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Jung Da-hyun

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.

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Society

Can education ministry stop Dongduk Women's Univ.'s shift to coeducation?

After Dongduk Women’s University confirmed plans to become a coeducational institution in 2029, students at several women’s universities began an online petition campaign urging the Ministry of Education to halt the transition. The backlash at Dongduk underscores a widening generational debate in Korea over the role of single-sex education. As the government urges universities to respond to demographic changes and shrinking enrollment, many students argue that women’s institutions remain vital spaces for cultivating female leadership and that they should not abandon their historical and social missions for financial reasons. Although students argue that the transition could still be stopped without formal approval from education authorities, the ministry appears to have limited authority over whether the change ultimately proceeds. The announcement comes about a year after students occupied and spray painted buildings on campus as part of protests to oppose the move. The education ministry noted that a separate government approval is not required for women’s universities to shift

Dec 7, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Can education ministry stop Dongduk Women's Univ.'s shift to coeducation?
  • Autonomy or survival? Dongduk Women’s Univ. to scrap all-women model in 2029
Society

Autonomy or survival? Dongduk Women’s Univ. to scrap all-women model in 2029

Debate over the future of women’s universities in Korea has flared up again after Dongduk Women’s University announced plans to admit male students beginning in 2029. In a statement released Wednesday, the university’s president said the transition would start only after current students graduate, aiming to preserve as much of the women-only learning environment as possible for those who enrolled with that expectation. The decision came just a day after the university’s coeducation deliberation committee recommended that the school proceed with the change, which the president said the university would accept. In November last year, students occupied a campus building and staged spray-paint protests to oppose the move. Based on the committee’s recommendation, the university will review the plan through a series of procedures, including briefings for members of the university, the university development committee and the academic council, before finalizing its policy. University officials said they will also offer a detailed explanation of the issue to the campus community later

Dec 4, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Autonomy or survival? Dongduk Women’s Univ. to scrap all-women model in 2029
People & Events

Yonsei Univ. team pioneers new method to target cancer metabolism

A research team led by Park Hyun-woo, a biochemistry professor at Yonsei University, has introduced a pioneering method in Oncometabolic Precision Medicine — a breakthrough approach that aims to treat cancer by targeting the unique way tumors metabolize nutrients. The team demonstrated that a cancer patient’s nutritional and metabolic status is a decisive factor in determining the efficacy of anticancer therapies, offering a new treatment framework based on customizing care to exploit these metabolic vulnerabilities. The study found that the sensitivity of cancer cells to drugs varies significantly depending on each patient’s blood metabolite levels, offering new possibilities for personalized anticancer treatment guidelines based on metabolic profiling. The results were published in the latest issue of Cancer Research, the flagship journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Park’s team built a Cancer Metabolism–based Synthetic Lethality Platform by testing 1,813 U.S. FDA-approved non-oncology drugs while altering concentrations of metabolites typical of the tumor

Dec 4, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Yonsei Univ. team pioneers new method to target cancer metabolism
Education

SNU’s foreign faculty face barriers in Korea’s insider-dominated academia

Even at Seoul National University (SNU) — widely regarded as Korea’s top postsecondary institution — foreign professors say that globalization rarely reaches the faculty ranks, despite the university’s broader push toward internationalization. While international student recruitment is accelerating, efforts to attract, integrate and support foreign faculty lag far behind, with many pointing to entrenched “closed circles” as a major barrier. “The Korean system is very network-driven, and if you are not part of the SNU alumni circle, you tend to be excluded,” said Martin Steinegger, a professor from Germany in the university’s department of biological sciences. For foreign faculty who have never studied or worked in Korea, that barrier can be steep. “You start with no network, and that makes it extremely difficult to even get your footing — because who you know is crucial for research success, grants, collaborations and everything,” he added. Sascha Trippe, a German professor in SNU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, echoed that the overwhelming majority of SNU

Dec 3, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
SNU’s foreign faculty face barriers in Korea’s insider-dominated academia
Society

University of Seoul expands global reach through urban planning programs

The University of Seoul has gained international recognition in urban science, a field covering city planning, transportation, environmental systems and digital mobility. Its strength lies not in scale but in focused expertise and a sustained record of contributions to urban policy and education that extend far beyond Korea. “Our university is the nation’s only four-year public university supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the first in Korea to specialize in urban science,” said University of Seoul President Won Yong-kul, during an interview with The Korea Times. “We aim to function as a think tank that helps solve the urban challenges faced by a global city like Seoul, while serving as a core educational and research institution that drives the city’s advancement in high-tech fields.” Won highlighted that even though the scale of the university is relatively small, its responsibility should no longer be confined solely to Korea. “We must understand diverse cultures, embrace inclusiveness and contribute to the international community as a developed country,

Dec 3, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
University of Seoul expands global reach through urban planning programs
Society

Hong Kong fire raises alarms over Korea’s high-rise safety measures

The deadly blaze that engulfed a densely populated Hong Kong apartment complex has prompted scrutiny in Korea over whether its high-rise residential and commercial buildings are adequately prepared to prevent and respond to similar disasters. High-rise apartment living in Korea has skyrocketed in the past decade. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of buildings with 25 or more floors climbed from 8,268 in 2013 to 21,033 in 2023. Of Korea’s 11.67 million apartment households in 2023, roughly three out of four — 8.96 million — were on the 15th floor or higher. Apartment fires continue to occur at a steady rate each year. According to the National Fire Agency, 2,592 apartment fires were reported from January through October this year, leaving 37 people dead and 338 injured, marking the highest casualty toll in five years. Last year, 3,193 apartment fires nationwide resulted in 28 deaths and 335 injuries. Major fires have also repeatedly occurred in high-rise buildings. In March, a fire broke out at a hotel in the LCT Landmark Tower in Busan’s H

Nov 28, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Hong Kong fire raises alarms over Korea’s high-rise safety measures
Society

Korea to set AI ethics guidelines for universities as academic cheating surges

Amid widespread cheating using artificial intelligence (AI) at elite universities, the government is preparing Korea’s first official ethics framework to regulate how students use the technology. According to Rep. Kim Yong-tae of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, Thursday, the Ministry of Education is working with the Korean Council for University Education to develop AI ethics guidelines for university students. The guidelines will outline how students can use AI ethically while maintaining a strict ban on academic misconduct. They are also expected to provide strategies for using AI effectively while minimizing “hallucinations” — instances in which the technology fabricates information — and provide measures to narrow gaps in AI literacy and access among students. This will be the first time the government has issued guidelines on the proper use of generative AI in higher education. The education ministry previously released guidelines for AI ethics in education in 2022, but the framework largely focused on privacy protection and data transparency in AI developme

Nov 27, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Korea to set AI ethics guidelines for universities as academic cheating surges
Society

Chungbuk Nat'l Univ. aims for global reach via English-taught programs, industry-tied research

Chungbuk National University emphasized that Korean universities need to reconsider how they prepare students for a rapidly evolving global job market, beginning with stronger research-lab ecosystems that connect directly to employment opportunities and a more English-friendly academic environment to attract and retain top international students. In an interview with The Korea Times, Chungbuk National University President Koh Chang-seop warned that Korea’s rapidly shrinking population is reshaping the global talent race — and that universities must adapt or be left behind. “We are reaching a point where it will be impossible to survive without foreign brainpower, and that means creating an academic culture that truly supports international students, not just welcoming them in name only,” he said. Koh said the university is accelerating its own transformation by strengthening graduate-level recruitment, expanding lab-based research training and pushing for wider use of English in the classroom. These steps, he argued, are essential for building an environment where academic work

Nov 27, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Chungbuk Nat'l Univ. aims for global reach via English-taught programs, industry-tied research
People & Events

Professor's compliment-rewarding AI wins innovation grand prize

Min Byoung-chul, chair and founder of the Sunfull Foundation and endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University, received the Grand Prize for AI Innovation and Social Contribution at the 18th App Award Korea 2025 for his work on ChatKind. ChatKind is the world’s first compliment-rewarding AI platform, designed to detect positive comments and convert them into measurable social value. Users earn a "kindness score" for encouraging or appreciative language. Employers and schools can then offer tangible rewards such as coupons, paid leave or volunteer hours. For almost 20 years, Min has combated online hate through the Sunfull Movement, a campaign encouraging constructive digital engagement. Striving to replace cruelty with empathy, he has pressed online communities to reconsider their modes of communication. Positioning itself as a new paradigm for human-centered AI, ChatKind seeks to cultivate more constructive engagement in online spaces by combining a sophisticated filter for toxic remarks and hate speech with a mechanism that incentivizes positive contributions. The idea for the progr

Nov 25, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Professor's compliment-rewarding AI wins innovation grand prize
Society

Hanyang University stakes claim as Korea’s most global campus

Hanyang University is highlighting its global reach by launching an overseas alumni network — a first among Korean universities — while also hosting the country’s largest international student body. “Globalization has long been our strongest asset — we’ve been debating our strategy since as early as 1999,” said Hanyang University President Lee Ki-jeong during a press briefing Tuesday. More than 18,000 international students are enrolled per year in degree programs, short-term courses, summer and winter schools, and exchange programs at Hanyang’s Seoul and ERICA campuses. Of those, 6,634 are degree-seeking students while 4,411 join as seasonal or visiting students, supported by a global partnership network spanning 725 institutions in 82 countries. The ERICA campus, one of Hanyang University’s two main campuses, is located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, outside Seoul. Rather than simply boosting enrollment, the launch of the overseas alumni network is part of what Lee describes as “Globalization 3.0” — a phase in which universities move beyond recruiting internationa

Nov 25, 2025By Jung Da-hyun
Hanyang University stakes claim as Korea’s most global campus
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