Living quarters have been well planned but lack the electricity, water and finishing touches. — VNS Photo Lê Hoa By Vũ Lê Hoa As an avid traveller, I have set myself a target of visiting 100 countries around the world. North Korea stands at 67, so I’m two thirds there. On my list, I visited Latvia in the Baltics the year before, and last year I went to Mongolia. So this year, when a new tour to North Korea was announced after the unsuccessful Trump-Kim summit in Hà Nội, I boarded the first tour heading to Pyongyang. At 3am, we arrived at the airport. I had expected two groups of people on my tour: a group of wealthy elderly people visiting North Korea out of curiosity, and maybe younger people in their 30s or 40s who were single and wanted to tick off one more destination on their bucket lists. We flew from Hà Nội to Beijing, then Pyongyang, a secretive city … [Read more...] about Unveil the secrecy of North Korea
Who is the president of south korea
Diplomatic gold? Joint North Korea-South Korea Olympic bid faces long odds
Buoyed by the role the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics played in easing tensions last year, South Korean and North Korean officials are due to meet on Friday with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Switzerland to discuss what would be the first ever bid by two countries. To make Olympic history, experts say the long-shot bid would need to overcome international sanctions against North Korea, decades of mistrust between Seoul and Pyongyang, and wide political and economic differences between two countries still officially at war. The Switzerland meeting comes ahead of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam, which will be key to the future of reclusive North Korea’s relations with the world. Since the Olympic bid was announced after a summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang in September, South Korean officials have been pushing forward with plans despite the obstacles. On Monday … [Read more...] about Diplomatic gold? Joint North Korea-South Korea Olympic bid faces long odds
Football cements South Korea’s ‘New Southern Policy’
Vo Van Thanh, a journalist based in Hanoi South Korean President Moon Jae-in uploaded a congratulatory message to Vietnam’s national men’s soccer team on his Facebook page on Monday, just two days after they beat Malaysia to win the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018. You can see that his PR team has certainly been working hard: the message was written in Vietnamese as well. And it’s not hard to understand why, considering that Moon has been pressing ahead with his "New Southern Policy," aiming to deepen ties with Southeast Asian nations. In his Facebook post, Moon emphasized how football has brought Vietnam and South Korea closer. "To see how the Vietnamese people waved both their country’s and South Korean national flags during the AFF final yesterday night, I felt that football has made both nations closer friends." "[Vietnam winning the Cup] is all the more meaningful when it was coach Park Hang-seo and his Vietnamese players who made it happen. I hope you guys will keep … [Read more...] about Football cements South Korea’s ‘New Southern Policy’
Vietnamese citizens to get five-year multi-entry visas to South Korea
Kim Do-hyon, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam, said Monday afternoon that the C-3 visas will be granted to permanent residents of the three Vietnam's biggest cities Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang without any occupational priority from December 3 onwards. C-3 visa holders can stay in South Korea for up to 30 days, with no restrictions on number of visits for five years. Kim said the new policy reciprocated the affection Vietnamese football fans have lavished on the South Korean coach of the national men’s football team. "The Vietnamese show affection towards Mr. Park, Korean government reciprocates that love of the Vietnamese people," he said. Vietnamese football fans have dubbed Park Hang-seo a "wizard" following a rare string of successes by his team. Under his lead, Vietnamese football finished runner-up at the AFC U23 Championship last January, and fourth at the Asian Games in September. Park is treated as a celebrity in Vietnam, where ads … [Read more...] about Vietnamese citizens to get five-year multi-entry visas to South Korea
Kim Jong Who? South Korea revamps the way students study North Korea
A year of warming relations between North and South Korea has raised the prospects of closer ties, if not some form of unification for the still-warring neighbors far in the future. But it might not be obvious in a typical South Korean classroom. "I really don’t know anything," 17-year-old student Roh Ha-na said. "It’s like only twice a year that the school teaches about unification and national security, and about North Korean life... but I just let most of it go in one ear and out the other." This year’s inter-Korean détente has highlighted what many observers see as a lack of knowledge among South Koreans about their northern neighbor, prompting government efforts to revamp the way South Koreans learn about North Korea and unification. Baek Jun-kee, the head of South Korea’s Institute for Unification Education says current education methods have failed to show young South Koreans the importance of a nuanced understanding of North Korea, its people and … [Read more...] about Kim Jong Who? South Korea revamps the way students study North Korea