Han Asia Times

A high-level delegation of parliamentary and private sector leaders from the Republic of Korea visited India from 10 to 15 September to learn about the impact that HIV has on communities and how the country is responding to the AIDS epidemic. The delegation was led by the recently formed Korean Women against AIDS (KOWA) organization, which works through women parliamentarians and senior business leaders to advocate for greater engagement in the Republic of Korea for ending the AIDS epidemic in Asia, Africa and across the globe. While in New Delhi, the group met with Indian parliamentarians and visited the HIV Vaccine Translational Research Laboratory. As part of the fact-finding mission, the group also visited nongovernmental organizations providing counselling, care and support services to women and children living with HIV, as well as the K. B. Bhabha Hospital in Mumbai, which has a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission...

Every fall, sightseers flock to Korea's beautiful rural destinations to enjoy the fiery colors of autumn. For some Seoul residents, however, traveling to other regions in the autumn season is out of reach. The following sites are known as the best places to see rich fall foliage in the city. They offer a place for peaceful walks among colorful leaves that are also located near popular tourist sites. A Romantic Stroll along Deoksugung Palace's Stone Wall Road Also known as ‘Jeongdong-gil road,’ Deoksugung Doldam-gil (Deoksugung Stone Wall Road) is the road along Deoksugung Palace’s stone wall and is a popular place for romantic strolls. In the fall, yellow ginkgo leaves add to the romantic ambience. This elegant road is about 900 meters long and stretches from Deoksugung Palace by Seoul City Hall to Chongdong Theater . There are numerous cultural sites and traditional and modern structures along the way that make the trip all the more worthwhil...

Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar met his counterparts from United States of America, Republic of Korea and Australia on the sidelines of G20 Labour Ministerial conference. They deliberated on the issues of mutual interest pertaining to labour and employment scenario, in these meetings held on September 11, 2014. Meeting with the United States of America US Secretary of Labour Shri Thomas Perez mentioned that the two largest and oldest democracies of the world have a number of things in common. He recalled that the MoU between the two countries, signed 3 years back, has been particularly successful in ensuring co-operation in the area of occupational safety. He expressed the view that the two countries can widen the scope of co-operation and work together in the field of skill development under the MoU. The US Secretary of Labour, while appreciating the efforts made by India in this direction, expressed his desire to learn from India`s ex...

MELBOURNE: As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Skill India' programme, India has reached out to the US, South Korea and Australia for securing their cooperation in skilling the youth for enhancing employment opportunities. Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met his counterparts of the three nations on the sidelines of the Labour and Employment Ministerial Conference of G20 nations here and deliberated various issues of mutual interest pertaining to labour and employment scenario. As part of Modi's 'Skill India' programme, India has reached out to the US, South Korea and Australia for securing cooperation in skilling the youth. Appraising US Secretary of Labour Thomas Perez during his meeting about the 'Skill India' programme initiated by Prime Minister Modi, Tomar said that new ITIs are being opened up in unserved areas under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode. He said that to create skills matching the needs of the industry, the...

Korean boy band N-Sonic wowed K-pop fans in India. N-Sonic is the first ever K-pop band to visit India, where the globally popular K-pop or K-wave does not have a great hold over, compared with other markets. On last August 30, N-Sonic performed at “K-POP Festival 2014 India” in Delhi, India, which was cohosted by the Korea Culture Centre India (KCCI) and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). A couple of thousand K-pop fans thronged into the festival, completely filling up the seats at the venue. Hundreds of fans who could not make it for the concert were forced to wait the band outside. At the concert, N-Sonic enchanted concrete attendees with dazzling performances and great charisma, decorating the concert with its hit songs like “Pop Beyond,” “ Run & Run,” and “Television.” Many leading local media outlets competed fiercely for covering the concert and interviewing the band members. Following the concert, it was slated to hold a fan signing event; unfortunately, it was conc...

From September 19 to October 4, the third most populous city of South Korea — Incheon — will host athletes and officials participating in 439 events spanning 36 sports, as part of the 2014 Asian Games. Indian travel agencies say that they have already started noticing a spike in interest to visit the country, which until a few years ago, didn’t even figure on the bucket-list for most Indian tourists. “In 2012, 11.1 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, making it the 20th most-visited country in the world. Lately, we have seen a spurt in queries with the Asian Games about to begin,” says Vikram Malhi, MD, Asia, Expedia, adding that bookings have risen by 10 to 15%. For Indian tourists, South Korea remains a relatively lesser-explored destination with perceptions about language barriers and difficulty in getting a visa being the biggest deterrents. That mindset is changing now. “The increase [in interest levels and subsequently booking has been around 10% year ...

For Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, this year’s Chuseok was just like any other day of work. While most Koreans went to their hometowns to see relatives and friends, Chung was out of the country, visiting Hyundai Motor’s plants in India and Turkey to check whether the company’s production and sales strategy for its small cars is on the right track. “Chung’s business trip to India and Turkey is to check the quality of their localized models following the strategic role changes of two plants,” the company said in a statement. “The India plant, which was the forefront export base to Europe, has changed its role to focus on the domestic market, while the Turkey plant has reinforced its role as a European mini car production base.” Hyundai has been implementing a two-track localized strategy centered on its plants in India and Turkey. Both make i10 and i20 city cars, but although the vehicles share the same body and design their sizes and various interior features differ. ...