One of the nicest things about this job is the people we meet. We are shortly hosting Sunderland Football Club who will hold a reception at the Residence. The Sunderland team are lead by Niall Quinn, their International Development Director, and Steve Bruce, the team manager. Niall is no stranger to Korea – he played here for the Republic of Ireland in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Steve made his … Read more »Sunderland Football Club in Korea
UK’s top government scientist pushing collaboration with Korea
Better scientific advice to policy makers and more international research collaboration are the key messages from the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Sir John Beddington, who is visiting Seoul from 4-6 October. Each British government ministry has a scientific adviser, an academic, who works to ensure that scientific evidence is considered in the development and implementation of government policy. John Beddington is the head of this group of UK … Read more »UK’s top government scientist pushing collaboration with Korea
Drugs: Really worth the risk?
According to statistics from the Foreign Office’s recently released annual British Behaviour Abroad report, across the world last year roughly 14% of all Brits arrested abroad were charged with drugs offences. In Korea the overwhelming majority of British detentions we deal with are for drugs related activity and, as in Japan, getting caught here is no picnic. For most drug-related detentions you can expect to be incarcerated, both pre- and … Read more »Drugs: Really worth the risk?
Count down to London 2012 in Korea- inspiring through sport
This weekend sees the start of the World Athletics Championships on Daegu, the last major athletics championships before the London 2012 Olympics next summer. I’m looking forward to enjoying some of the action in Daegu and am also hoping for some British success, with several of our athletes being serious medal prospects. 1,945 athletes from 202 countries will participate in Daegu, but underneath this elite tier of participants are hundreds … Read more »Count down to London 2012 in Korea- inspiring through sport
Counting down to London 2012 in Korea – getting excited
There is increasing excitement in Korea about the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is partly because Koreans are looking forward to participating or to supporting their national athletes. In Beijing, Korea finished 7th in the Olympics medal table and 13th in the Paralympics; both the Korea Olympic Committee and the Korea Paralympic Committee are aiming to maintain this position, if not beat it. Last month, this excitement was … Read more »Counting down to London 2012 in Korea – getting excited
Getting a taste for Korean culture in Edinburgh
This is a guest blog from the incoming British Ambassador to Korea, Scott Wightman, who will take up his post in November 2011. Mr Wightman is currently learning Korean in London. During a trip to his hometown, Edinburgh, he watched a great example of cross-cultural fertilisation between the UK and Korea at the Edinburgh International and Fringe Festivals. The Edinburgh International Festival, and the unofficial Festival Fringe which runs concurrently … Read more »Getting a taste for Korean culture in Edinburgh
Reflections from a British veteran of the Korean War
In a week that sees the UK’s Armed Forces’ Day and the anniversary of the start of the Korean War, I coincidentally received the following letter and photographs from a UK Veteran of the War. It speaks for itself: Dear Ambassador, dear Fiona (if I may) Thank you very much for the great hospitality and magnificent Cottage Pie which set us all up splendidly on the first evening of our visit to … Read more »Reflections from a British veteran of the Korean War
Korea: Green tomorrow?
It’s so easy to forget how much Korea has changed over the last half century. Sometimes you have to see it to believe it. I really enjoyed looking at the recently exhibited colour photos by British doctor John Cornes of Korea in the mid-50s – wonderful photos and a vivid reminder of how Korea was just after the Korean War. Fast forward and Korea in 2011 is at the cutting … Read more »Korea: Green tomorrow?
Partnership for progress: Research collaboration between the UK and Korea
I’ve already blogged about the visit of British Business Secretary Vince Cable. Since science and R&D are among his Department’s responsibilities, we also wanted to use his visit to help our partnership in those areas with Korea. Dr Cable signed an MOU with Korea’s Minister of Knowledge Economy, Choi Joong-Kyung, extending our Science, Innovation and Technology Partnership for a further 5 years. The partnership supports research networking in five priority … Read more »Partnership for progress: Research collaboration between the UK and Korea
Stepping up our engagement with Korea
I’ve had a busier than usual start to the week hosting the visit of British Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable. Dr Cable was here as part of the UK Government’s drive to increase international trade and investment ties with emerging economies. He is the first Cabinet Minister to visit Korea outside the G20 Summits held last year, evidence of the UK’s decision to enhance its relationship with Korea. … Read more »Stepping up our engagement with Korea