Can breakdancing bring more tourists to South Korea? The Korea Tourism Organization seems to think so. And to prove its faith, it will be holding the annual R-16 KOREA 2010 event this weekend, which will this year, according to the Korea Herald, bring together ‘emerging DJs and hip-hop artists from 16 countries’ at the Olympic Park in Jamsil, Seoul.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. But that same year the country also established diplomatic relations with Spain...Today, the two countries share an increasingly dynamic exchange in the cultural sphere, with Spanish flamenco having long established its place among popular seasonal performances here.

South Korea has enjoyed greatly enhanced international status in recent years...For most of the 20th century, South Korea had never been truly included in the core of global discussions. So the country being picked as the 2010 chair country of the G-20 certainly qualifies as a dramatic turn around.

Not much is known about Korea in Germany. Most Germans know that the country is divided; they might even know what kimchi and taekwondo are but it does not usually go much further. Some young Germans want to know more.

In a joint statement issued in Seoul yesterday following a summit held at president's office at Cheong Wa Dae, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to boost economic ties and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

World Friends Korea, the local version of the Peace Corps of the United States, unveiled a plan Wednesday to use taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art, to promote peace and friendship in underdeveloped countries around the world.

KOICA was founded as a government agency in 1991 to maximize the effectiveness of Korea’s grant aid programs for developing countries. The agency manages grant aid and technical cooperation programs, as well as the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) through which concessional loans for development projects are provided to the governments of developing countries.

“China expects the Shanghai Expo to push up its GDP by 1 percent, owing to increased consumption, an expanded infrastructure and improvement of their citizens’ global awareness,” said Cho Hwan-eik, president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.