my timesThe Korea Times
ejb

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.

Go to Email

Read more

Health

Doctors up in arms over bill on surveillance cameras in operating rooms

Medical personnel talk in an operating room equipped with surveillance cameras at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Suwon Hospital, Monday. The provincial government has installed surveillance cameras in operating rooms at government-run hospitals. YonhapLargest doctors' group plans to file petition with Constitutional CourtBy Bahk Eun-jiDoctors are strongly protesting a contentious bill that will mandate the installation of surveillance cameras in operating rooms as a part of measures to prevent medical malpractice.Citing the possibility of the surveillance affecting doctors' surgical procedures and the leakage of video recordings, the nation's largest doctors' group said it will seek a constitutional petition if the bill is approved.Their protest came after the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee passed the revision bill to the Medical Service Act, Monday. The Assembly plans to approve it at a plenary session on Wednesday.According to the bill, hospitals must video-record medical procedures upon the patient's or guardian's request when an operation is conducted while

Aug 24, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Doctors up in arms over bill on surveillance cameras in operating rooms
Health

Couples decry strict social distancing rules on weddings

A screen installed on a truck shows a message of protest by soon-to-be married couples against the government's social distancing rules, in front of Seoul City Hall, Aug. 19. YonhapLimit on number of guests mars once-in-a-lifetime eventBy Bahk Eun-jiA wedding is one of the most important life events for an individual and their family. Soon-to-be-married couples are usually busy planning their wedding ceremony while delivering the happy news to their relatives and friends but, these days, such joy is gone and planning a wedding has become a huge headache for couples as the protracted COVID-19 pandemic and resultant social distancing rules have forced them to give up most of their plans.A major hurdle is the limit on the number of guests that may attend the ceremony.Under the national Level 3 and Level 4 social distancing regulations, the maximum number of guests at a wedding ceremony has been set at 49, excluding the bride, groom and their parents.Even before the four-tier system was introduced in July, Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, where the largest percentage of infec

Aug 23, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Couples decry strict social distancing rules on weddings
Society

Schools open under quarantine

Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae, right, talks with a student at Gocheok Elementary School in Seoul, Monday, during her visit to inspect quarantine measures there. Most elementary schools start their second semesters this week, and schools across the country are providing in-person or online classes according to the social distancing rules applied to their respective regions. Yonhap

Aug 23, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Schools open under quarantine
Society

Bracing for typhoon

Boats are anchored at a port of Seogwipo on Jeju Island, Monday, as Typhoon Omais approaches the Korean Peninsula. The weather agency forecast heavy rainfall and strong winds in the southern parts of the nation as the typhoon was expected to hit the island and southern coastal area on Monday night and head toward the east coast on Tuesday morning. Yonhap

Aug 23, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Bracing for typhoon
Law & Crime

Namyang dairy chairman's wife accused of violating social distancing rule

The headquarters of Namyang Dairy Products in southern Seoul / YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiLee Woon-kyung, 69, the wife of Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik, has been accused of violating social distancing rules by holding a dinner gathering of more than 10 people at her house in June, according to police, Sunday. It was her former housekeeper who reported the violation to the police.When Lee hosted the party, a social distancing measure prohibiting private gatherings of more than four people was in effect in the Seoul metropolitan area. In addition, the incentive system for vaccination, such as lifting the gathering ban for fully vaccinated individuals, had not yet been implemented.Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik sheds tears while announcing his plan to step down from his post during a press conference at the company headquarters in Seoul in this May 4 photo. Korea Times fileA woman who had worked as a housekeeper at the chairman's house earlier this year filed the complaint along with photos taken during the dinner party as evidence, according to the police. Police

Aug 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Namyang dairy chairman's wife accused of violating social distancing rule
Society

Universities up in arms over education ministry's evaluation process

Kim In-chul, chair of the Korean Council for University Education, speaks during a seminar of university chancellors at the Paradise Hotel in Busan, July 1. Korea Times photo by Kim Jin-joo By Bahk Eun-jiUniversities are protesting the provisional results of the Ministry of Education's triannual certification and competency evaluation process, announced earlier this week, claiming that the government-led evaluation process may create overheated competition among them and leave them underfunded, while undermining their autonomy. They also urged the ministry to come up with a remedy for universities that failed the evaluation process, which will lose out on financial support in the form of government subsidies.The protest came from the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) and the Korea Association for Professional University College Education (KCCE), following the education ministry's competency evaluation results, released Tuesday, announcing its selection o

Aug 19, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Universities up in arms over education ministry's evaluation process
Law & Crime

Gym teacher at USFK base sentenced for smuggling narcotic painkillers

By Bahk Eun-jiA gym teacher at an army base of the United States in Korea has received a suspended jail term for smuggling more than 400 pills of two narcotic painkillers, morphine and oxycodone, into the country in a chocolate box.The Incheon District Court said, Wednesday, that it had sentenced the man in his 50s to two years and six months in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the law on drug management. Gettyimagesbank The man was indicted on charges of smuggling chocolate boxes containing 435 pills of morphine and oxycodone by international express mail through Incheon International Airport at 8:43 a.m. last year Dec. 17.Oxycodone is an opioid medication to help relieve severe pain. The court pointed out that his charges are not light, as drug-related crimes not only damage people's physical and mental health, but also have serious adverse effects on society, such as harming public health and causing other crimes.However, the reason for handing dow

Aug 19, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Gym teacher at USFK base sentenced for smuggling narcotic painkillers
Health

Pandemic devastates mental state of public health workers: survey

Public health workers cool down in front of an air conditioner at a COVID-19 testing station in Seoul, in this June 15 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe majority of frontline public health workers are depressed and anxious as a result of overwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are even showing warning signs of suicide, a recent survey showed, Wednesday.The government has decided to support them with mental health programs and push for ways to increase the number of workers at public health centers.The Ministry of Health and Welfare surveyed 1,765 employees at 17 public health centers nationwide on their mental health ― specifically fear, anxiety and depression caused by COVID-19. The survey was conducted from June 23 to July 9.In the survey, 33.4 percent of respondents were found to be in the risk group for depression, which is significantly higher than the percentage of ordinary people who fall into the depression risk group, with 18.1 percent, and the percentage of public health doctors who do, with 15.1 percent.The ratio of respondents who are having suicidal thoughts stood at 19

Aug 18, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Pandemic devastates mental state of public health workers: survey
Society

Seoul to separate bikes, pedestrians on Han River park paths

On the left is an existing bike lane in Seoul near the northern end of Jamsu Bridge, and on the right is an upgraded path separating bikes and pedestrians, which is part of Seoul city's reconstruction project. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan GovernmentBy Bahk Eun-jiBike lanes along the Han River in Seoul will be completely separated from walking paths by 2023 in a move to improve safety for both cyclists and pedestrians. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will conduct a full-scale reconstruction project on a total of 78 kilometers of park paths in the capital ― 47.5 kilometers south of the Han River and 30.5 kilometers north of the river to achieve this.The city government also plans to subdivide bike paths into leisure and transportation in accordance with their functions.The plan is to create a leisure section with a high speed limit for users of personal mobility vehicles with relatively higher speeds, such as hybrid bicycles and electric scooters, and to prepare transportation routes for slower traffic, such as the city's public bike-sharing service Ttareungyi. The local go

Aug 18, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul to separate bikes, pedestrians on Han River park paths
Health

Korea faces medical system crisis amid fourth wave of infections

People wait for COVID-19 testing at a screening center of a public health center in Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiConcerns are mounting over a possible shortage of beds in hospital intensive care units (ICU) and at treatment centers, as the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic here shows no signs of abating. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, 272, or 33.6 percent, of the 810 hospital beds for critically ill patients across the country were available as of 5 p.m., Monday. There are 18,053 beds in 79 treatment centers for patients with mild symptoms, and 6,829 beds were available, but some regions have been facing shortages. Seventeen of 18 ICU beds in South Chungcheong Province are already in use, leaving just one available. Daejeon also has only two of its 14 ICU beds left.Among 431 beds allocated to semi-critical patients, just 154 or 35.7 percent remain. These are patients who are unlikely to improve from their current status, or whose condition is highly likely to worsen.The number of beds for such patients is also reaching its li

Aug 17, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Korea faces medical system crisis amid fourth wave of infections
previous page
5051525354
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.