ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) youth leaders'symposium was held on Thursday, aiming at strengthening and broadening friendly relations between the two sides. Addressing the two-day meeting, Pit Chamnan, secretary of state at Cambodia's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, praised the close cooperation between ASEAN and Plus 3 countries.

We like to think we are a leading force in Asia, culturally and diplomatically. We might just be kidding ourselves. You have to give credit to the artist. Gangnam Style has set a new standard for music videos. Since its July release on YouTube, Gangnam Style has received more than 390 million views - and counting. The song has topped charts across the West, including here and in Britain.

Psy, a portly 34-year-old rapper with a penchant for silly dances, brought central Seoul to a standstill last week as he gave a free concert for 80,000 adoring fans, including two renditions of his global hit “Gangnam Style.”

For many decades a notable exporting powerhouse in manufacturing, South Korea has become a significant cultural exporter in recent years. ''K-Pop'' music enjoys enormous popularity in Asia, as do Korean television dramas. The latter have even found a foothold in places such as Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Eastern Europe.

Japan has issued a formal complaint after South Korea invited a group of foreign journalists to a disputed island group, in the latest sign of deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two neighbours. Reporters from six US and European media groups, including the Financial Times, travelled to the Dokdo islands – known as Takeshima in Japan – on Thursday on a visit organised by the government.

The South Korean government will place commercials both at home and abroad next year defending its sovereignty over its easternmost islets of Dokdo, stepping up a public relations drive against Japan's territorial claim to them, foreign ministry officials here said Thursday.

The Korean embassy Tuesday night in Abuja treated invited guests including top Nigerian government officials and heads of establishments as well as diplomats to a full course Korean cuisine which the country's Ambassador, Jong hyun-Choi, said would "open the door to the heart of Nigerians", leading to closer relations.

At a press briefing in Hanoi on October 1, Park Nark Jong, director of the RoK Cultural Centre, said that the centre has coordinated with the Korean embassy, Government agencies, local organizations and people from both countries to organize art and cultural exchanges for a busy and significant Vietnam-Korea friendship year 2012. Other events will include a performance by Sumi Jo, a famous Korean classical musician, with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra.