Han Asia Times

For the first time Korean Cultural Centre India is organizing Korean language teachers training course. Those who are interested may contact the centre.  1. Period: 14th October 2014 (Tuesday) ~ 19th February 2015 (Thursday) 2. Time: Tues, Thurs (4pm~6pm), Saturday (2pm~5pm) 3. Venue: Korean Cultural Centre India 4. Fees: 15 ,000Rs. 5. Instructor  Vyjayanti Raghavan (Dean of Korean Language Department, JNU)  Vaishna Narang (Dean of Linguistic Department, JNU)  Kim Do-young (Visiting Professor, University of Delhi)  Lee Hyun-Kyung (Visiting Professor, JNU)  Kwak Mira (Instructor recruited by Korea government, King Sejong Institute, Korean Cultural Centre India) 6. Eligibility  Indian: Bachelor Degree with TOPIK more than level 4.  Korean: Bachelor Degree with experienced of teaching Korean language, Bachelor Degree with experienced of Korean language teaching course. 7. Contents: - Korean Language, Linguistics, Korean Language education as a forei...

A map made by the Japanese government that recognizes South Korea’s ownership of its easternmost islets of Dokdo was unveiled on Sunday, in a clear piece of evidence refuting Japan’s repeated claim to the territory. The map indicates that Japan’s continued territorial claim to the Dokdo islets is wrongfully made as the Japanese government used the map to mark its own territory when it clinched a peace treaty with Allied forces in September 1951 following its defeat in World War II. The Dokdo islets, which lie closer to South Korea than Japan in waters between the two countries, have been a thorny issue in the countries’ relations. South Korea keeps a small police detachment on the islets. A map made by the Japanese government that recognizes South Korea’s ownership of its easternmost islets of Dokdo was unveiled on Sunday, in a clear piece of evidence refuting Japan’s repeated claim to the territory. (Yonhap) Chung Tae-man, a researcher on Dokdo, recently unveiled a scanned file ...

 Since independence in 1947 Indians have looked mostly to the West for economic inspiration. The country has sent millions of expats to the US and Britain, and has developed ties with Western companies eager to tap into the huge Indian market. But things are changing.Already, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took office in May, has built a strong relationship with Japan’s Shinzo Abe — riding a huge influx of interest from the East Asian nation’s entrepreneurs and executives. Andre Penner / AP Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has built a strong relationship with Japan’s Shinzo Abe — riding a huge influx of interest from the East Asian nation’s entrepreneurs and executiv Despite a high-profile exodus of Western companies from India, a GlobalPost analysis reveals that Japanese, Korean and Singaporean applications for business visas have shot up in the last year. American and British applications have remained flat. Western firms have been cautious ab...

Indian Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, left, and Ajay Kanwal, president and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Korea and regional CEO of Northeast Asia, pose for a photo at the Indian Embassy in Seoul, Thursday, after a news briefing on a business seminar on infrastructure and manufacturing in India slated for Aug. 29. / Korea Times Indian Ambassador Vishnu Prakash encouraged investors to search for business opportunities in his country, calling India "a young, educated nation" with a sufficient number of high-skilled workers to work with Korean companies. During a news conference at the Embassy of India in Seoul Thursday, the envoy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been in office since May, has pushed for silent but decisive reform to remove bureaucracy and attract more foreign investors. "The Indian prime minister's message to the nation is less government and more governance," Prakash told reporters. "It's true that w...

  Lee Joon-gyu (60 yrs) is a seasoned diplomat. Immediately after he completed his Masters in Law from Seoul National University, Korea, in February 1979, Joon-gyu passed his High Diplomatic Service Examination and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in his country. Thereafter, he has represented Korea at the United Nations, Malaysia, Japan, China and New Zealand. In August 2012 he assumed charge as his country's Ambassador to India. During his career he was also director, international trade, MOFA. As a diplomat, he is only too aware that his role is to strengthen diplomatic ties between South Korea and India, but also ensure that these are buttressed by cultural and business ties.And during the past decade, Korea has notched up some significant successes in India, even though it has seen some of its projects (Posco in Odisha is one example) plagued by delays.He agreed to an exclusive interview by R.N.Bhaskar, and given below are the edited excerpts: It w...

Getty Images In an unique way to symbolise the rapid rise in bilateral ties, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se today showed his counterpart Sushma Swaraj pictures showing the growth of a sacred Maha Bodhi sapling which was gifted to his country by India in March. In a meeting with Swaraj on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting, the South Korean Foreign Minister brought photographs comparing the sapling that has grown four times that size in the last four months. He told Swaraj that the sapling was 30 CMs tall when it was gifted but now it is 130 CMs in length. "He wanted to show this as a reflection and symbol of rapid growth in India-Korea relationship. This was a very interesting manner of symbolising the relationship," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. He said a range of issues of bilateral interests were discussed. South Korea has around 50 million Buddhist population and the sacred Bodhi Tree from Indi...

South Koreans are weekend warriors. The sport of choice? Hiking. Mountains are everywhere, and most can be climbed in a day. You need only the following prerequisites: a love of nature, multi-course meals packed into Tupperware, several bottles of rice wine and high-end gear. Hiking has long been a South Korean pastime, but it has become more like a national identity. In a typical month, about 1 in 3 Koreans goes hiking more  than once. The mountainous national park north of Seoul attracts more visitors annually than the Grand Canyon. Part of this passion can be explained by geography. The country is a topographical eggshell mattress, covered with hundreds of steep, climbable peaks. But it’s the rituals surrounding Korean hiking that define mountain culture here. The pace is brisk, and at the top, big groups spread out on blankets and devour elaborate spreads. They also drink rice wine — sometimes lots of it. Amazingly, the hike down is also brisk. Hikers ascend stairs at...

Han   Something like the persimmon tree? Ripening in the sad evening glow, The tree where the fruits of my heart’s love Ripen. With room to spread in the next world only, Still it looms behind the one I was thinking of, Falling down from above her head. It may yet become the fruit  Of her overwhelming grief That she wished to plant In the yard of her house. Or would she understand  If I said it was all my sorrow, All my hope from a previous life, The color of that fruit? Or did that person too Live in sorrow through this world? That I do not know, I do not know. From Pak Chae-sam’s 1960 collection of poems, “Chunhyang’s Mind”  Poet Pak Chae-sam (1933-1997) has been credited with putting a wide range of human emotions into his poems, using creative, succinct and emotional words.  His collection of poems, “Enough to Say It’s Far,” recently published in English, is the one collection of his that compiles into poetic words all the realizations and sympathy that on...

인도서 'K팝 교류대사' 나선 돈스파이크 (뉴델리=연합뉴스) 나확진 특파원 = 26일(현지시간) 인도 뉴델리에서 작곡가 돈스파이크가 한국과 인도 음악인의 교류에 대한 생각을 말하고 있다. 2014.7.27 << 국제부 기사 참조 >>  rao@yna.co.kr '코리아-인디아 퓨전 뮤직콘서트' 등 다양한 활동 (뉴델리=연합뉴스) 나확진 특파원 = "이제는 케이팝(K-POP)이 일방적으로 다가가기만 하는 것을 넘어 각국 음악인과 협업해 더 깊이 있는 결과물을 내놓을 때라고 생각합니다." 가수 김범수와 나얼 등의 음반 작업에 참여한 작곡가 겸 프로듀서 돈스파이크(본명 김민수·37)는 26일(현지시간) 연합뉴스 특파원과 만나 '전파가 아닌 교류'를 강조했다. 그는 프로젝트팀 'A.S.K.'(Asian Sing Korean Soul)를 꾸려 외교부 '국민 모두가 공공 외교관' 사업에 지원, 지난 18일 인도 뉴델리에 도착했다. 바로 현지 음악인들과 접촉을 시작한 그는 25일 뉴델리에서 '코리아-인디아 퓨전 뮤직 콘서트'를 열어 재즈 색소폰 연주자 신현필, 인도 기타 연주자 아디티야 발라니 등과 함께 '사랑하기 때문에', '친구여', '섬집아기' 등 한국 곡과 인도 음악을 선사했다. 인도 라디오에 출연한 돈스파이크 (뉴델리=연합뉴스) 25일(현지시간) 인도 뉴델리에서 현지 라디오 방송에 출연한 작곡가 돈스파이크. 뒤 왼쪽부터 시계방향으로 돈스파이크, 색소포니스트 신현필, A.S.K. 기획담당 육숙희, HIT95 라디오 진행자 사르타크 카우시크. 2014.7.27 << 국제부 기사 참조, A.S.K. 제공 >>  rao@yna.co.kr 또 현지 케이팝 팬들을 대상으로 오디션을 개최하고 인도 FM 라디오 HIT95에도 출연해 한국 음...

Observer Research Foundation chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni said the “tight equation between a degree certificate and education has created several distortions, both in society and in the system of education itself”. (TOI file photo by K Sunil Prasad) MUMBAI: A report by a thinktank shows India's investment in science has lagged behind that of neighbouring China, the US and South Korea, resulting in these countries staying ahead when it comes to research. While India invested 0.88 per cent of its GDP in science research, the US invested 7-8 per cent, and South Korea 3-4 per cent. The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) report titled " Whither Science Education in Indian Colleges?" shows that India, with one of the lowest R&D spend-to-GDP ratios, is also expending resources on areas that have a weak connection to industry, thereby missing out on opportunities for economic growth. "More than a quarter of (India's) R&D investment goes towards ...

President Park Geun-hye nominated Kim Jong-deok, a visual design professor at Hongik University, as the new culture minister, officials said Sunday. Along with Kim, Park appointed Kim Young-seok, presidential secretary for maritime and fisheries, vice maritime minister.  The announcement was made nearly three weeks after Chung Sung-keun, a former TV news anchor, withdrew his nomination for the culture minister post. He was accused of having a drunk driving record and other ethical misdeeds. Kim Jong-deok The nomination put an end to the Cabinet reshuffle that started in June in efforts to tighten Park’s grip on state management, which was affected by the ferry disaster in April. Park launched her new Cabinet last month without naming a new nominee for the culture minister post to prevent further delay in her reform drive. Kim, 57 and an award-winning graphic designer, served as president of the Korean Society of Design Science between 2010 and 2011.  “Kim was ...

Passengers watch their smart devices as they wait for the train a subway station in Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul Web-based cartoons, dramas dominate digital users' pastime By Baek Byung-yeul To respond to the needs of busy digital users on the go, media content providers are releasing more cartoons, dramas and novels short enough to be viewed in under 10 minutes on mobile devices. The local press calls this phenomenon "snack culture," a Konglish term referring to media content that are as accessible and fast as your regular snacks. "My smartphone helps me endure the tedious commute as I can enjoy a wide range of media content," said Kim, who declined to give his full name, on a train headed to City Hall Station in Seoul, Tuesday. Kim commutes to work by subway, and it usually takes about 70 minutes door-to-door. Among the different kinds of media content, Kim is addicted to "webtoons" or free online comic strips. ...