Turkish Forum

Category: South Korea

  • North Korean Troops ‘Prepare For Combat’

    North Korean Troops ‘Prepare For Combat’

    2:51pm UK, Tuesday May 25, 2010

    Adam Arnold, Sky News Online

    North Korea’s armed forces have reportedly been ordered to prepare for combat as tensions mount with the South over the deadly sinking of a warship.

    The North’s leader Kim Jong-Il is thought to have told his military to be braced for war, as Seoul blares out its own propaganda into the neighbouring rival country.

    As part of psychological warfare operations, South Korea is placing loudspeakers at the border and is also using radio to broadcast messages into the North.

    South Korea is slashing trade and denying permission for the North’s cargo ships to pass through the South’s waters.

    The tensions also spooked global markets, with the FTSE 100 index of leading British companies falling by more than 2%.

    Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for a torpedo strike that sank the warship Cheonan and killed 46 sailors on March 26.

    A team of international investigators concluded last week that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore the Cheonan apart.

    The sinking was the South’s worst military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

    The North denies any involvement and has warned retaliation would mean war. It has threatened to destroy any propaganda facilities installed at the heavily militarised border.

    The claim that Kim had told his million-strong armed forces to prepare for combat was made by the South’s state-run Yonhap news agency, citing North Korean observers.

    “We do not hope for war but, if South Korea, with the US and Japan on its back, tries to attack us, Kim Jong-Il has ordered us to finish the task of unification left undone during the… (Korean) war,” Yonhap quoted a May 20 broadcast as saying.

    Pyongyang is already subject to a number of UN-backed sanctions in response to its nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

    The US, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has thrown its full support behind its ally’s moves.

    Washington is planning two major military exercises off the Korean peninsula in a display of force intended “to deter future aggression” by the North.

    Also, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is stepping up pressure on China to back international action against North Korea over the sinking of the warship.

    She said peace and security on the Korean peninsula is a shared responsibility between Washington and Beijing.

    Mrs Clinton said the Obama administration expects to work closely with China to “fashion an effective response” to the sinking.

    China, the communist country’s main ally, has remained neutral, but the US wants Beijing to support UN Security Council action against North Korea.

    Sky News Online

  • Ban Ki-Moon calls on Turkish youth to take role in world politics

    Ban Ki-Moon calls on Turkish youth to take role in world politics

    United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for young people to take an active role in the world of politics in a remarking speech at Boğaziçi University on Friday.

    “As young people living in Turkey you should aim beyond here for broader security and prosperity in the world,” said Ban.

    Referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Greece last week and Turkey’ efforts to come to an agreement with Iran on the exchange of enriched uranium, Ban said Turkey has a dynamic diplomacy and a solid economy in times of crisis.

    He said Turkey’s credibility is increasing more and added that Turkey has three ways to go further in the international arena. First is by increasing its active contribution to the issues in its region and the world. “Turkey has learned the right to speak up, let your voice be heard and clear on the issues of security and peace. You have to become a force of progress in the region,” said Ban.

    Secondly, Turkey should do more efforts to give power to women. Thirdly, the alliance of civilizations, an initiative supported by Turkey and many other states, should be an ongoing project. “I feel proud to be part of this process and the United States will join as the hundredth member. Turkey has been second to none in supporting this initiative and as students of this university you have the power to contribute,” said Ban.

    As a former diplomat from South Korea, Ban made an emotional speech on Turkey’s deployment of troops to Korea back in the early 1950s. “We are all grateful to your sacrifice; you were one of the first to answer the call from the U.N. back then. Turkish soldiers went to fight for liberty and peace in a place where they didn’t know following their government’s orders. Out of 5,000 Turks who fought, nearly 500 of them died, but in the end they were there celebrating the victory with us,” said Ban, adding that Turks and South Koreans have been friends and brothers since then.

    Meanwhile, Ban said the Cyprus issue would definitely be on his agenda on his meeting with Erdoğan on Saturday.

    Hürriyet Daily News

  • Turkish Airlines and Asiana Airlines form code share agreement

    Turkish Airlines and Asiana Airlines form code share agreement

    Published by Ozgur Tore   
    Tuesday, 06 October 2009
    Turkish Airlines has signed a new code share agreement with Asiana Airlines from South Korea as part of an expansion program. The new code share agreement which will go into effect on October 25th, 2009 will enhance the flow of trade and tourism between Turkey and Korea.

     As an outcome of the new code share agreement signed between Turkish Airlines and Asiana Airlines, passengers from Seoul will be able to connect on Turkish Airlines’ network to any of its 119 international destinations including routes to Turkey, Europe, North America, South America, Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

    Passengers from Istanbul will also be able to enjoy the convenience of Asiana Airlines’ wide network of connections to South Korea, and other popular destinations in Japan, China and South-East Asia. Asiana Airlines’ network covers 82 international destinations.

    A1

     

    FTNNEWS

  • Cyber Attack Knocks Out Major US Websites

    Cyber Attack Knocks Out Major US Websites

    A “massive” cyber attack which shut down the websites of several US government agencies could be linked to a similar outage in South Korea.

    a3The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department sites were all down at various points over the weekend and into this week, officials said.

    Some of the sites were still experiencing problems on Tuesday evening after the attack, which started on July 4.

    The agencies, including some which are responsible for fighting cyber crime, were working with their internet service provider to resolve the problem, the officials added.

    Government agencies and banks in South Korea also had their websites paralysed by a suspected cyber attack on Tuesday, with some still unstable or inaccessible yet.

    The problems in the two countries appeared to be linked, said Ahn Jeong-eun, a spokeswoman at the Korea Information Security Agency.

    The US sites experienced a “massive outage”, according to Keynote Systems, a company which monitors 40 government sites in America.

    Ben Rushlo, director of internet technologies at the firm, said of the transportation department site problems: “This is very strange. You don’t see this.

    “Having something 100% down for a 24-hour-plus period is a pretty significant event.”

    He added: “The fact that it lasted for so long and that it was so significant in its ability to bring the site down says something about the site’s ability to fend off (an attack) or about the severity of the attack.”

    A computer emergency team from the Homeland Security Department has issued a notice to federal departments about the problems, spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said.

    The message advised agencies “of steps to take to help mitigate against such attacks”.

    Networks in the US are targeted every day and measures have been put in place to minimise the impact on federal government websites, Ms Kudwa added.

    SKY

  • Turkish films reel into Seoul

    Turkish films reel into Seoul

    tkhEvery year the Turkish Embassy reels in a new set of films that entertain as well as give a look into Turkish culture and way of life.

    Starting tomorrow, the embassy’s Turkish Film Festival kicks off at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center until May 19.

    On opening day, the film festival will kick off with a reception to accompany the 1999 hit “Dreaming Games (Hayalkurma Oyunlari)” at 7 p.m.

    “Dreaming Games” is a story of an introverted father struggling to make a living, his worn-out family and the regulars at his restaurant each dealing with their own problems.

    Each character’s life intersects with the other and though their struggles are different, they are all looking for the same thing.

    On Wednesday “The Dark Face of the Moon (Ayn Karanlik Yuzu)” tells the story of four adventurous men who have escaped from prison.

    An antiques smuggler, a bank swindler, an honor murderer and a hired gun find refuge on an island. While they confront their pasts, one of them falls in love with a female islander.

    Friday night brings the “The Waiting Room (Bekleme Odasi)” to the center. The main character in the story is driven to make a film about Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” Along the way he falls into a deep depression, loses interest in the film and life, pushes those who love him away and cannot complete the film.

    The film festival continues on May 18 with a black comedy about of two construction workers who find themselves in a situation that they never expected. “Under Construction (Insaat)” casts a satirical eye over modern Turkey through the story of Ali and Sudi who work on a building site in a slum district of Istanbul.

    They dream of saving enough money to emigrate to Italy, but nightmares are closer at hand when they discover the site is being used as a graveyard by the mob. Add a bunch of corrupt cops, a journalist with a body to bury, and a lost video camera, and the stage is set for a hilarious piece of cutting edge comedy.

    On May 19, the last day of the festival, the embassy rolls out “All About Mustafa (Mustafa Hakkinda Hersey).”

    Mustafa is a successful business man living a seemingly great life with his family when an accident takes it all away from him and leaves him with many questions and a cab driver who can answer it all.

    Mustafa is due to get a lot more than what he bargained for, however, as he is taken back to long-forgotten childhood memories and forced to see his formerly perfect life from a very different perspective.

    All movies start at 7 p.m. and all movies are free. It is recommended to get there early because seats generally run out fast.

    Turkish films attract millions of spectators back in their native land and often surpass foreign films in ticket sales.

    The embassy hopes that these films will show Turkey’s growing movie industry and entertain at the same time.

    By Yoav Cerralbo

    ([email protected])

    Source:  www.koreaherald.co.kr, 11.05.2009

  • 2009 ANNUAL DUES, DONATIONS and Book Sales

    2009 ANNUAL DUES, DONATIONS and Book Sales

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    ÜYE AİDATLARI, BAĞIŞLAR VE KİTAP SATIŞLARI

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