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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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Society

Dongdaemun center plays major role in supporting multicultural families

Han Mi-young, second row center, executive director of the Dongdaemun Healthy Family and Multicultural Family Support Center, poses with employees and members of the center at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province, after receiving the Prime Minister's Commendation award, May 20. Courtesy of the Dongdaemun Healthy Family and Multicultural Family Support CenterBy Bahk Eun-jiThe Dongdaemun Healthy Family and Multicultural Family Support Center in Seoul has been providing various support programs for multicultural families since 2006. “When it was opened in 2005, there were only four employees, including me,” Han Mi-young, executive director of the center, told The Korea Times. “The center was originally established to support marriage migrant women who had difficulties settling in here, and it gradually began to cover the other needs of multicultural families.” Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the center has been running various programs online. Even during the pandemic, which limited many people's social activities, the center has not sus

Jul 6, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Dongdaemun center plays major role in supporting multicultural families
Society

Seoul City to set up foundation to integrate foreign residents' issues

Seoul City Hall and the city's logo / Korea times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul City plans to establish a foundation that will comprehensively deal with foreign residents' issues as part of its efforts to enhance the capital's global competitiveness, the city government said, Monday. According to officials of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the city is considering establishing the foundation, tentatively named the Seoul Global Foundation, to attract skilled foreign workers and support their settlement here.“Korea is becoming a multicultural society as the number of residents of foreign nationality is increasing. We are considering establishing a foundation that can provide comprehensive support for them,” a city government official said.As of 2019, the number of foreign residents in Seoul was 466,000, accounting for 4.8 percent of the capital's total population, and approaching the OECD definition of a multicultural and multi-racial society, in which the population of foreign residents surpasses 5 percent.Currently, the city government operates 18 support facilities for resi

Jul 5, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul City to set up foundation to integrate foreign residents' issues
Health

Korea faces critical moment in COVID-19 response: PM

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, right, speaks during a press briefing on COVID-19 response at the Government Complex in Seoul, Friday. YonhapNew cases soar to nearly six-month highBy Bahk Eun-jiThe country's anti-COVID-19 measures face a critical moment, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum warned Friday, adding that the government is ready to strengthen quarantine measures and tighten the social distancing level at any time.The warning came as the number of daily new COVID-19 cases exceeded 800, Thursday, for the first time in about half a year, raising concerns over the sharp increase in new cases among unvaccinated young people in the metropolitan area and the spread of the Delta variant. If such cases are not controlled properly, experts worry that the number of daily new cases here could rise to more than 1,000 a day in summer, which could lead to another wave of the pandemic. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Korea added 826 more COVID-19 cases, Thursday, including 765 local infections, marking the largest since Jan. 7 when it reached 869. The total casel

Jul 2, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Korea faces critical moment in COVID-19 response: PM
Health

132 infections traced to Hongdae gathering of foreign language instructors

People fill a street near Hongik University in western Seoul in this Nov. 13, 2020 photo. Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiThe number of COVID-19 cases linked to a gathering of language instructors working at private academies in Gyeonggi Province has increased to 132, according to health authorities and provincial government, Monday. The authorities said that six foreign language instructors who work at institutes in Seongnam, Bucheon, Goyang and Uijeongbu in the province were infected with the virus after attending a gathering at a bar near Hongik University in western Seoul on June 19. The infected instructors then transmitted the virus to students and colleagues at the academies and their family members, with the cumulative number of confirmed cases growing to 132 ― 54 in Seongnam, 28 in Goyang, 19 in Bucheon and 23 in Uijeongbu.The authorities are examining if those who tested positive are infected with a variant, considering the fast speed of transmission that surpassed 130 cases in six days since the first case was confirmed on June 22.Also under investigation is whether the six

Jun 29, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
132 infections traced to Hongdae gathering of foreign language instructors
Society

University of Seoul's tuition hike plan for foreign students causes stir

University of Seoul campus / Korea Times fileSeoul City-run school to double tuition for international studentsBy Bahk Eun-jiControversy has arisen over the University of Seoul's plan to nearly double the tuition fees paid by foreign students starting next year. Some students and members of the general public say the sudden hike is unfair and taking advantage of a minority group at the school. However, others say the school's tuition fees are kept artificially low through subsidies from taxpayers and it is improper to provide such a benefit to foreign students who do not pay taxes.The university held a tuition review committee meeting June 11 and decided to raise the fees for international undergraduate and graduate students entering next year by 100 percent and 20 percent, respectively.The University of Seoul, an affiliate of Seoul Metropolitan Government, introduced “half-price tuition” in 2012 under former Mayor Park Won-soon to relieve the financial burden on students and parents amid rows over high tuition costs at colleges here.Since then the tuition for students in

Jun 28, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
University of Seoul's tuition hike plan for foreign students causes stir
Law & Crime

Police stumped by case of missing high school senior

A screenshot from CCTV footage shows Kim Hwi-seong, a high school senior in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, leaving a Youngpoong Bookstore branch near his school, June 22. He has been missing ever since then. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiA high school senior remains missing for about a week. Despite an extensive search, police have not found any clues and find themselves stumped as to whether the student disappeared voluntarily, was kidnapped or was the victim of other serious crimes.According to police, Sunday, Kim Hwi-seong, 18, a senior at Seohyun High School in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, has been out of contact since after school on June 22.On the day of his disappearance, Kim left school at 4:40 p.m. after sending a text message to his parents, saying he would return home that night.Leaving his cell phone in the desk drawer of his classroom, he left school and recharged his transportation card at a nearby convenience store about 10 minutes after sending the text message. He then headed to Youngpoong Bookstore near Seohyeon Metro Station.After buying five college entrance exam books there,

Jun 27, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Police stumped by case of missing high school senior
Society

Seoul to introduce bicycle safety certification program

Ttareungyi bicycles of Seoul City's bike-sharing system are parked near City Hall Station in central Seoul in this September 2018 photo. Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul City plans to introduce a bicycle safety certification system from the end of this month in an attempt to reduce bike-related accidents. Under the system those who receive the certification will be eligible to receive benefits such as discounts for its public bike-sharing service, Ttareungyi. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), Thursday, applicants who wish to acquire certification need to take written and practical riding tests similar to when applying for a driving license. It added that the questions for the test are based on the city's newly set standards for bicycle safety, adopted this year.The written test evaluates understanding of bicycles, traffic laws, hand signals, bicycle structure, safety checklists before riding a bike, riding theory, and general common sense. The practical component consists of a functional test that evaluates a rider's ability to make safe starts and stops, perfo

Jun 25, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul to introduce bicycle safety certification program
Society

Subway, venue of generational conflicts

Senior citizens wait to board a subway at Seoul Station in this Dec. 4, 2017 photo. Korea Times fileSubway deficits, free rides for senior citizens causing controversy By Bahk Eun-jiThe long-standing generational conflict over free subway rides for senior citizens has resurfaced, as a private subway operator has said recently that it is considering abolishing the benefit. Senior citizens complain that the free ride policy is an important welfare benefit for them, as they are not able to participate fully in the labor market, but younger people complain it increases their burden, as they have to pay taxes to cover this expense.Early this month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Shinbundang Railroad announced that they would discuss the issue of free subway rides for those aged 65 and over, such as whether to keep the program, abolish it or make small changes.Shinbundang Railroad, the company in charge of operating the Shinbundang Line between Gangnam Station in southern Seoul and Gwanggyo Station in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has been suffering from a decrease in p

Jun 24, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Subway, venue of generational conflicts
Politics

President honors war veterans

President Moon Jae-in bows to Ha Sa-yong, a Korean War veteran, after conferring an order of civil merit, the Dongbaek Medal, on him during a luncheon with Korean War veterans, other people of national merit and their families at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, the eve of the 71st anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok

Jun 24, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
President honors war veterans
Society

Over half of Koreans associate human rights with wealth

By Bahk Eun-jiMore than half of Koreans think the more wealth you have, the more human rights you can enjoy, a survey showed Tuesday. While people in a better financial situation and with a higher educational background believe that the nation's human rights situation has improved, those in the lower income bracket and with a lower level of education believe the opposite. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea / Korea Times file According to a survey of 14,525 adults conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in August last year, 52.5 percent of respondents picked people in the low income bracket as the group most vulnerable to human rights violations and discrimination.The rate was higher than that of disabled people at 50.1 percent ― a group traditionally considered a social minority ― and those of people with a lower educational background at 28.9 percent and women, 26.7 percent. The survey allowed for multiple answers.Nearly 30 percent of re

Jun 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Over half of Koreans associate human rights with wealth
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