassies around the world, the U.S. mission to Korea hosted a special morning brunch to take in the historic U.S. presidential and Congressional elections. The event was filled with both excitement and high technology. Not only were there large screen televisions showing CNN live coverage and large monitors allowing for guests to check out their favorite Web sites, but Ambassador Stephens was interviewed via Internet by journalists from outside of Korea. While the interactive video broadcasts seemed to work well, people outside of the room were

Nov 5, 2008

Seoul, Tunis to Draw Up Action Plans on Cooperation

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea and Tunisia will establish joint groups to explore the possibility of bilateral economic cooperation and come up with action plans in the near future, the North African nation's top economic policymaker said. Mohamed Nouri Jouini, 46, Tunisian minister of development and international cooperation, expressed hope that more South Korean firms will invest and do businesses in his country, which he stressed offers a ``stable'' business environment. ``Strengthening cooperation with South Korea is very important for us,'' Jouini said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul last Friday. The minister made a visit to South Korea last week to attend a biennial ministerial meeting, called the Korea Africa Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC), from Oct. 27 to 30 in Seoul. On the sidelines of the conference, he met with high-profile South Korean government officials, including Strategy and Finance Minister Kang Man-soo, and representatives of large South Korean businesses, to discuss closer cooperation. ``We discussed consolidating c

Nov 3, 2008

Bangladesh Army Chief Gets Medal

By Kim Se-jeong Staff Reporter Bangladesh Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed, received the ``Order of National Security Merit'' from President Lee Myung-bak for his contribution to promoting defense cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries. The medal was given in recognition of his efforts to promote cooperation with the South Korean Army's participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. He served as the UN peacekeeping officer in Rwanda 1994-95, and now oversees the entire UN peacekeeping operations that Bangladesh carries out throughout the world. Bangladesh now maintains nearly 10,000 officers on 13 missions including in Libya, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo and Afghanistan. . Moeen said the size of the UN peacekeeping operation indicates the commitment of Bangladesh to peace and stability around the world. Korea maintains around 400 peacekeeping officers on six missions including Lebanon. Moeen is also president of the Bangladesh Olympic Association, and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korean Olympic Committee for streng

Nov 2, 2008

UN Leader Calls for More Help for Poor

By Kang Shin-who Staff Reporter Asha-Rose Migiro, the third deputy secretary-general of the United Nations (U.N.), said closer cooperation between global leaders is essential to keeping a growing number of people from falling into poverty amid the ongoing economic crises across the world. In a lecture on implementing U.N. development agendas in the face of global financial crises at Kyung Hee University, Migiro expressed concern that the current financial slump could increase world poverty and food shortages in particular. ``The stock market and the cost of commodities are very volatile and banks are reluctant to give loans, which in turn is causing a recession. It is hitting the poor countries even harder,’’ Migiro said. ``Collective and concrete global partnership is needed to tackle this crisis. The globe should come together to seek answers for the problems.’’ She said that some 100 million people who escaped poverty thanks to the U.N.’s help are expected to slip back into it and 200,000 are likely to lose their jobs. Migiro, from Tanzania, mentioned two initia

Nov 2, 2008

Grand Prize English Is Gateway to New Economy, Culture, Soft Power

By Lee Dong-joon Hankuk University of Foreign Studies The importance of English in Korea is definitely on the rise ― there is no doubt about that. For Korea, which lacks in natural resources and is hugely dependent on foreign investment and trade, English is essential since it is what connects us to the world. So the role of English in the Korean economy is also definitely significant but we must be cautious when say this as the economy should not be examined alone since it is correlated with other sectors of a country. Paul Kennedy an American declinist argued in his book, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, that the growth of a nation is a threefold one: simultaneously to provide military security, to satisfy the socioeconomic needs of its citizenry and to ensure sustained growth. The growth of an economy must therefore be accompanied with a balanced growth of political, cultural, environmental and social sector. Even a rival theorist Joseph Nye criticized in his book Bound to Lead, the declinist view by reinterpreting the concept of power ― hard power; military and economi

Oct 31, 2008

Message From Screening Committee

In January when the announcement of the 4th English Economic Essay Contest for university students was made, few imagined that the global economy would be in such trouble as it faces today. The Korea Times is quite honored to have picked the title on ways to reduce risks in the globalized financial market for this year's competition in the category for foreign students. This year, 1,007 students from 27 countries participated in the competition sponsored by Woori Bank on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of The Korea Times. A wide geographical representation was made in the entries and the list of winners, symbolizing the fact that as the competition entered its fourth year, more and more students both at home and abroad are participating. In particular, a Singaporean student from Columbia University in New York won the Grand Award and a Kenyan and an Indian students in Korea garnered Commendation Awards this time. The other Grand Award went to Lee Dong-joon, a student of Hankook University of Foreign Studies. Yang So-mang, a Yonsei University student, and Kim Soo-min

Oct 31, 2008
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