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.
Haeundae Beach in Busan is crowded with vacationers, Monday, while a heat wave advisory was issued for many parts of the country. The heat wave along with high humidity is forecast to continue for several more days, with some regions having tropical nights which is defined by a nighttime low staying above 25 degrees Celsius. Yonhap
Lee Jun-seok, right, chief of the main opposition People Power Party, shakes hands with Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday, during the latter's courtesy call to celebrate Lee's election as the opposition leader. After the meeting, Lee said to reporters that he told Xing he expects China to meet international standards in social systems and democratic values. Yonhap
A teacher gives an online class at Neungsil Elementary School in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, as all schools in Seoul and neighboring cities went online in accordance with the implementation of Level 4 social distancing measures amid a renewed surge in COVID-19 infections. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiParents and teachers' groups are criticizing the government's plan to increase after-school childcare services for elementary school children in order to encourage more married women to work and also entice more double-income couples to have children amid a persistently-low birthrate.Critics say, however, that what is really needed is not expanded childcare services that separate parents and children for longer hours, but a flexible office culture that enables working parents to spend more time at home with their children.As a part of efforts to cope with a low birthrate and decreasing population, the government announced measures last week to encourage women to continue working after giving birth and even while caring for their children. One of the measures put forward is extending after-s
People wait in line for COVID-19 testing at a temporary testing site at Gangnam Public Health Center in southern Seoul, Sunday. YonhapStrongest social distancing rules to start today for greater Seoul area By Bahk Eun-jiThe fourth wave of COVID-19 infections here driven by virus variants is spreading from the Seoul metropolitan area to other parts of the country.Although the Seoul metropolitan area will be under the strongest social distancing rules, or Level 4, starting today to curb the recent hike of infections, other regions are under looser rules and people from the capital area are moving across the country for summer vacation ― factors that are increasing concerns that other regions may also see their infection numbers grow fast.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Sunday, Korea added 1,324 more COVID-19 cases for Saturday, including 1,280 local infections. The total caseload has reached 168,046.Even though the daily number of cases decreased slightly from Friday's 1,378, which was the highest ever seen by Korea during the pandemic, which starte
By Bahk Eun-jiThe nation's human rights watchdog said Thursday that it is discrimination against preschoolers of foreign nationality to exclude them from the government's emergency anti-virus relief fund for children, and recommended that the health and welfare ministry change its related policies. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea made the recommendation in response to petitions filed by civic groups advocating for the rights of immigrants. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea / Korea Times fileIn September of last year, the government provided 200,000 won ($175) per preschool and elementary schoolchild to parents as emergency relief funds to alleviate the burden of childcare imposed by COVID-19 restrictions. The health and welfare ministry was in charge of distributing the funds for preschoolers, while the education ministry was in charge of distribution of those for schoolchildren.However, children of foreign nationality were not included on the list of fund recipients.The health ministry said that the beneficiaries of the relief funds were defined by the spec
Han Jong-seob / Courtesy of Korea University MedicineBy Bahk Eun-jiHan Jong-seob, an 89-year-old resident of Anam-dong, Seongbuk District in northern Seoul, has donated more than 500 million won to Korea University (KU) Medicine, a foundation operating all of KU's medical facilities and its colleges of medicine and nursing.According to KU Medicine, Han delivered 506 million won to the hospital recently after selling her house located close to the hospital.“I hope KU Medicine will keep fighting against all the bad diseases so that people can live comfortably,” Han said in a recent ceremony at the hospital to commemorate her donation.“I'm so relieved that I can make a donation finally although I made up my mind to do so a while ago. It's not because I have a lot of money, but because I like this hospital.” She said she remembered how the Anam-dong hospital, which was integrated with KU in 1971, took the lead in making efforts to contain infectious diseases after the Korean War in the 1950s. “I hope this hospital will fight against bad diseases just like it
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family / Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiA debate has surfaced over the role of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which was formed in 2001 to improve gender equality in society and establish and support family policies.Conservative politicians are talking about abolishing the ministry, which they view has not accomplished much, but rather has caused gender conflicts, while women's rights groups say that such criticism shifts the blame for problems caused by Korea's male-dominant culture to the ministry itself.This recent debate was ignited, Tuesday, by Yoo Seong-min and Rep. Ha Tae-keung, both presidential hopefuls of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP).Yoo posted on social media Tuesday that he would abolish the gender ministry and instead set up a gender equality committee under his direct control, if he becomes president.He said that the ministry's duties can be fulfilled by other government organizations.“The gender equality minister job is merely a position given to ruling bloc politicians or aides in their
Residents take a walk along a Songpa Trail course in Songpa District, southeastern Seoul. Courtesy of Yim Hong-soonBy Bahk Eun-jiWhen thinking of Songpa District in Seoul, images of large apartment complexes and skyscrapers may come to mind. But the district's network of walking trails, named Songpa Trail or Songpa Dullegil in Korean, is a hidden treasure of the area, created along four streams flowing through its landscape. Songpa has had three walking courses along Seongnae and Jangji streams as well as the Han River, and the district office opened another one recently along Tan Stream, which had been off-limits for the last 51 years.Now with the trail along the Tan Stream added, a 21.2-kilometer-long circuit has been created.“We wanted to create walking paths or parks that residents can access in five minutes from their home and relax at any time,” said Park Sung-soo, head of Songpa District Office.Each course of Songpa Trail has different things to see and enjoy, including a rice farming experience center, bird observatories, cherry blossom roads, a forest playground
Soccer player Son Heung-min, right, poses with Korea Tourism Organization CEO Ahn Young-bae in Seoul, Tuesday, during a ceremony to appoint him as an honorary ambassador to promote Korean tourism. Courtesy of Korea Tourism OrganizationBy Bahk Eun-jiSoccer player Son Heung-min has become an honorary ambassador to promote Korean tourism to the world, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said, Tuesday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the KTO appointed the internationally renowned Tottenham Hotspur striker as a cultural ambassador in the hope that his image will appeal to potential visitors to Korea.“We expect many positive effects from Son's appointment. In particular, we believe this will raise awareness of Korean tourism in the global market especially in European countries, beyond the countries where many people have already had high interest in Korea due to pop culture,” a KTO official said. Son will appear in three video ads and seven poster images. Under the theme of “This is my Korea, what's yours?” the ads will link Son's skills on the fie
Rescue workers conduct a search operation to find a woman in her 80s after her house was buried in a landslide in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiHeavy rain has been causing deaths and property damage in southern parts of the country, especially in South Jeolla Province, since Monday evening. While heavy rain alerts have already been issued in the southern regions, more rain is forecast there throughout the week, raising concerns over more damage. More than 500 millimeters of rainfall has fallen in some parts of South Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province since Monday night, inundating houses and farmland. A woman in her 60s was swept away by water near her house in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, and was found dead, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, which suspected that she had drowned.A road is flooded in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, Tuesday, as heavy rainfall hit the region. YonhapWhile the Korea Forest Service issued a landslide alert for those two provinces, two houses were buried and another two we