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Bahk Eun-ji

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.

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Health

Gov't standard for vaccination completion confusing

Medical workers check COVID-19 self-test kits at a public health center in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, Wednesday, a day before the introduction of new quarantine rules, under which polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will be available only to those in high-risk groups, including people aged over 60, residing in four Omicron variant-dominated areas ― Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and the Gyeonggi Province cities of Pyeongtaek and Anseong. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiThe government's frequently changing quarantine guidelines are prompting confusion, while health authorities have implemented a new medical response system to cope with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.Starting Wednesday, it changed the criteria and rules for those who have are considered fully vaccinated, and those who have had close contact with confirmed patients.The vaccine pass is available only to those who have received their booster shot and those who had their second dose more than

Jan 26, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Gov't standard for vaccination completion confusing
  • Omicron surge sparks distrust in vaccine
Society

Robots, AI to ease labor shortages in agricultural sector

This provided photo shows a worker in a vest-type wearable robotic device in a demonstration in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province. Courtesy of Gwangyang CityBy Bahk Eun-jiThe shortage of agricultural workers has become a chronic headache for Korean farmers as the nation ages due to the continuing decline in birthrates. Farmers are even finding it difficult to complete seasonal harvesting. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the shortage. The labor-intensive agricultural sector suffered as a consequence of the pandemic which has almost put a halt on international travel for migrant workers.Facing the worsening labor situation, some local municipalities are now looking to robots or Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace the absent human workforce.The Chungcheongnam-do Provincial Office in South Cheongcheong Province recently introduced “a cooperative robot” for agriculture and fishery.Cooperative robot refers to AI-based technology designed to reduce human labor in agricultural fields, with livestock and in fisheries.As the agricultural and fishery robots currently are no

Jan 26, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Robots, AI to ease labor shortages in agricultural sector
Health

Gov't warns daily cases may soar to 30,000 in early February

People wait in line for diagnostic tests at a COVID-19 testing station in Songpa District, Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapGov't to phase in new response measures Wednesday to curb Omicron By Bahk Eun-jiThe number of Korea's daily new coronavirus infections could increase to as many as 30,000 by early next month, given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain in the country, health authorities warned, Tuesday.The warning came after the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported that Korea added a record-high 8,571 new cases on Tuesday, including 8,356 locally transmitted. The daily caseload skyrocketed over the past week, from 5,805 on Jan. 18 to 7,513 reported Monday. The detection rate of Omicron reached 50.3 percent between Jan. 16 and 23.“Due to the high transmissibility of Omicron, which spreads two to three times faster than Delta, an increase in daily infections is inevitable, and we think it will be possible to reach 20,000 to 30,000 per day or even more by early next month,” health ministry official Son Young-rae said o

Jan 25, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Gov't warns daily cases may soar to 30,000 in early February
  • Korea's daily COVID-19 cases exceed 13,000 for first time
Health

7,630 new COVID-19 cases reported as Omicron surges

A person is tested for COVID-19 at a makeshift testing station in front of Seoul Station, Sunday. YonhapExperts warn gov't to take action over Omicron, as 7,000-plus confirmed cases reported for second consecutive dayBy Bahk Eun-jiKorea added 7,630 new COVID-19 infected cases on Saturday, including 7,343 locally transmitted, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The figure shows that the nation has seen over 7,000 confirmed cases for the second day running, following Friday when 7,008 people tested positive for the virus. Infectious disease experts called on the government to shift to a new medical response, as the country's daily infections soared to 7,630, the second-largest figure recorded here during the two-year COVID-19 pandemic. As the highly transmissible Omicron variant is feared to become the dominant strain here, epidemiologists warned that damage to high-risk groups could increase, as was the case last month, in case the new medical response system is not implemented promptly. Health authorities, in order to manage the pandemic more effective

Jan 23, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
7,630 new COVID-19 cases reported as Omicron surges
Environment & Animals

Nuclear energy crucial in fighting climate crisis: Seoul mayor

This photo shows an electric vehicle charging station in Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan GovernmentBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon emphasized the necessity of nuclear power plants, saying that increasing electricity consumption by expanding the use of electric vehicles (EVs) cannot be a fundamental solution to the climate crisis.He pointed out that currently nearly 70 percent of electricity production in Korea relies on fossil fuels, and said he believes the country's experiment in phasing out nuclear power has gone on long enough under the Moon Jae-in administration over the past five years. “In fact, increasing electricity usage cannot be a fundamental solution to climate change,” Oh said in a press briefing at City Hall for the Seoul Metropolitan Government's five-year project to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Thursday. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon /Yonhap“Through such painful experiments, a consensus has been made among the public that nuclear energy is the most desirable direction for energy development in response to climate change.”He added, &l

Jan 20, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Nuclear energy crucial in fighting climate crisis: Seoul mayor
  • Environmental groups urge presidential candidates to address climate crisis
Health

Pregnant women face dilemma over COVID-19 vaccinations

Getty imagesBy Bahk Eun-jiConcerns among pregnant women are growing as they are not included as eligible for the government's vaccine pass exemption.The Central Disease Control Headquarters said Wednesday that pregnant women are not recognized as being exempt from the vaccine pass system because they are in the high-risk group for COVID-19 and are therefore strongly recommended to get vaccinated. According the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) review of several studies, vaccines that are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology ― such as Pfizer and Moderna ― do not cause complications in pregnant women and fetuses, but pregnant women in Korea are still expressing anxiety over vaccinations.The EMA explained that the review based on studies of about 65,000 pregnant women at each stage found no signs of a higher risk of serious side effects or complications such as miscarriage or premature birth to be caused by the mRNA vaccines. The EMA acknowledged several limitations to the data, but emphasized that the results across the studies were consistent.“The benefits of mRNA COVID-19 v

Jan 20, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Pregnant women face dilemma over COVID-19 vaccinations
  • Omicron set to become dominant strain this week
  • Daily cases jump to over 6,000 for 1st time in nearly a month amid Omicron woes
Society

Education ministry encourages teenagers to get vaccinated before spring semester

Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae speaks at a press conference at the government complex in Sejong, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe vaccination rate for 12 to 17-year-olds has been slowing down during the winter vacation, as the government's COVID-19 vaccine pass system for those who use educational facilities such as private academies and libraries has been suspended. According to the Ministry of Education, 1.84 million out of 2.8 million teens aged 12 to 17 have completed their second dose of the vaccine as of Tuesday.The percentage of adolescents aged 18 or order who have received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose is around 66.5 percent. Among teens aged between 16 and 18 years old, 80.3 percent have received both doses, while 55.8 percent of children aged between 13 and 15 have completed their second dose. The percentage of those aged between 12 and 17 who have received their first dose of the vaccine is 78.8 percent.Until the end of last year, the vaccination rate for youth aged 12 to 17 years old had been increasing from 0.8 to 1.6 percentage points per day on average, but the i

Jan 18, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Education ministry encourages teenagers to get vaccinated before spring semester
Society

Christian schools receive warning for violating religious freedom

By Bahk Eun-jiSeoul's education authorities have issued warnings to a number of private Christian and mission schools in the capital for including worship services and religious events during regular school hours, in violation of the principle of freedom of religion. An audit by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) found that several Christian private schools in the capital provided religious classes last year.Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education /Korea Times fileIn the audit, a high school identified only by the initial “A,” which is said to have adopted Christianity as its educational ideology, was found to have included a worship class in its regular curriculum for all students from 2019 to 2020.In addition to the regular worship service, special devotional events were also held, such as a Thanksgiving service and a commemorative service for the opening of the school, and Bible lessons were also offered to all students every morning during the period.The high school was also found to have organized religion-related competitions twice during regular class

Jan 17, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Christian schools receive warning for violating religious freedom
Environment & Animals

Wild animal cafes to be banned

Visitors to a wild animal cafe in Seoul play with raccoons in this Jan. 29, 2018, photo. Courtesy of AWAREBy Bahk Eun-jiThe government will ban operation of wild animal cafes where people can see and touch the animals, in a bid to better protect the animals, according to the Ministry of Environment, Friday.The measure follows criticism that animals at wild animal cafes are stressed from exposure to customers as well as poorly managed hygiene standards.“There are 159 such cafes nationwide where raccoons, meerkats, prairie dogs as well as various amphibians and reptiles are on display,” a ministry official said. “Exhibiting such wild animals in indoor settings, besides zoos, is undesirable from an ecological point of view and for their welfare, so we are planning to move them to more adequate facilities.”When the relevant revision bill is passed at the National Assembly, wild animal cafes will have to close ― after a grace period of three to four years. The animals from the facilities will be moved to the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon County, South C

Jan 15, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Wild animal cafes to be banned
Health

Vaccine pass system partially suspended

Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol, right, speaks about changes to the government's COVID-19 response during a press conference at the Government Complex Seoul, Friday. YonhapCurfew to continue for 3 more weeks with eased rules for private gatheringsBy Bahk Eun-jiA court has partially suspended the government's vaccine pass system, allowing people to enter large supermarkets, department stores and retail stores without providing their COVID-19 vaccination status.The pass system will remain effective for eateries and cafes, however.The Seoul Administrative Court partially accepted the injunction request filed by 1,023 people including doctors, religious leaders and citizens against Seoul City, Friday, to suspend the vaccine pass scheme for the big stores in Seoul. The suspension will continue until the court makes a separate ruling on their complaints to nullify the scheme.The decision halted the vaccine pass system at the stores with floor space of 3,000 square meters or larger. As the complaints were about the pass system in the capital, the suspension is also limited to Seoul.For usin

Jan 14, 2022By Bahk Eun-ji
Vaccine pass system partially suspended
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