The Korea Times

Students from 26 countries encouraged to stay home until Korea's vaccination drive picks up

By Bahk Eun-jiInternational students from countries where coronavirus variants are prevalent will be recommended to not come to Korea until Korea's vaccination rate advances, according to the education ministry, Wednesday. Only 34.9 percent of people here have had at least one vaccine shot as of Tuesday, while 13.6 have been fully vaccinated.Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae / YonhapAs a part of the antivirus measures at schools for the second semester, which starts in September, the ministry said the government and universities will encourage students from 26 countries experiencing serious infection rates of COVID-19 variants, including the Delta variant, to refrain from entering the country until after 70 percent of the local population has had at least one vaccination shot.The ministry expects the 70 percent goal to be reached by the end of September. To this end, the ministry plans to provide academic convenience for students from the 26 countries, such as allowing them to take remote classes so that they can keep up with their courses before entering the country.The 26 countries ar

Jul 28, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Students from 26 countries encouraged to stay home until Korea's vaccination drive picks up

Daily virus cases hit new high

Law & Crime

Farm owner confesses to falsifying bear escape to cover up slaughter

Asian black bear /YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiIt was found that only one Asian black bear escaped earlier this month from a breeding farm in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, contrary to the farm owner's initial report of two bears, according to the Yongin Dongbu Police, Wednesday. The owner confessed to lying about the number to hide his illegal slaughter of a bear.Earlier on July 6, the police received a report from the farm owner that two three-year-old male bears, each weighing 60 kilograms, disappeared at around 10:30 a.m. Workers of Yongin City and the Ministry of Environment immediately conducted search operations, and about two hours later found one bear about 1 kilometer from the breeding farm which they killed.Although no trace of the other bear was found, the farm owner insisted that two had gone missing. The city government and the ministry continued to search the area around the farm. Meanwhile, residents of the region refrained from going outside, fearing the possibility of an encounter with the runaway bear.But as the police obtained a search warrant for the farm on Tuesday and found

Jul 28, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Farm owner confesses to falsifying bear escape to cover up slaughter

Society

Aging apartments start energy-saving campaigns to prevent blackouts

An apartment building in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, remains dark due to a blackout following a surge in electricity use in this Aug. 5, 2019 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe continued heat wave has caused a series of power outages at apartment complexes due to aging electrical infrastructure. As a countermeasure, some apartments are running energy-saving campaigns, urging their residents to take turns using their air conditioners or to go on vacation, despite the risk of COVID-19 infection. The head of a management office at an apartment complex in Songpa District, Seoul, posted a sign announcing the start of a campaign for residents to use their air conditioners only at designated times ― units on odd-numbered floors could use their air conditioners during odd-numbered hours of the day, and units on even-numbered floors, during even-numbered hours.It also recommended that residents use only one air conditioner per household if they have more than one, and use washing machines in the morning when the electricity consumption level is not as high.The notice reflects concerns about power

Jul 27, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Aging apartments start energy-saving campaigns to prevent blackouts

Society

Lawyer of ex-mayor causes controversy over 'Pence rule' remarks

A seat is reserved for the victim of alleged sexual harassment by the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon during a news conference in Seoul, March 17. Joint Press CorpsBy Bahk Eun-jiA so-called “Pence rule controversy” here has erupted again after lawyer Jung Chul-seung, who represents the bereaved family of the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, advised male CEOs “not to have a female secretary.”The former mayor killed himself in July 2020 after an allegation was raised that he had sexually harassed a female civil servant at City Hall who was assigned to work as his personal secretary.In his Facebook posting, Friday, Chung wrote that when he visited the office of his friend, who is vice president of a conglomerate, a female secretary brought them a drink. “I asked my friend if there is any absolutely necessary reason for him to have a female secretary and he said no, so I advised him not to have a female secretary,” he wrote.“I used to advise all the CEOs and executives at the companies for which I do consultations, to avoid drinking s

Jul 26, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Lawyer of ex-mayor causes controversy over 'Pence rule' remarks

Health

Gov't struggling to prevent virus spread in holiday season

People line up for COVID-19 diagnostic tests at a makeshift testing center in front of Seoul Station, Sunday. YonhapSocial distancing level for rural areas to be raised to 3By Bahk Eun-jiThe government's all-out efforts to contain COVID-19 are falling flat as infections are getting out of control, spreading to all parts of the nation as people travel across the country for summer vacation. Level 4, the toughest level of social distancing rules in Seoul and surrounding metropolitan area, have been extended for another two weeks, and the government decided to raise the level for all other regions uniformly to 3 starting Tuesday.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 1,487 more COVID-19 infections for Saturday, including 1,422 local ones, raising the total caseload to 188,848.Saturday's daily caseload is the highest ever for a weekend day. It was down from the previous day's 1,629, but the decline was mainly due to reduced testing on weekends. It was also the 19th consecutive day for the daily tally to surpass 1,000.On Friday, the government decided to extend th

Jul 25, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Gov't struggling to prevent virus spread in holiday season

Society

More universities set to ban e-scooters on campuses

Electric scooters are parked on Yonsei University campus, Seoul, in this Nov. 3, 2020 file photo. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho By Bahk Eun-jiMore universities are banning the use of electric scooters on their campuses for safety reasons.Some campuses with many hills and narrow roads had already banned the personal mobility devices, while others designated separate parking spaces so that the e-scooters didn't block pathways, creating an inconvenience for pedestrians.Hanyang University's dean of student affairs recently issued a letter to its students not to use electric scooters on campus.In the letter, the dean said, “We have decided to restrict electric scooters on our campus. Currently we are planning to come up with safety guidelines that will be announced soon.”According to an official from Hanyang University, the restriction came after large and small accidents involving electric scooters occurred on the campus, including a fire which broke out from an overh

Jul 23, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

More universities set to ban e-scooters on campuses

Society

Pandemic ignites debate over four-day workweek

By Bahk Eun-jiThe prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has ignited discussion here over reducing the workweek to four days, to help people maintain a work-life balance, a recent survey showed. Of 1,000 respondents aged between 19 and 59, 67.1 percent said that they were willing to work for a company that can enable them to maintain their work-life balance, according to a recent survey conducted by the Seoul-based market research firm, Macromill Embrain Trend Monitor.GettyimagesbankAbove all, the fact that 64.9 percent of respondents said that achieving their personal life goals is more important than being recognized at work, makes it seem like work-life balance will likely be an important consideration for people to choose a job in the future.On the other hand, only 28.4 percent of the respondents said that they wanted a high-paying job that requires them to work overtime, showing that not many workers want to work overtime at the expense of their personal lives.Overall, it can be seen that the social consensus around the introduction of a four-day workweek system is gradually increasing.In

Jul 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Pandemic ignites debate over four-day workweek

Defense

Korean, UK defense ministers' meeting

Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook, left, and his U.K. counterpart Ben Wallace pass ceremonial guards at the ministry compound in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday, before having a meeting on defense cooperation. Yonhap

Jul 21, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Health

Stamina food delivery

A delivery worker picks up “samgyetang,” a Korean chicken ginseng soup, from a restaurant in Seoul, Wednesday, this year's “jungbok,” the second among the three traditionally hottest days of summer. Koreans traditionally eat samgyetang or other foods long believed here to increase stamina on the three days, and this year many are using delivery services to avoid COVID-19 infection at crowded restaurants. Yonhap

Jul 21, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Law & Crime

Teacher gets suspended jail term for underwear homework assignment

Members of civic group Political Mamas hold a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, in this May 13, 2020 photo, before filing a petition calling for punishment of a male elementary schoolteacher for using inappropriate language and behavior toward first graders. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiA male teacher at an elementary school in Ulsan has received a suspended jail term for ordering his students to upload photos of them washing their underwear to the class' online community, and posting inappropriate comments about his students. The Ulsan District Court said, Wednesday, that it sentenced the former elementary school teacher in his 40s to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the law on child abuse. It also ordered him to receive 40 hours of lectures on sexual violence prevention and banned him from working in any jobs related to children for five years.The man's inappropriate behavior was made public in April last year, when a parent shared screenshots of the teacher's comments on social media.He ordered his fir

Jul 21, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Bahk Eun-ji

Read more

Students from 26 countries encouraged to stay home until Korea's vaccination drive picks up

Farm owner confesses to falsifying bear escape to cover up slaughter

Aging apartments start energy-saving campaigns to prevent blackouts

Lawyer of ex-mayor causes controversy over 'Pence rule' remarks

Gov't struggling to prevent virus spread in holiday season

More universities set to ban e-scooters on campuses

Pandemic ignites debate over four-day workweek

Korean, UK defense ministers' meeting

Stamina food delivery

Teacher gets suspended jail term for underwear homework assignment

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