Korean War Veterans’ Descendants Network
Korean Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs (MPVA) hosts Korean War Veterans’ Descendants Network Program in the Netherlands
The grandchildren of the soldiers who were attached to the Dutch battalion during the Korean War will attend the Descendants Network Program to meet their grandfathers’ fellow veterans, express their gratitude, and establish friendship with the fellow veterans’ descendants
Participating students, Korean and Dutch alike, will prepare a luncheon for the veterans with various programs and special performances to increase the Netherlands’ awareness on the Korean War through a flash mob.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (Minister Pi Woo-Jin) will organize the Korean War Veterans’ Descendants Network Program for Descendants from Thursday August 23rd to Wednesday 29th for the first time in the Netherlands where Korean and Dutch students will participate together to promote the friendship with the UN sending states and continue cooperation.
The students will engage in various activities during the week, including the visit to the Yi Jun Peace Museum and the military regiment that participated in the Korean War.
Why the Netherlands?
The MPVA has annually hosted Youth Peace Camps in Korea, but this will be the first time for the ministry to host a program for the Korean War descendants outside the country.
The ministry says it chose the Netherlands to be the first country other than Korea to host this program since the Dutch descendants of the veterans successfully inherited a veteran’s organization and therefore can be a good example to be learned by descendants of other UN sending states.
Who will participate in the camp?
Among the 32 participants, 16 are Korean college students and 16 are Dutch participants who are grandchildren of the UN veterans of the Korean War.
Among the Korean participants, 2 are the grandchildren of the soldiers who were attached to the Dutch battalion during the Korean War. They hope that it can be a meaningful experience that allows them to express their gratitude to their grandfathers’ fellow veterans in the Netherlands.
What are major features?
In the afternoon of Sunday August 26th the participants will assemble in the Amsterdam square to perform a flash mob to express their respects and gratitude to the veterans of the Korean War.
The flash mob will last around four minutes, featuring the participants dancing to K-pop and holding a sign expressing gratitude towards the veterans to show the Dutch public that Korea did not forget the veterans who helped them. Moreover, the participants will host a luncheon with the veterans invited as distinguished guests on Tuesday August 28th.
During the luncheon, the students will report their activities of the week and representative participants will speak while the Korean students share their grandfathers’ war stories. The lunch will also feature Korean traditional instrument performance, singing, and dancing. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs plans to develop varied programs and expand the network with the descendants of the UN veterans.
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Park, Chunghontap, Korean War Monument.
Dior Haute joaillerie
5-9 July 2018, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, presented an ephemeral yet rather well-visited exhibition free to the public, displaying 222 jewelry creations by Dior Haute joaillerie‘s designer Victoire de Castellane.
As a designer Victoire de Castellane distinguishes herself for her creations in avid tart colours, rare opals and winks of pure opulence. A plethora of her designs feature candy shapes, and are fabricated with a mixture of precious and semi-precious stones.
For further information:
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Picture by haute joaillerie Dior. Retratos Cruzados
Exhibition Retratos Cruzados
From 15 September until 12 November, Cervantes Institute, Utrecht
From 15 September until 12 November the Cervantes Institute in Utrecht, in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in The Hague, will hold the photo exhibition “Retratos cruzados” on the occasion of the 450 anniversary of the beginning of the Eighty Years’ War. The project has been launched by “Gaceta Holandesa”, a website in Spanish on culture and current affairs in the Netherlands.
“Retratos cruzados” consists of 16 photographs of Spanish residents living in the Netherlands and Belgium and Dutch and Belgian Flemish citizens living in Spain, who have been portrayed in places historically related to the Eighty Years’ War, offering a modern perspective of the 450 anniversary.
The different portraits have been made by Alicia Fernández Solla, photographer specialized in documentary photography and co-founder of Gaceta Holandesa.
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More information can be found at the website of the Cervantes Institute and Gaceta Holandesa.
Eduardo Chillida in the Rijksmuseum Gardens
Sculptures by Eduardo Chillida in the Rijksmuseum Gardens
From 22 June until 23 September
The sixth annual summer’s exhibition in the Rijksmuseum Gardens will feature nine giant sculptures by Spanish artist Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002). Chillida is considered to be one of the most important post-war innovators in sculpture. He became famous chiefly for his huge sculptures in steel.
For the first time, nine of Chillida’s monumental outdoor sculptures will be exhibited together in the Netherlands. The works are on loan from the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Eduardo Chillida-Pilar Belzunce Foundation in Hernani, Ordovas in London and a private collection.
The opening of the exhibition will take place on June 22. The exhibition will run until September 23.
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More information can be found at the websites of the Rijksmuseum.
Tiffany is remodelling in NYC
Tiffany and Co.’s flagship boutique in NYC
Luxury brand Tiffany & Co. announced a multimillion dollar renovation to its flagship New York City boutique.
The flagship renovation, which should be complete in 2021, is part of the company’s new focus on attracting younger, hipper customers to its engagement rings, and its iconic store.
In 2017, Tiffany & Co. opened an Instagram-friendly eatery called the Blue Box Cafe, that finally gives visitors a chance to actually eat breakfast at Tiffany’s. The restaurant, located on a recently renovated fourth floor of the iconic10-story Tiffany flagship, has been a big hit.
During the construction, Tiffany will use a nearby retail space at 6 East 57th Street in NYC.
For further information:
https://www.tiffany.com/
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Picture by Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
CG Joe Parente in Amsterdam
August 2018, Capital City of Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands: US Consul General, Mr. Joe Parente arrived to Amsterdam. His previous diplomatic post was held in the capacity as Deputy Consul General at the US Embassy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) between 2016-2018.
CG Parente speaks with various degrees of fluency, Farsi, Romanian, Mandarin Chinese, and French and is currently studying Dutch.
For further information:
Joe Parente – Picture by State Department
Canadian Ben Smith to Air France-KLM
Ben Smith – Picture by Air France-KLM.
Thursday, 16 August 2018: Air France-KLM named Air Canada’s President Airlines and Chief Operating Officer Ben Smith as its new CEO director general.
The 46-year old Francophone Smith is the first non-French CEO of the company since its foundation in 1933.
Smith served as Air Canada’s is known for putting shareholders’ interest first; indeed he is credited with developing Air Canada’s low-cost subsidiary Rouge. At the same time, he is credited with sealing a 10-year pay deal with Air Canada unions in 2015.
For further information:
First Indian External Affairs Minister visited Luxembourg
Indian Minister of External Affairs Shushma Swaraj and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg © Lydia Driesen, tous droits réservés, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, and discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, space, digital India and people-to-people relationship during an official visit on 19-20 June 2018. Thus she became the first external affairs minister from India to visit Luxembourg.
She also made a courtesy call on HRH The Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and exchanged views to further strengthen 70 years old diplomatic relationship between India and Luxembourg, and impart an upward trajectory to our bilateral ties.
Swaraj subsequently held a productive meeting with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn. The two leaders discussed cooperation in trade and investment, steel and space, and exchanged views on strengthening India-EU relations.
India and Luxembourg are celebrating 70 years of establishment of their diplomatic relations.
For further information:
- Embassy of India to Luxembourg (resident in Belgium, HE Ambassador Gaitri Issar KUMAR): https://www.
indianembassybrussels.gov.in - http://www.publicnow.com/view/
BC38264980775E63B0285579BE5B6B A2960247AB
Heiko Maas on first Asian trip to Japan
Heiko Maas in Tokyo – Picture by National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.
25-26 July 2018, Tokyo, Japan: Germany and Japan have the potential to be “at the heart of an alliance of multilateralists” amid “huge upheavals” in the world. That was the message delivered by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas as he laid out an ambitious vision for closer bilateral cooperation during a visit to Tokyo, and first to Asia since taking over the German Foreign Ministry. There Maas met with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, for two hours.
The meeting came just a week after European leaders and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe singed a landmark economic partnership agreement, which is to create the largest free trade zone in the world. The agreement was accompanied by a strategic partnership agreement that paves the way for closer coordination between Japan and the European Union on a range of pressing matters.
On the trade front, Maas highlighted how the EU-Japan deal had created new standards for global trade in environmental and climate issues, consumer protection, social standards, and competition law. Ongoing negotiations on investment protection arrangements could also result in new standards in this area according to experts.
“That’s what I mean by the term ‘rule shaper’ in quite practical terms,” Maas uttered. “However, it is perhaps even more important to send a signal both eastwards and westwards – one that says that we don’t think of free trade as a zero-sum game. Trade with reliable rules creates prosperity for everyone at the end of the day.”
Maas added, however, that the World Trade Organisation needed to be modernised. He suggested Germany and Japan could act as pioneers in developing modern rules for digital trade and for dealing with state enterprises. The minister also suggested trilateral cooperation with the United States, wherever possible, to fight against unfair practices such as the obstacles companies face in accessing markets in China.
On his part, Minister Taro Kono said he intended to coordinate more closely with Germany, which he noted would begin a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2019.
For further information:
- Japanese Embassy to Germany (HE Ambassador Takeshi Yagi): http://www.de.emb-
japan.go.jp/presse/pm_180725_ 1.html
Prime Minister of India passed away
The Embassy of India informs with deep sorrow that former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on August 16, 2018.
As a mark of respect to the departed leader, seven days of state mourning has been declared from August 16, 2018 to August 22, 2018.
A book of condolences will be opened for signing at the Embassy of India, (Buitenrustweg 2, 2517 KD, The Hague). All members of the diplomatic corps and public who wish to sign the book of condolences are welcome to do so at the following times:
- Tuesday 21 August 2018, 1000 to 1300 and 1400 to 1700
- Wednesday 22 August 2018, 1000 to 1300 and 1400 to 1700