Indian cities occupy every one of the top 10 spots on a recent list of the world’s fastest-growing cities over the next two decades, according to the Indian Embassy in Seoul, citing a report from Oxford Economics.Surat, a diamond-processing and trading center in the western state of Gujarat, will see the fastest expansion through 2035, averaging more than 9 percent growth annually. As one of a handful of smart cities developed by the Indian government and the private sector, Surat is followed on

Saeed Badamchi Shabestari (Iranian Embassy)By Iranian Ambassador to Korea Saeed Badamchi Shabestari As the Iranian ambassador to the Republic of Korea, I am delighted to address readers of esteemed newspaper Korea Herald about our National Day.This year, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and birth of the Islamic Republic of Iran.Over the years, the spirit of the revolution has borne fruitful results in the face of great adversities and misfortunes. The event sought to p

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (right) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo shake hands during a summit in Seoul in September 2018. (Indonesian Embassy)As Seoul implements its New Southern Policy across Asia, it is crucial to grasp the region’s diverse local situations and tap into opportunities in emerging cities, according to Indonesian Ambassador Umar Hadi. Speaking in an interview at the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul last week, the envoy advised South Korean companies, particularly automak

Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Umar Hadi (left) and gamelan composer Nyoman Wenten (third from right) pose at the premiere of “Bali: Beats of Paradise” at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California, on Nov. 7, 2018. (Indonesian Embassy)On the Indonesian island of Bali, music and dance are deeply ingrained in people’s daily chores and rhythms, effortlessly blurring the lines between work and leisure. Before going to school in the morning, children stop by the vil

Azerbaijani citizens lay wreaths at the Martyrs’ Avenue in Baku in commemoration of the Black January martyrdom. (Azerbaijani Embassy)Azerbaijan mourns the death of its compatriots in the “Black January” massacre of Jan. 19-20, 1990, and pays homage to their sacrifice, which ushered in freedom upon the modern democratic market economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, according to its embassy in Seoul. The Black January commemoration annually marks the martyrdom of 147 Azerbaijanis -- women, childr

When Korea’s foremost civilian ambassador, Choi Jung-wha, walked along Paris’ Champs-Elysees Avenue last year, she was struck by familiar tunes sung in Korean.Young French people belted out K-pop band BTS’ songs in Korean, to the surprise of Choi, who first landed in France in the late 1970s for her studies. Back then, Korea, much less South Korea, was barely on the mental map of an average French person. But with the country’s continuing economic and cultural ascent on the global stage, the Kor

Myanmar’s Ambassador Thura Thet Oo Maung (right) and Korean Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu pose at the Burmese National Day reception in Seoul on Jan. 7. (Joel Lee / The Korea Herald)As Seoul fleshes out its New Southern Policy to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian nations and other countries, Myanmar presents fresh opportunities with its business-friendly policies, according to the country’s top envoy to South Korea. During the Burmese National Day reception on Jan. 7 in S

Visitors at Skyline Luge Tongyeong ride carts downhill. (Skyline Luge Tongyeong)Skyline Luge Tongyeong has made a list of South Korea’s “100 Must-Visit Tourist Spots,” as compiled by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization, according to Skyline.The entertainment facility in South Gyeongsang Province is owned by New Zealand firm Skyline Enterprises, which has a diversified portfolio in leisure and entertainment in New Zealand and overseas. The accolade is a tr

The Omani Embassy in Seoul launched its annual program “Welcome to Oman,” aimed at promoting understanding between the peoples of Oman and Korea through the exchange of knowledge, the arts, tourism and business. At the inaugural event at the diplomatic mission on Friday, 26 students from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Myongji University, Dankook University, Chosun University and Busan University of Foreign Studies participated. Twenty of the students will visit Oman soon to study the Arab

Ambassador Rodolfo Solano Quiros (Costa Rican Embassy)With South Korea’s recent entry into the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, Costa Rica -- the multilateral institution’s founding member -- looks forward to stronger trade and investment ties with Korea, its embassy told The Korea Herald.Seoul entered the bank on Dec. 28, becoming its second-largest extraregional partner. CABEI President Dante Mossi and Korean Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Ho-seung signed the agreement

ASEAN Hall at the ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul (AKC)The ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul has opened its main hall from this year onward to companies and individuals doing or planning business with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ corporate partners. The opening of the ASEAN Hall is aimed at spurring ASEAN business-related activities, and comes as part of celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the center’s establishment in 2009. It was created as an intergovernmental organization entru

Students give a bath to an elephant at a local elephant sanctuary as part of a community-based tourism program in Thailand last year. (AKC)The ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul organized a sustainable local tourism course in the tourism village of Nglanggeran, located in the special region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, over the weekend. The ASEAN Community-Based Tourism Program from Thursday to Monday hosted 25 university students from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc and Korea. Its theme -

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s externally focused economic drive, India jumped 23 spots on the World Bank’s 2018 Ease of Doing Business ranking to No. 77, according to the Indian Embassy in Seoul. The rapid rise follows 2017’s upward move of 30 spots, placing India on near course to enter the world’s top 50 economies in terms of ease of doing business. “That’s remarkable progress. It sets India apart from other countries in the region,” according to Long Island University economics profess

 Hungarian Ambassador to Korea Mozes Csoma is a fluent speaker of the Korean language and has written numerous books and papers on the country’s history and relations with Central European countries (Joel Lee/The Korea Herald)Hungarian Ambassador to South Korea Mozes Csoma speaks Korean better than any other language other than Hungarian. Korean being his first foreign language, he is about as good as a nonnative can get.He is so fluent that this interview was entirely conducted in Korean. As th

Diplomats and government officials from the Mekong region and Korea pose at the sixth Mekong-ROK Business Forum on Dec. 13 in Seoul. (ASEAN-Korea Center)The Greater Mekong Subregion is a transnational area along the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia, spanning some 5,000 kilometers through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Despite being a latecomer in the regional development of Southeast Asia, the countries have swiftly advanced their economic and social standings in recent years

Georgian Ambassador to Korea Otar Berdzenishvili (Georgian Embassy)The year 2018 has been a highly productive one for the Georgian Embassy in Seoul. It marked the centennial anniversary of Georgia’s declaration of independence on May 26, 1918, highlighted by a series of partnership events with Korean institutions and businesses from diplomacy, trade and investments in food, tourism, culture, sports and education.Georgian Ambassador to Korea Otar Berdzenishvili felt that Tbilisi and Seoul had a y

Under the new administration of President Ivan Duque Marquez, Colombia is steadily moving toward peace and development, said the country’s top diplomat during a visit to Korea last week.Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo Garcia said that Bogota looks for greater collaboration with Seoul ahead of the potential visit of its leader next year.“The Colombian government attaches great significance to our bilateral relations that were elevated in 2011 to the ‘association of strategic coo

Late South Korean economic policymaker Kim Ip-sam (left) sits next to the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung at an international conference in the late 1970s, when they worked as the vice chairman and chairman, respectively, of the Federation of Korean Industries. (Kim So-im)Many South Koreans take the nation’s prosperity for granted nowadays, but it wasn’t always the case. Unlike countries blessed with abundant natural resources, Korea’s freedom and wealth were forged by the blood and swe

Harry Harris, US ambassador to the Republic of Korea (KAFS)Several months ago in Seoul, US Ambassador Harry Harris had a chance to think about the alliance between his country and South Korea when a young college student asked him, “Ambassador, I hear you had a distinguished military career. Did you fight in the Korean War?”The envoy was born in 1956, some three years after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. He told the student that it was his father who fought in the war.“This story illustrates

Arab countries are moving beyond the oil and gas industries to diversify and innovate their economies, and this is where the next wave of global cooperation in commerce and culture can happen, says Omani Ambassador Mohamed al-Harthy.“Most Arab countries, including the oil-and-gas-dependent Gulf Cooperation Council member states to which Oman belongs, lately launched a strategy of economic diversification, focusing on logistics, information communications technology, manufacturing and industry, h