KOREAN EMBASSY NEWSLETTER
New Delhi, 31 October 2012 (Vol.1 No.1)
The First Issue of the
Korean Embassy Newsletter Korea-India Relations
Dear Distinguished Friends,
I am very pleased to announce the launch of the Newsletter of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in New Delhi...more
Since Korea and India established diplomatic relations in 1973, the bilateral relations have made great strides in all areas and in recent years become truly multidimensional, spurred by significant convergence of interests, mutual goodwill and exchange of high level visit...more
Dokdo, Irrefutable territory of the
Republic of Korea
FTA Status of ROK
Dokdo, the easternmost island in East Sea, is an integral part of Korean territory historically, geographically, and under international law. No territorial dispute exists regarding Dokdo, and Dokdo is not a matter to be dealt with through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement...more
Since the establishment of the FTA Roadmap in 2003, the Republic of Korea (ROK) has actively engaged in FTA negotiations with over 50 countries. So far, FTAs with Chile, Singapore, EFTA, ASEAN, India and Peru entered into force and the Korea-EU FTA...more
※ View of Dokdo from East Sea ※ Springtime in Dokdo
India’s first ever Korean pop contest
The Hallyu wave is sweeping the world off it's feet and there is no stopping this rising phenomenon. The Hallyu or the Korean wave refers to the significant increase in the popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture starting in the 1990s, in Asia... more
How a chubby Korean man got the world to
dance
The 34-year-old rapper’s music video for "Gangnam Style,"
his latest single, became an Internet sensation with 600 million views on YouTube and countless parodies worldwide simply because it is a highly amusing video with catchy music and dance moves. It is light entertainment, not a political message, mostly. Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, is a specialist in this breed of Korean pop music;
his previous....more
▴Return The First Issue of the Korean Embassy Newsletter
Dear Distinguished Friends,
I am very pleased to announce the launch of the Newsletter of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in New Delhi. This bi-weekly newsletter is a part of our effort to increase awareness about Korea in India. The newsletter will carry selected news and views on Korean politics, economy, culture, Korea-India relations, and other related aspects to provide an important window into Korea.
Korea and India have enjoy historical and cultural ties for a long time. In 48 A.D. Indian princess from Ayodhya, princess Huh sailed to Korea and married King Suro of Gaya Dynasty. Also, Hyecho, a Korean Buddhist monk traveled as the first Korean to India from 723 to 729, wrote a travelogue "Memoir of the pilgrimage to the five kingdoms of India." From these rich historical and cultural ties, Korea and India has made remarkable progress in a wide spectrum of areas after the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1973.
Since 2010, Korea and India have strengthened bilateral cooperation across political, economic, and cultural arena through the exchange of high level visits, including State Visit of President H.E. LEE Myung-bak to India as the chief guest at Indian Republic Day 2010, State Visit of President Pratibha Patil to Korea in 2011, and in most recently Official Visit of Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh in 2012.
Today, Korea-India relation is passing through the most exciting phase in their history of bilateral relations. Still there is a huge room for further strengthening of our relationship. As Ambassador, I commit to work dedicatedly to strengthen all aspects of our ties so that the two countries become true friends. The task of the newsletter is fairly cut out. I believe the newsletter will emerge as a useful guide and reliable source of information, covering the entire gamut of Korea-India relations.
Thank you.
Lee Joon-gyu
Ambassador
The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr. Lee Joon-gyu presenting his credentials to the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 24, 2012.
▴Return 14th. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Lee Joon-gyu
Ambassador Lee joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978, and worked as a Ambassador to New Zealand(2006-09), Chancellor of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security(2010-12).
Political Section
Korea-India Relations
▴Return Since Korea and India established diplomatic relations in 1973, the bilateral relations have made great strides in all areas and in recent years become truly multidimensional, spurred by significant convergence of interests, mutual goodwill and exchange of high level visits.
President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to India as the Chief Guest on its Republic Day celebrations in January 2010 marked an important landmark in bilateral relations which elevated the relations between the two countries to a Strategic Partnership. President Lee’s visit was followed by Indian President Pratibha Patil’s State Visit to Korea in July 2011 during which the two countries signed Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who had last visited Seoul in November 2010 for the G20 Summit, paid an official visit to Seoul in March 2012, which coincided with Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. Prime Minister Singh’s visit has further deepened the strategic partnership.
Trade and investment between the two countries have been rising steadily ever since India opened its economy in the early 1990s. The coming into force of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on January 1, 2010, has acted catalyst and helped significant growth in two-way trade. In 2011, bilateral trade crossed $ 20.5 billion. Our two countries have set a revised trade target of $ 40 billion by 2015 and the two countries are well on course to achieve the target before its scheduled time.
South Korea is currently the fifth largest source of investment in India. Major Korean conglomerates such as Samsung, Hyundai Motors and LG have made significant investment into India. More than 400 Korean companies are currently operating in India. However, even the current impressive bilateral trade and investment figures do not reflect the true commercial potential of the two countries but the entrepreneurs of our two countries with the active support of our respective governments are determined to realize the untapped potential for trade and investment between the two countries.
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Dokdo, Irrefutable territory of the Republic of Korea
▴Return 1. Basic Position ofthe Government of the Republic of Korea on Dokdo
※ View of Dokdo from East Sea ※ Springtime in Dokdo
o Dokdo, the easternmost island in East Sea, is an integral part of Korean territory historically, geographically, and under international law. No territorial dispute exists regarding Dokdo, and Dokdo is not a matter to be dealt with through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement.
o The Government of the Republic of Korea exercises Korea’s irrefutable territorial sovereignty over Dokdo. The Government will deal firmly and resolutely with any provocation and will continue to defend Korea’s sovereignty over the island.
2. Geographical Aspects of Dokdo
※ View of Dokdo from Ulleungdo ※ Distance between Dokdo & Ulleungdo and between Dokdo
& Japan’s Oki Islands
o On a clear day, Dokdo is visible to the naked eye from Korea’s Ulleungdo (Ulleung Island), the island which lies in the closest proximity (87.4 km) to Dokdo while Japan's Oki Islands is 157.5km away from Dokdo. Given its geographical location, Dokdo has historically been considered to be a part of Ulleungdo.
3. Historical Aspects of Dokdo and Relevant Evidence
※ Sejong Sillok Jiriji, 1454
o Korean government publications maintain that Korea has long recognized Dokdo as Korean territory and exercised effective control over the island. The following records as belows cleary state that Dokdo is Korean territory.
- Sejong Sillok Jiriji (Geography Section of the Annals of King Sejong’s Reign), 1454 - Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam (Revised and Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea), 1531
- Dongguk Munheon Biggo (Reference Compilation of Documents on Korea), 1770 - Man-gi Yoram (Manual of State Affairs for the Monarch), 1808
- Jeungbo Munheon Biggo (Revised and Enlarged Edition of the Reference Compilation of Documents on Korea), 1908 - "Yeojigo" in Dongguk Munheon Biggo (Reference Compilation of Documents on Korea), 1770 Imperial Edict No. 41 in 1900, the Empire of Korea placed Dokdo under the jurisdiction of Uldo-gun (Uldo county), and Dokdo came to be administered by a county magistrate.
o Moreover, the Japanese government itself had consistently acknowledged that Dokdo was non-Japanese territory until 1905,as evidenced by the Daijokan Order of 1877 and other official Japanese government documents.
4. International Law Aspects
o Japan’s attempt at incorporating Dokdo in 1905 through Shimane Prefecture Public NoticeNo. 40 was done in the process of and as part of its occupation of Korea. It was not only an illegal act, infringing on Korea’s sovereignty over the island, but also null and void under international law.
o Dokdo was restored as an integral part of the territory of the independent Republic of Korea after World War II, as was affirmed by the Cairo Declaration(1943), the Potsdam Declaration(1945), and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Index Number(SCAPIN) (1946) the San Francisco Peace Treaty(1951).
o Accordingly, the Government of the Republic of Korea exercises Korea’s irrefutable territorial sovereignty over Dokdo. The Government will deal firmly and resolutely against any provocation with respect to Korea’s sovereignty and will continue to defend Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo.
Moreover, as Japan's claim of sovereignty over Dokdo is wrong, Korea has no basis to assent to Japan's referral of the Dokdo issue to the ICJ.
※For more information on Dokdo, visit Dokdo homepage at http://dokdo.mofat.go.kr / ▴Return
Economic Section
FTA Status of ROK
▴Return
Since the establishment of the FTA Roadmap in 2003, the Republic of Korea (ROK) has actively engaged in FTA negotiations with over 50 countries. So far, FTAs with Chile, Singapore, EFTA, ASEAN, India and Peru entered into force and the Korea-EU FTA has been provisionally applied since July 1, 2011. The Korea-U.S. FTA was signed in June 2007 followed by an agreement in December 2010. On March 15, 2012, the KORUS (Korea-U.S.) FTA entered into effect in both countries. Korea is currently negotiating FTAs with GCC, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Canada, Turkey, Mexico and China. Korea and China announced the launch of the Korea-China FTA talks on May 2, 2010 and the first round of negotiations was held in Beijing on May 14, 2012. Prior to launching official negotiations, Korea is conducting preparation talks or joint research projects with prospective FTA partners including Japan, MERCOSUR, Israel, Vietnam, Central-America, Malaysia and Indonesia. In particular, China, Japan and Korea conducted a joint study for a possible trilateral FTA among government officials, business and academic participants since 2010 and it is concluded in December 2011.
FTAs in effect
o Korea-Chile FTA
o Korea-Singapore FTA
o Korea-EFTA FTA
o Korea-ASEAN FTA
o Korea-India CEPA
o Korea-EU FTA
o Korea-Peru FTA
o Korea-U.S. FTA
Concluded FTAs
o Korea-U.S. FTA
Concluded FTAs
o Korea-Turkey FTA(※RAMEWORK AGREEMENT, AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN GOODS)
o Korea-Colombia FTA
FTAs under negotiation
o Korea-Canada FTA
o Korea-Mexico FTA
o Korea-GCC FTA
o Korea-Australia FTA
o Korea-New Zealand FTA
o Korea-China FTA
o Korea-Vietnam FTA
o Korea-Indonesia FTA
FTAs under consideration
o Korea-Japan FTA
o Korea-China-Japan FTA
o Korea-MERCOSUR TA
o Korea-Israel FTA
o Korea-Central America FTA
o Korea-Malaysia FTA
※ More information on :
http://www.mofat.go.kr/ENG/policy/fta/status/overview/index.jsp?menu=m_20_80_10
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India’s first ever Korean pop contest
▴Return The Hallyu wave is sweeping the world off it's feet and there is no stopping this rising phenomenon. The Hallyu or the Korean wave refers to the significant increase in the popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture starting in the 1990s, in Asia and more recently in other parts of the world. India was recently gripped by the Hallyu fever with the cultural section of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India hosting the first ever " Korean Pop contest " on August 25th at the Jawaharlal Nehru University auditorium in New Delhi. The contest hoped to bring together Korean Pop fans from all over the country by presenting them with the opportunity to showcase their love for KPOP.
Preliminary entries for the first round of the Contest were received till the 31st of July in which participants reproduced the song and/or cover dance choreography of their favorite Korean Pop artists.The first league of the contest received a tremendous response , with KPOP fans from all over India uploading their UCC (user created content ) on the contest's official website www.coverdance.org .Fourteen participants were selected to compete at the semi-finals held in New Delhi. The popularity of the contest was evident by the lakhs of hits received within a few days of uploading of the videos.
The Gold Prize winner at the semifinals were the dance team Paul5 who won a round-trip ticket to Korea to participate in the finals, the "Hallyu Dream Festival", which was held on the 21stof September in Gyeongju .Paul5 is a seven member team consisting of students aged between 15 to 19 residing in the slums of Patrachar Colony, Timarpur. The humble background of these students did not deter them from winning the top spot in the competition.The Silver Prize winner , Nikita Hariname from Mumbai, won an uber cool Samsung Galaxy Note and also a chance to audition for the "K-Pop World Festival 2012 ".An LG LCD 32"TV fell in the Bronze Prize winners kitty ,one each from amongst the song cover and dance cover participants . Shubham Garg from Delhi won the bronze in the song category while the bronze prize winners in the dance category were the team from Delhi , Ruth7.Each participant also received a Samsung mobile phone as a token of appreciation.
Paul5 team who won the India league of the KPop Contest
The "Hallyu Dream Festival " hosted by 'Visit Korea Committee' and the Embassy of the ROK , was held
The winning team from Thailand performing to Bigbang’s "Fantastic Baby" at Gyeongju arts centre.
on the 21st of September in Gyeongju, South Korea with 13 teams from 11 countries vying for the crown of the ultimate kpop dancing star.PAUL5 ,the team from India, got to shake a leg with league winners from other countries. They put up a great show , dancing to idol group Bigbang’s track "Garagara go", but the team from Thailand were declared the winners at this Grand finale.The second and third spot went to the teams from Japan and Nigeria respectively.The finals of the Song cover contest is the "K-Pop World Festival 2012" scheduled to be held on the 28th of October 2012 at Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province ,South Korea.The organizers for this Grand Finale are the Republic of Korea Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism , Chanwon City and KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) .
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How a chubby Korean man got the world to dance
▴Return By Kwaak Je-yup, Rachel Lee , The Korea Times , 28 August , 2012
If you thought the Oscars were too boring, try watching the Korean award ceremonies at the end of the year. Tied down by decorum, everybody forces themselves to stay serious and modest;
actresses with plunging necklines remain buttoned up in demeanor. The same could be said about K-pop. The industry has so strenuously tried to break into the United States, the world’s largest record market, with its mix of faultlessly produced electro-pop, complex choreography and toned thighs but has hitherto been unsuccessful because it lacks humor.
So seeing someone as funny as Psy achieve fame in America should not come as a surprise, although many pundits here and abroad seem to be scrambling for an overly complex — serious
— answer.
The 34-year-old rapper’s music video for "Gangnam Style,"his latest single, became an Internet sensation with 65 million views on YouTube and countless parodies worldwide simply because it is a highly amusing video with catchy music and dance moves. It is light entertainment, not a
political message, mostly. Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, is a specialist in this breed of Korean pop music; his previous records were all hits in the country and several of them
chart-toppers.
The video’s exceptional international recognition is heavily due to social media. YouTube is fast replacing radio and MTV as the go-to channel for new music discoveries. Without anynational market barriers for distribution (albeit for free), it also kickstarted K-pop’s popularity in unlikely places such as South America and Europe before anyone knew there was any market potential.
Psy’s case is no exception.The likes of Robbie Williams and T-Pain shared the "Gangnam
Style"video on Twitter, and thousands of retweets followed. There was no stopping the clip’s viral spread .Much ink has unnecessarily been spilled over the song’s alleged social commentary on Gangnam’s materialism, suggested by a U.S.-based Korean blogger named Jea Kim and propagated by Max Fisher at the Atlantic and even Andrew Sullivan quoting it on the Daily Beast. With one incredibly catchy song alone —it is now climbing the iTunes singles chart. So just enjoy the infectious beat and do your best rodeo dance this weekend.
Psy teaching his famous horseriding dance to Britney Spears at the Ellen DeGeneres Show
Link to the official video of Gangnam style by Psy below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 /▴Return
